Author Topic: TAAF - The Tribal Alliance Against Frauds  (Read 76554 times)

Offline Sparks

  • Posts: 1437
TAAF - The Tribal Alliance Against Frauds
« on: September 24, 2022, 05:43:26 am »
This Facebook page posts material similar and even identical to what the NAFPS Forum is all about;

https://www.facebook.com/TAAF-The-Tribal-Alliance-Against-Frauds-346096246518240

Quote
About
This page exists to alert the public to the presence of people or groups falsely claiming to be Native American, selling ceremony, selling memberships to fake "tribes" or selling what they purport to be Native American healing, medicine or teachings.

They also have a website: https://nativeamericanfrauds.com/

Quote
About Us
WHAT WE DO


We expose ethnic frauds pretending to be Indigenous people or "tribes" when they are not. 

We are researchers. We gather facts. We are the whistle blowers.

We do our best to see actual cases of fraud and violations of IACA, ICWA, RICO, etc., prosecuted. 

We try to shut down the activities of individuals and organizations falsely representing themselves as Indigenous at every opportunity.

We do not focus on the millions of individuals who believe they have Native ancestry when they do not.

We focus on the individuals, groups and corporations who are falsely representing Indigenous cultures, histories, spiritual practices and/or falsely claiming Indigenous identity as individuals for profit or fame.

Read more: Who We Are and Why It's Important

See also: https://nativeamericanfrauds.com/about-us

I suggest this post be moved to the Non-Frauds board (I cannot put it in there myself).

Offline Sparks

  • Posts: 1437
Re: TAAF - The Tribal Alliance Against Frauds
« Reply #1 on: September 25, 2022, 04:44:04 am »
I posted here about their first (and only?) case (Topic "Larry Lewis AKA Mashu White Feather"):

This is a post from 2017: https://nativeamericanfrauds.com/case-1

halokamarie84

  • Guest
Re: TAAF - The Tribal Alliance Against Frauds
« Reply #2 on: October 06, 2022, 02:58:16 am »
Liana Constatino does have a 6 digit Cherokee Nation citizen card number.

That's where the facts end.

As a neighbor of Liana's in Jackson County North Carolina....

1.Liana Constatino does not have a legal license to operate Tribal alliance against frauds.
2.Liana Constatino does not have a legal license to investigate any persons while she resides in the state of North Carolina.
3.Liana Constatino does not have a midwifery license because midwifery is illegal in the state of North Carolina.
4.Liana Constatino is not a member of the American Indian Movement (per National AIM and the Grand Governing Council.)
5.Liana Constatino does not have a large pagan congregation because the Sylva Pagan Temple does not exist.


It's a PO Box in the tiny Post office at Dillsboro NC.

Offline Sparks

  • Posts: 1437
Re: TAAF - The Tribal Alliance Against Frauds
« Reply #3 on: October 07, 2022, 01:53:38 am »
Liana Constatino does have a 6 digit Cherokee Nation citizen card number.

I was not aware of Liana (or Lianna) Constatino (also spelled Constantino and Costantino) (mentioned six times in the previous post) when I started this topic. I found references confirming this connection:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lianna-costantino-47b36347/
Quote
Lianna Costantino (She/Her) -- Sylva, North Carolina, USA
[…]
Experience
TAAF (Tribal Alliance Against Frauds)
Co-founder
July 2010 - Present
Defending tribal sovereignty one fraud at a time

Board Chair
Center for Native Health
March 2016 - July 2017
Cherokee, NC

https://vtdigger.org/2022/05/16/lianna-constantino-uvm-gave-the-actual-abenaki-people-a-platform/
Quote
Lianna Constantino: UVM gave the actual Abenaki people a platform
By Commentary — May 16 2022
This commentary is by Lianna Constantino, a Cherokee Nation citizen from Oklahoma who now lives in Cherokee, North Carolina. She is co-founder and director of the Tribal Alliance Against Frauds, an organization consisting of federally recognized tribal members from the United States, First Nations citizens from Canada, and their allies.

https://www.indianz.com/News/2022/09/30/the-pretendians-documentary-from-canada-tackles-hot-topic/
Quote
Despite the attention being drawn to the Pretendian issue, Taylor and the subjects in the documentary have often found it difficult to get answers from those who have made claims to Native nations. One segment focuses on Robert “Bob” Lovelace, a professor at Queen’s University who claims to be Cherokee from the United States and has since been identifying himself as Algonquin in Canada.

