NAFPS Forum
General => Frauds => Topic started by: educatedindian on April 08, 2008, 01:51:43 am
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I received this email about Ely, altered in order to protect the individual:
"She claimed...to be [Cherokee] and used this to her advantage but...her mother is white which [means she can't be the clan she claims]. She also claimed to be Eastern Band. The registrar for SECCI [says] that she was enrolled there.
She also claims Micmaq and is originally from Canada. Her deceased husband Donald Ely was American. She is here on a green card.
Her full legal name is Thelma Jane Ely. She claims to have a PHD in Psychology and another in Theology. Her resume appeared to be fabricated.
She travels back east to do seminars...energy medicine, sells sweatlodges, vision quests, and teaches a Hollow Bone ceremony in which she teaches students to open themselves up to spirit possession to guide them to cross over, such as after plane crashes and other traumatic incidents. She also teaches and offers counseling, housecleanings.
She is also mixing and appropriating Hawaiian and other traditional beleifs...She claims to be a Keetoowah but is of the Nuyagi variety. She also drinks alcohol which is strictly against Keetoowah beleif and practice. She is the former partner of Sam Beeler, who left her in 2006."
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Ely has a couple different sites.
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http://www.peacemakerschool.org/about.html
Jane Ely, Ph.D., D.Min. is the Dean and co-founder of The Peacemaker School.
She is trained in psychodynamics, journey and imaginal therapy, integrative energy
healing, and traditional American Indian medicine practices. She is a spiritually
traditional American Indian, an enrolled Cherokee and Mi'kmaq.
non-linear aspects of our true self that hold the creative potential of empowerment and healing needed to navigate through the times in which we are now living.
Jane has a private professional healing practice in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania; Wilmington, Delaware; and Lihue, Hawaii. She developed and teaches a four-year apprenticeship program on transformational energy psychology and hands-on-healing. She teaches world-wide on the subjects of: peacemaking, death and
dying - the art of transformation, environmental awareness, the laying-on-of-hands, and the healing power of ceremonial practices.
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In spite of its name, the "Peacemakers" basically are selling ceremonies which she says are Native but often seemed more like feel good claims.
"Peacemaker School retreats....Each retreat includes techniques for: meditation, spiritual practices, ceremony, the creative arts, and discussion/participation in the form of talking-stick council circles. Retreats are built on the principles of: high play, experiential exercises, self-awareness training, reflective integration time and feedback."
"Jane offers, the 'skillful means' taught encompass both personal self-reflection exercises working with ingrained and often unconscious behaviors and
energy medicine healing techniques [working with the human energy field. She will teach techniques that arise directly from ancient Native American “laying-on-of-hands??? methods of healing. Students will also explore some very old indigenous practices known as “mask work??? to grow their self-awareness, to shift troublesome behaviors, and to help them grow their souls. She incorporates American Indian
Ceremony into many of her teachings."
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http://www.drjaneely.com/about.html
"Jane Ely, Ph. D., D. Min., enrolled Cherokee-Mi’kmaq
Jane is trained in transpersonal psychology, imaginal therapy, dream work, journeywork, and energy medicine for transformational healing. Most recently, she earned her Doctor of Ministry from The University of Creation Spirituality with an emphasis on Indigenous Spirituality. She follows the traditional spiritual practices of her American Indian ancestors and combines both academic and indigenous wisdom approaches to healing in her private, therapeutic practice. She is also a graduate of the Brennan School of Healing Science Training, 1994."
That "university" is basically one guy, an ex priest kicked out for mixing the Catholic faith with just about anything and everything.
http://www.matthewfox.org/sys-tmpl/htmlpage20/
According to wikipedia, (not the most reliable of sources) that included mixing in sweatlodges and Wicca.
The "Brennan school" is another place that seems to be largely one person doing all the teaching. It has no accreditation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Brennan
Back to Ely's claims.
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"In 1998 she founded and is presently the Dean of The Peacemaking School of Spiritual Healing (www.peacemakerschool.com). The School is dedicated to fostering peacemaking skills in the world and is modeled upon the tenants of the Great Peacemaker of the Iroquois Confederacy."