Lianna Constantino, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and a co-founder and director of the Tribal Alliance Against Frauds, attempts to ask Lovelace about his shifting claims. As seen in “The Pretendians,” she even travels from the U.S. to the university campus in Ontario to speak with him directly — yet fails to receive a response.

https://www.nativeamericacalling.com/wednesday-february-10-2021-exposing-false-native-heritage/
— Below this article I find four comments by Lianna Costantino.

1.Liana Constatino does not have a legal license to operate Tribal alliance against frauds.
2.Liana Constatino does not have a legal license to investigate any persons while she resides in the state of North Carolina.
3.Liana Constatino does not have a midwifery license because midwifery is illegal in the state of North Carolina.
4.Liana Constatino is not a member of the American Indian Movement (per National AIM and the Grand Governing Council.)
5.Liana Constatino does not have a large pagan congregation because the Sylva Pagan Temple does not exist.

As for points 1 and 2: Why would a 'legal license' be needed? As far as I know, NAFPS has no such license, and would not need it? Anyone can investigate any public person or entity, I suppose?

Points 3, 4, and 5, seem irrelevant to the topic of this thread?

Offline Sparks

  • Posts: 1437
Re: TAAF - The Tribal Alliance Against Frauds
« Reply #4 on: October 08, 2022, 02:14:25 am »
WhittierDeluxe started a new topic [Holy Fool Arts] with contents that belong here in the TAAF thread, so I quote in full:

https://restorationvillagearts.org/rva-fellows/holy-fool-arts/

Who are these people and why are they the fan club of the woman legally renamed as Liana Elizabeta Constatino.

They claim biblical prophecy but are the money grabbers for the phony Tribal Alliance Against Frauds.


I live in Cherokee North Carolina. There is NO such business on the Qualla Boundary. (I am business owner who has to pay dues yearly to keep my business license on the Qualla Boundary throu Tribal Economic Regulations Office. There is a directory of every business published yearly by the TERO office and TAAF is not a sanctioned business on the Qualla Boundary. I can scan all 60 pages if you are in dire need to verify.)

My boldings in quote. I find no public information about 'Liana Elizabeta Constatino'. Can you point to your source for your claim "… the woman legally renamed as Liana Elizabeta Constatino"?

I can find no connection whatsoever between the 'Tribal Alliance Against Frauds' and 'Holy Fool Arts'. Likewise, no connection between their founders, neither Tevyn East nor Jay Beck, and TAAF.

So your unsubstantiated claim is that Holy Fool Arts are "the money grabbers for the phony Tribal Alliance Against Frauds". The burden of proof is yours. Please explain. — Also, in what way is TAAF 'phony', except in your opinion?

As for points 1 and 2: Why would a 'legal license' be needed? As far as I know, NAFPS has no such license, and would not need it? Anyone can investigate any public person or entity, I suppose?

I asked you this before, and instead of replying you make new accusations and claims. So now my question is: Why does TAAF need to be "a sanctioned business on the Qualla Boundary"?

Offline Sparks

  • Posts: 1437
Re: TAAF - The Tribal Alliance Against Frauds
« Reply #5 on: October 08, 2022, 02:54:22 am »
There are more questions for WhittierDeluxe28789 in the thread I quoted from in my previous post:

Hi Whittier, I read Restorationvillagearts.org and I couldn't see where they were connected to TAAF?  Could you please show where this group restorationvillage/holyfools are connected with TAAF? And how is TAAF making any money?

Offline Sparks

  • Posts: 1437
Re: TAAF - The Tribal Alliance Against Frauds
« Reply #6 on: October 10, 2022, 06:15:13 pm »
Information about Lianna Elizabeta Costantino in the "Larry Lewis AKA Mashu White Feather" thread:

There is a Facebook group, linked to in the above article (no activity since 2017):
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1609142732471453/  [Proof that Mashu White Feather is NOT Cherokee]

That Facebook group has been 'paused' by an Administrator as of October 9, 2022.

One of six Administrators is Lianna Elizabeta Costantino:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1609142732471453/user/783750636/
"Presentation: Administrator for Proof that Mashu White Feather is NOT Cherokee since September 3, 2017".

https://www.facebook.com/lianna.costantino/
"Presentation: Citizen of the Cherokee Nation (OK) [Cherokee letters not possible to post] Storyteller".