I've nver heard of Iroquois doing "high play" and "experiential awareness."
"In 2002, she founded The American Indian Speakers Bureau, comprised of a group of elders dedicated to dispelling American Indian stereotypes and to providing accurate educational and cultural traditions, history and contemporary knowledge in lectures and classes for schools and community groups of all ages."
There are at least two different groups by that name. None of them mention her.
http://www.wisdomoftheelders.org/
http://www.turtleislandstorytellers.net/
The only place that mentions her as being part of these groups (much less founding them) is her own website.
There is another questionable person who also mentions being part of that "speakers bureau".
http://healing.about.com/od/hptx/p/hhp_dancingelk.htm
"She is a writer, Remembering the Ancestral Soul: Soul Loss and Recovery, AuthorHouse Publishers, www.authorhouse.com "
Authorhouse is a vanity press, self published. They publish anyone who will pay them.
Also:
http://www.gohawaii.com/event?id=11221
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What is an "enrolled Cherokee-Mi’kmaq"?
Enrolled with which Nation?
Edit to add:
SECCI = Southeastern Cherokee Council, Inc.
SOUTHEASTERN CHEROKEE COUNCIL - SECCI
The Southeastern Cherokee Council, Inc., a non-profit organzation registered in the state of Georgia with Bands located in all 50 states.
http://www.secci.com/
Southeastern Cherokee Council - http://www.shelbynet.net/~secci/ Information and online applications from this mixed-blood group based in Georgia. ...
This group doesn't have federal or state recognition. So basically, Jane Ely is enrolled in a cultural/heritage society.
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Years ago they(SECCI) was a oart if the State Recognized Georgia Tribe Southeast Cherokee Confederacy, but they split from them, now a non-profit.
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Georgia never recognized the Southeastern Cherokee Confederacy. They petitioned, but were turned down.
Southeastern Cherokee Confederacy, Inc. Letter of Intent to Petition 03/09/1978; Declined to Acknowledge 11/25/1985 (50 FR 39047). Became the American Cherokee Confederacy on 1/31/1996, with a breakaway group Southeastern Cherokee Council forming on the same day.
http://www.aaanativearts.com/tribes-by-states/georgia_tribes.htm
Neither the American Cherokee Confederacy nor the Southeastern Cherokee Council are recognized by Georgia.
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Yhat's good to know, I know they has been a hassle down there recently over who is who.
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More on her. For a supposed Cherokee and Micmaq, she keeps referring to Iroquois as "her elders" a lot, along with lots of human potential, pop psychology, and Nuage buzzwords and claims.
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http://earthharmonyhome.com/conscious-language-1-jane-ely-episode-34/
Conscious language describes energy in the present now
Words as a tuning fork of clarity
Accessing more of ourselves
Where is your passion
The potential of who we are becoming
Dissolving the old paradigm
How to manifest now
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For a supposed Cherokee, she uses the medicine wheel a lot. Not sure if she's knocking off H Storm or Sun Bear.
Could our Cherokee speakers tell us if what she's speaking is what she claims it is?
http://jp.kauaihealthguide.com/directory/display.htm?listID=5043&lspecial=featured&hhsid=88af68935cbee3712750a60b24b7ca4e
"The foundation for these teachings is the Medicine Wheel - a circle of life representing all creation.
The four aspects represented are the physical world - Mother Earth and our own bodies; the emotional world of fluidity and flexibility; the mental world of clear mind and wisdom; and the spiritual world of inter-relatedness with all life forms...
In the southern direction, with the physical Mother Earth and our selves, is the principle of community....
Community balance needs mutual respect and appreciation of differences of others, both culturally and spiritually. The Cherokee word for balance is u-ti-yv-hi. This is a concept of wholeness.
The second aspect of The Medicine Wheel represents cooperation, the emotional world of flexibility, the ability to change and remain fluid - "moving with" rather than moving "against." This is also the home of moving through life changes such as illness and walking into the time of transformation. The Cherokee word for co-operative energy is a-li-go-sv.