TAAF - The Tribal Alliance Against Frauds
« Reply #7 on: November 03, 2022, 10:42:45 pm »
Hello all.  This is Lianna Costantino.  I believe that "WhittierDeluxe28789" is either Michael Kreal, Amy Marie Clark, or one of their cronies, all of whom are upset because Michael was outed as a pretendian here and with AIM, who were not impressed with him:

  https://www.facebook.com/groups/559486661590455

I am indeed a co-founder and the current director of TAAF, the Tribal Alliance Against Frauds, an intertribal anti-fraud task force.  We do very similar work to y'all.  We have our own methodologies and goals, etc.  We totally support what you do, but what we do is the result of our own independent research.  The Unsettling Genealogies Conference was put on by one of our members.  We're super proud of it.  We also participated recently in a documentary in Canada on pretendianism there.  Our members consist of federally recognized tribal citizens from the U.S. and status First Nations folks from Canada and allies. 

We did out "Mashu Whitefeather", the "RiverWinds" and many others. 

I am a citizen of the Cherokee Nation.   TAAF is indeed incorporated and registered *with the state of NC* on the Qualla Boundary, which I can easily show anyone.  We did that very intentionally.   We are NOT registered with TERO, because we don't need to be.  WE ARE NOT SELLING ANYTHING and we don't have employees. 

Any questions, feel free to ask.   Michael has been very toxic as of late in his attempts to harass and spread lies about myself and TAAF, hoping that this will somehow magically make him an NDN, lol.  No one cares, and he's still not an NDN. 

I have no idea what "restoration village" is.  I don't know what "Holy Fool Arts" is either.  TAAF is a non-profit and we all volunteer 100% of our time. 

Michael appears to be a bit unhinged, and most of what he says is nonsense.  I have no clue where he comes up with most of it. 

I seriously doubt that Michael is my neighbor.....   And as y'all here have astutely responded, TAAF needs no "license" to do what we do.  We are a non-profit, blowing the whistle on frauds.  We don't need a license to investigate anyone either.  We do people's genealogy and research fraud. 

Michael is whining about a midwifery license because he knows I used to be a direct access midwife, years ago, in California.  So he's telling people I'm practicing midwifery in NC without a license, which is just more nonsense.  And midwifery is certainly legal here, you just have to be an RN and working under a doctor here to do that.  Which I never have/will....   He's correct that I have never been nor will I ever be a member of AIM.  The Pagan stuff again, lol.  There is indeed a place called the Sylvan Hearth Pagan Temple.  A physical space with a lovely group of people that I used to have the honor of proudly serving.  Their physical property is recorded with the county they're in.  But it has nothing to do with me any longer, and either way, it is 100% irrelevant here.  Michael's religious bigotry and ignorance aren't helping his case any, and they won't magically make him an NDN either. 

I'm really starting to think he is actually mentally ill.....    Which all of you seemed to pick right up on, recognizing his nonsense for what it is.  Thank you.   He's like a chigger....   God bless his little white cotton socks. 

Hope this clears things up.   I'm right here if anyone has any questions.   Thank you to NAFPS for doing what you do and for seeing through the nonsense. 

 Love, Lianna   




Offline Sparks

  • Posts: 1437
Re: TAAF - The Tribal Alliance Against Frauds
« Reply #8 on: November 04, 2022, 02:22:43 am »
Thank you Lianna Costantino for your post.

The Unsettling Genealogies Conference was put on by one of our members.  We're super proud of it.

We have this topic here in the NAFPS Forum:
http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=5585.0
[Unsettling Geneologies: Unmasking Pseudo-Indians]

We also participated recently in a documentary in Canada on pretendianism there.

https://www.indianz.com/News/2022/09/30/the-pretendians-documentary-from-canada-tackles-hot-topic/
https://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/the-passionate-eye/identity-wars-what-makes-an-indigenous-person-indigenous-and-how-do-pretendians-complicate-things-1.6595901
https://www.cbc.ca/passionateeye/episodes/the-pretendians

We did out "Mashu Whitefeather", the "RiverWinds" and many others.

http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=5097.0
[Larry Lewis AKA Mashu White Feather]

http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=1897.0
[Jose Arnaldo Rivera & Laralyn Davis AKA Joseph & Laralyn Riverwind]

Offline Sparks

  • Posts: 1437
Re: TAAF - The Tribal Alliance Against Frauds
« Reply #9 on: November 04, 2022, 02:35:31 am »
I have no idea what "restoration village" is.  I don't know what "Holy Fool Arts" is either.