...The northern aspect of the Medicine Wheel is the home of our mental well-being.
...The Cherokee word is harmony - nv-wa-to-hi-ya-dv. It embodies the concept of to-hi, the word for peace.
The fourth aspect of the Medicine Wheel is the most significant. It is the practice of spirituality....There is a natural living presence that arises with inclusiveness. In Cherokee the word is a-tlo-ya-s-to-di."
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And here she makes some dubious claims about the Six Nations.
http://jp.kauaihealthguide.com/directory/display.htm?listID=5043&lspecial=featured&hhsid=88af68935cbee3712750a60b24b7ca4e
"In 1992, Jane had a powerful vision that spoke of becoming a bridge-builder and peacemaker. She went on a Vision Fast, part of her American Indian tradition for prayer, insight and renewal, and came back with the vision of offering a series of retreats for others who are in the helping professions and public service. "Creator spoke very literally to me and I saw the beginning of The Peacemaker School it took several years and a few starts to implement the vision."
Drawing on the Six Nations (Iroquois Confederacy) White Roots of Peace that emerged from the Peacemaker who brought together five warring tribes in c. 1450"
Yeah, well...1450 is the date that white historians USED to claim the Confederacy was founded. More recently they've started to aggree with what the Six Nations themselves have long said, that it happened much earlier, as much as a thousand years earlier.
So her alleged elders were somehow repeating what white historians once said, instead of their own actual traditional accounts.
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Here she is knocking off what she says are Six Nations teachings again.
http://www.new-mind.com/HemiSyncChildren/hemisyncchildren.htm
"Turtle Island (a bedtime story by Patricia White Buffalo and Jane Ely, PhD.) An American Indian "Creation" story for bedtime with Hemi-Sync sleep enhancement frequencies. This delightful tale is about how "two leggeds" came to Turtle Island - the land most people know as North America. It is a part of a revered Iroquois oral tradition for conveying spiritual and ancestral knowledge about eh origins and history of their native culture. The narrative teaches children the importance of honoring Mother Earth and all of her creatures. Track 1: Turtle Island voiced by Jane Ely, PhD., with Hemi-Sync sleep enhancement to guide your child into sleep. Track 2: soothing ocean surf (pink noise) with Hemi-Sync sleep enhancement."
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Some very Nuage stuff she claims is Cherokee.
http://jp.lanaihealthguide.com/healthtalk/display.htm?id=520
"We are powerful beings of light. We can shift our inner awareness and consciousness to live in presence, balance and in harmony with all life....
In my mother language [Cherokee] we say “ nv-wa-to-hi-ya-dv, a tlo-ya-s-to-di???
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Three different people she's franchised out.
http://www.agapehealingcenter.com/html/reiki_training.html
"Candy Nicolson is a Master Practitioner and teacher of Usui, Gendai and Karuna Reiki and has been teaching Reiki for over seven years.
....Recently, Candy also completed a four year intensive training program in transformational healing and psychology including shamanic and Buddhist techniques, studying under Jane Ely, PhD., DMin., practiced in the MicMac and Cherokee medicine ways former teacher for the Barbara Brennan School of Healing."
A former teacher now? And apparently claiming to teach Buddhist techniques.
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Second franchisee, whose been trained by many of the more famous frauds.
http://www.hummingbirdwoman.com/bio.asp
"Carol R. Lindsay M.A. has worked in the holistic health field since 1987. She is a graduate of The Institute for Therapeutic Touch (1987) and the Barbara Brennan School of Healing (1997). She has studied the medicine way with Sun Bear, AmyLee and Jane Winyote Ely, shamanic studies with Jane Winyote Ely (Native American), Tom Cowan (Celtic shamanism) and Larry Peters (Tibetan shamanism), taken workshops with Babatunde Olatungi, Stephen Levine, Shelby Hammitt and a wilderness encounter with Doug Elliott through Omega Institute."