WhittierDeluxe28789 has been asked:

Hi Whittier, I read Restorationvillagearts.org and I couldn't see where they were connected to TAAF?  Could you please show where this group restorationvillage/holyfools are connected with TAAF? And how is TAAF making any money?

https://restorationvillagearts.org/rva-fellows/holy-fool-arts/

Who are these people and why are they the fan club of the woman legally renamed as Liana Elizabeta Constatino.

They claim biblical prophecy but are the money grabbers for the phony Tribal Alliance Against Frauds.

This thread: http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=5630.0 [Holy Fool Arts]

Offline Sparks

  • Posts: 1437
Re: TAAF - The Tribal Alliance Against Frauds
« Reply #10 on: November 04, 2022, 02:54:54 am »
I believe that "WhittierDeluxe28789" is either Michael Kreal, Amy Marie Clark, or one of their cronies, all of whom are upset because Michael was outed as a pretendian …

This is highly problematic, because several times in the remainder of your post you just assume that WhittierDeluxe28789 is Michael Kreal. He is just one of your suggestions. I can see from my quotes in other topics that WhittierDeluxe28789 joined with the profile name halokamarie84. Introductory post with the headline "Halito!! Chim Achukma!":

Hi all. I am a Citizen of the Choctaw Nation.
I live near Qualla Boundary - I'm often accused by EBCI citizens that they think I am EBCI. (My grandmother was a Davis - but I am a fully carded and voting citizen of an Okie Nation. LOL)

I am an AIMster.  Try to steer clear of drama but even the best attempts sometimes gets cornered straight smack dab in the middle of Dramaville.

I do have an objection to fakers of any ethnicity.

But our ethnicity seems to be blessed with the Romance and the Fakery.

So please just refer to the profile name only until you are 100% certain who the person is (and can prove it to the rest of the NAFPS members).

Re: TAAF - The Tribal Alliance Against Frauds
« Reply #11 on: November 04, 2022, 06:11:53 am »
Thanks and sure thing.  But that confirms for me that it is Amy Marie Clark.   And that the rest of what I said here applies. The two of them and a couple of their cohorts have been doxing and harassing me everywhere I go and the language they've used is exactly the same. So I'm sure it's them. Just saying.  Pretty toxic individuals.  Exact same language/complaints. 

halokamarie84

  • Guest
Re: TAAF - The Tribal Alliance Against Frauds
« Reply #12 on: November 26, 2022, 05:44:34 pm »
Activities surrounding a noon Saturday march in support of the Black Lives Matter movement started with a pre-dawn cleanup.

An event organizers called the “Solidarity Peace Walk,” was Sylva’s third event following the May 25 death of Minneapolis, Minnesota man George Floyd while under arrest.

Before dawn, Jackson County residents Anthony Bezmen, Robbie Crisp and Colton Williford rushed to the courthouse fountain with paint reducer and brushes to clean up vandalism they had seen moments before on Facebook.

Earlier in the morning, unknown persons spray-painted two messages – “Blank Lives Matter” and “Floyd was a thug” – along the backs of the concrete benches surrounding the fountain.

The Sheriff’s Office is investigating the incident, since it is on county property, and requests anyone with information call Crime Stoppers at 631-1125.

The Solidarity Peace Walk was organized by Utah native Jade Green, Erykah Lasha and Molly Haithcock of Franklin, and Western Carolina University student Andrea Recinos Flores, from Guatemala.

The event began at noon at Bridge Park, where roughly 250 people congregated in front of the gazebo before they began walking.

“I think it sends a really strong message that people are willing to show up somewhere small like Sylva as well as in big cities,” Asheville resident and WCU student Savannah Woodard said. “I think it shows that we have a sense of community here and that we will show up for our black and POC (people of color) community members.”

County Commissioner Gayle Woody attended the walk.

“I am here today because I really support the idea behind this demonstration: that black lives do matter,” she said. “Also, as an elected official, I wanted to see for myself what was going on, not hear about it second- or third-hand.”

“I want to make a change in the world that I’m living in and will probably raise kids in,” Sylva resident and UNC-Chapel Hill student Ajani McIntosh said. “It’s been the same thing for 400-plus years at this point. We’re (African-Americans) tired.”

Flemming Holt of Sylva came to the event with a sign pledging support from Queer Appalachia.

“I would say that still to this day this area is overall not largely accepting of the queer community, just as they are not accepting of people of color,” Holt said. “We understand the struggle of being outsiders in our own home.”