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The last one she claims to be starting a shamanic school with. Another alleged Cherokee claiming to be an expert in Lakota traditions (along with just about everything else, even Egyptian!).
http://www.schoolofsacredministries.org/school/faculty.html
"Shirley and Dar Khabbaz - Lakota Traditions
Shirley specializes in working with death practices and is of Cherokee descent. She is currently working with Jane Ely in starting a Shamanic School. Shirley has an MS in Education, has taught twenty-six years in the public schools, and was voted one of the top teachers of the gifted in the state of Pennsylvania in 1986. She has worked with Lakota elders on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota for the past twenty years. She has been working with shamanic teachings from South America for the past five years and has studied ancient Egyptian healing practices and Kahuna healing. Shirley is a Ceremonial Leader, a grandmother and is especially interested in empowering abused women."
Dar, Shirley's son, is an expert in the Lakota tradition and is also of Cherokee descent."
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As for Patricia White Buffalo, who did the kids CD with her....
I haven't actually felt sorry for one of these fraudulent practitioners in a long time, but she seems so obviously lost, even after decades of trying everything but the kitchen sink.
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http://www.beheavenonearth.com/index_files/Patricia.htm
....Then what seemed to be the worst turn of events happened: Patricia was laid-off from her job, and her businesses failed. This forced her to sell her home and most of her earthly possessions were lost. Her sense of loss and despair were great, her sense of what life was about and her place in it was destroyed. Little did she know that this great loss would become the catalyst that began her spiritual journey.
....she began studying metaphysical literature and working with her first teacher, Ginny De Angles. Ginny introduced her to the basic laws of metaphysics, astrology, the chakra system, the Tarot Deck, and the spiritual teachings of Ernest Holmes, author of The Science of Mind....
Shortly after ending her work with Ginny, Patricia met Amitá, who became her next teacher. She opened the door to Shamanism for Patricia by taking her on guided journeys where she would enter altered states of consciousness. Guided outwardly by Amitá and inwardly by her power animals and spiritual guides, Patricia discovered and healed deep childhood traumas....At the end of their work together, Amitá gave Patricia her spiritual name, “WhiteBuffalo???, which means “abundance of light???.
....During this time of self-discovery, Patricia came across the book, Hands of Light by Barbara Brennan, Ph.D., a study of the Human Energy Field and its relationship to health and disease which combined spirituality and psychological processes with hands-on-healing. She was intrigued by Brennan’s scientific background. This satisfied Patricia’s logical mind for more tangible knowledge of the realm of metaphysics. She enrolled in the Barbara Brennan School of Healing (BBSH) and began formal training in the Healing Arts. The four-year program required a deep level of personal transformational work with a combination of energetic exercises, personal therapy, and receiving and performing hands-on healings. She graduated in 1993 and entered the teaching program. She became a teacher at BBSH as well as becoming one of the program’s Assistant Deans.
....Patricia was inspired by John Pierrakos’ work, the founder of The Institute of Core Energetics... She enrolled in the Institute’s four-year program that specializes in body-psychotherapy...Patricia graduated in 1995 and became a Core Energetics Therapist.
Patricia was guided to return to California and felt called to share her rich Shamanic experiences. She founded the “Winds of Change,??? a group of Shamanic healers coming together to create transformational journeys through sound....The “Winds of Change??? performed for 8 years and hosted “Awakening Our Earth Heritage and Spirit in Concert.???
Continuing her quest for psycho-spiritual teachings, Patricia enrolled in The Center for Intentional Living, a three-year program covering the full-spectrum of psychological principles....She graduated from the program in 1998.
Patricia still felt a void in her own development not yet filled by all her training and personal work. This void guided her to find her next teacher, Dona Monterelli....
She felt guided to study Eastern Spirituality and to “sit??? with several Indian Guru’s. The first was Guru Mayi at the Siddha Yoga Meditation Ashram in Oakland, Ca. She then traveled to Germany to see Mother Mira, and finally her quest led her to India to see Sai Baba. It was at this time that Patricia experienced her most profound ego death. Rising at four in the morning, standing for hours in line with hundreds of people, sitting for hours on a cool cement floor, and taking her turn to crawl on her knees to receive Darshan from the Guru started the process....
Patricia returned from India full of desire for a devotional practice. This desire led her back to Guru Mayi, also known as Swami Chidvilasananda. Patricia has been devoted to the Path of Siddha Yoga since 1997 practicing mantra repetition, meditation, and devotional chanting.
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And a really ugly note. One of the people Ely works with, Dar Khabbaz, was convicted of domestic violence and also sued by his ex wife in civil court. The name doesn't seem that common to me, but I suppose it's possible there could be two Dar Khabbazes. The Dar Khabbaz in both stories is from roughly the same area of Pennsylvania.
It's especially ironic since the Khabazzes did several peace actvist events. There's a photo of him here about halfway down.
http://allnationspeace.com/
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http://lists101.his.com/pipermail/smartmarriages/2000-February/000066.html
Domestic abuse victim sues spouse
for damages
Bucks County woman's civil court action is uncommon,
experts say.
02/18/00
By DIANE MARCZELY GIMPEL
Of The Morning Call
After her husband hit her, Laura Khabbaz took steps many do
under similar circumstances: She got a protection-from-abuse
order, helped in her husband's criminal prosecution and filed for
divorce.
The upper Bucks County woman recently took an additional step:
She sued her husband for damages.
Khabbaz's decision to go after her husband in civil court is one that
is not commonly made by abused spouses in the region, area
attorneys and anti-domestic violence advocates say. And though it
is not uncommon statewide and nationwide, it should be done
more often, according to a lawyer with the Pennsylvania Coalition
Against Domestic Violence.
''It's definitely underutilized,'' said Dawn Marron, a staff attorney for
the coalition, which is working on a national project studying legal
justice for battered women.
In her lawsuit, Khabbaz of Kintnersville said her husband, Clifford
Dar Khabbaz of Richlandtown, hit her repeatedly with his hands,
fists and other parts of his body on April 23, 1999. The attack left
Laura Khabbaz with cuts, bruises and damage to her teeth and
eye. Court records indicate Khabbaz accused his wife of hitting and
biting him during the altercation, but she was found not guilty of
harassment in district justice court. Khabbaz pleaded guilty in
county court to harassment and simple assault-mutual combat.
Laura Khabbaz is seeking more than $50,000 for assault,
intentional infliction of emotional distress and other damages
stemming from her physical pain, mental anguish and humiliation.
Her husband could not be reached for comment. The lawyer who
represented him in the criminal proceeding, Charles Gordon of
Hellertown, also could not be reached.
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I received this information about Khabazz.
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He works with David Winston from the White Path Society. [Khabazz] is an "apprentice" to David, He also runs "Lakota" sweats at his mothers home near Quakertown, PA. He was adopted into the Fools Crow family and studied Lakota ways untill he had a "vision" and switched to Cherokee. This is how [Khabazz] hooked up with Winston.
This Dr. Ely is the ex-partner of Carroll "Medicine Crow" Halloway, a newage "Shaman" from the Sandhill Band of Indians in NJ, a group that Winston bought his way into through Sam Beeler, the former "Chief" who stepped down to allow "Medicine Crow" to step up and fix things. At one time the Sand Hill were considered legit folks but as of recent it seems they are as fake and new age as many others in the East.
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http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfAPR08/nf040808-5.htm
http://www.medicinecrow.com.au/
I met Medicine Crow in 2006, he was quite personable to me although others found him abrasive. First i've heard about him and Jane being former partners; is my "sister" been keeping secrets from me?
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I know about a year ago I did a lot of digging around on things related to the SECCI and Sand Hill Band and Medicine Crow.