“The African-American community stood up for the queer community many times and it is time to turn around and do the same for them,” her husband, Kenyon Holt, said.

Sylva resident Liana Constantino headed a team of volunteer street medics to provide medical support, water and snacks for protesters.

“Until black lives matter, no lives matter,” Constantino said. “We’re here to try and maintain life.”

The WCU chapter of fraternity Pi Lambda Phi provided free water, snacks and sunscreen.

Nantahala resident Sarah Cochran sold “Solidarity in WNC” stickers, decals and shirts, donating proceeds to organizations supporting black and indigenous people.

“I particularly want to shape the experiences of children and young people, people who are going to be the future,” Cochran said. “In order to change the future we have to start now.”

The crowd began marching at 12:45 p.m. west on Mill Street, up Schulman Street and made a loop down West Main Street and back up Mill Street to Bridge Park.

Among other things, they chanted, “No justice, no peace, no racist police,” “I can’t breathe,” and the names of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Taylor was killed March 13 in her home in Louisville, Kentucky when police executed a no-knock search warrant.

The route the protesters took meant they never crossed paths with a group of quiet non-participants at the fountain.

About 10 in total were gathered to support #AllLivesMatter, they said. They also planned to protect the Confederate monument.

“We’re here to make sure the monument doesn’t get taken down and that it takes no damage,” K.C. Smith said. “The statue is part of the heritage of the people of the mountains that actually fought, that kept the North out on this front, at least for a while.”

When the marchers returned to Bridge Park, a series of speakers took the stage.

Cochran told a story about a black man who boarded a bus she was riding and said, “I’m not going to rob anyone,” and asked for help. No one responded, she said.

“Your small acts of kindness matter so much,” Cochran went on to say. “Especially to people who see the lack of them all the time.”

After the scheduled speakers, a few crowd members spoke. Sylva resident Michael McIntosh, father of Ajani, spoke first.

“When you get in your car, do you pull out your driver’s license and registration and put it on the dash?” he asked. “When you see a sheriff’s car, are you scared to death? No, you are not, because that is your privilege. But this is what we (African Americans) live every day. Staying in the streets? Yeah, that’s OK, but what we have to do is get legislation. It doesn’t change with anything else.”

halokamarie84

  • Guest
Re: TAAF - The Tribal Alliance Against Frauds
« Reply #13 on: November 26, 2022, 05:49:11 pm »
Walking Our Spiritual Paths:
An Introduction to the Spirituality of the Cherokee People
March 14-19, 2023
Cherokee, NC
For five days, retreat participants will attend presentations by Cherokee tribal members on a variety of topics centered around Cherokee spirituality. The legends, language, sense of place, history, culture, connection and food will slowly reveal the depth of the Cherokee spirituality and offer participants a background to reflect on their own expression of spiritual growth. The times of prayer and theological reflection will integrate the learning with the participant’s own life experience.

To be explored…

Traditional Cherokee spirituality and beliefs

Cherokee history and Trail of Tears

Cherokee culture and food

Historical grief and inter-generational trauma

How Cherokees have integrated Cherokee spirituality and symbols into Christian worship

How to avoid cultural appropriation and how to be an ally

Visit to Kituwah, Cherokee Mother Town

Get the Registration brochure here.

For more information contact:

Lianna Costantino
cherokeespiritualityretreat@gmail.com
828-331-8688


halokamarie84

  • Guest
Re: TAAF - The Tribal Alliance Against Frauds
« Reply #14 on: November 26, 2022, 05:50:21 pm »
On October 9, 2003 The Sylva Herald reported that "religious debate returned to Sylva last week as a local Baptist preacher and pagan high priestess traded volleys during an Oct. 2 meeting of Sylva's town board. Speaking for the pagans, High Priestess Lianna Costantino-Cardon of the Sylvan Hearth Pagan Temple refuted statements the Rev. Larry Perry made about her group during the board's Sept. 4 session. 'We do not believe in drug use or in converting children, unless we're asked to do so by a child's parents,' she said, adding that Perry got some of his information from a Web site not affiliated with her group. Costantino-Cardon said she was once a police officer in Los Angeles and has served in the U.S. Army as a chaplain for Wiccan soldiers. 'Dialogue more. If you want to know what a pagan person believes, ask me.'" Costantino-Cardon said the pagan group would continue to meet in Sylva's parks.