I found a lot of questionable stuff on all of them, and especially Medicine Crow.
http://web.archive.org/web/20050912093129/www.medicinecrow.com.au/about/index.html (http://web.archive.org/web/20050912093129/www.medicinecrow.com.au/about/index.html)
http://web.archive.org/web/20031222094411/www.medicinecrow.com.au/medicinebag/visionquest.html
(http://web.archive.org/web/20031222094411/www.medicinecrow.com.au/medicinebag/visionquest.html)
Below is a link to a Womans retreat he was advertising ;
http://web.archive.org/web/20031222094208/www.medicinecrow.com.au/medicinebag/womensretreat.html (http://web.archive.org/web/20031222094208/www.medicinecrow.com.au/medicinebag/womensretreat.html)
There is a whole thread on Medicine Crow here ;
http://forum.americanindiantribe.com/viewtopic.php?t=1489&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=
sand+hill+beeler (http://forum.americanindiantribe.com/viewtopic.php?t=1489&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=
sand+hill+beeler)
The last post on page one says the womans retreats above were advertised for $650 , though I don't see a price advertised anywhere.
The guy looks like a typical commercial New Age Shaman to me.
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does any one know of a way to check if some one is a real Dr. Phd.
she is the dean of her own school
go figure
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Hmmmmmmmmmm..........
"Rev Medicine Crow is an elder and an enrolled member of the Sandhill Band of Indians. Who are Cherokee- Delaware descendants. They are the oldest documented tribe on record in the state of New Jersey. "
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Brother ::)
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Where's Ray Writenhour when we need him?He seemed to know a lot about folks up there.
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her doctorates seem to be bogus. not attained from accredited schools, thus meaning less.
even an honorary degree from a real university carries more weight than the ones she has.
neither the ones she has, or an honorary degree allows someone to teach at an accredited school. since her degrees are bogus, and on her site she mentions at least one "school" as if it were a reputable place of learning which it is not (first time I have ever heard of it was on here), as far as I am concerned she is bogus.
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Looks like Dr Jane Ely is conducting Stomp dances in Hawaii with a Cherokee named Steve Wolf.
http://www.gohawaii.com/event?id=11221 (http://www.gohawaii.com/event?id=11221)
KAUAI POW WOW AT KAPA'A BEACH PARK
Address: Kapaa Beach Park
Kapaa, HI 96746
Beginning Date: 10/12/2007
Ending Date: 10/14/2007
URL:
Ticket URL:
Description: The gates to the pow wow grounds at Kapa`a Beach Park will open at 4 pm on Friday, October 12, 2007. For the second year in a row, Dr. Jane Ely (Cherokee/Mi`kmaq) and Steve Wolf (Cherokee) will be leading a Stomp Dance, starting about 7 pm and going until 8:30 pm.
I wonder if she is doing it again this year - or if this is another one ?
http://www.kauaipowwow.com/ (http://www.kauaipowwow.com/)
Kaua'i Pow Wow 2008
Where: Kapa'a Beach Park
When: September 26 - 28, 2008
"Drum, The Heartbeat Of The People"
Fri, Sept. 26:
Gates open at 4:00 pm close at 9:00pm
Cherokee Stomp Dance Demo 7:00 - 9:00pm
Contact: Steve Wolf Shimanek
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Actually, Jane was not conducting anything.... Women do not conduct stomp dances. I am told she will be conducting vision quests back east at the time the Kauai Powwow is scheduled.
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I received this information about Khabazz.
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He works with David Winston from the White Path Society. [Khabazz] is an "apprentice" to David, He also runs "Lakota" sweats at his mothers home near Quakertown, PA. He was adopted into the Fools Crow family and studied Lakota ways untill he had a "vision" and switched to Cherokee. This is how [Khabazz] hooked up with Winston.
This Dr. Ely is the ex-partner of Carroll "Medicine Crow" Halloway, a newage "Shaman" from the Sandhill Band of Indians in NJ, a group that Winston bought his way into through Sam Beeler, the former "Chief" who stepped down to allow "Medicine Crow" to step up and fix things. At one time the Sand Hill were considered legit folks but as of recent it seems they are as fake and new age as many others in the East.
The Sand Hill have split into two groups. Carroll Holloway is Chairman of the Sand Hill Band of Lenape and Cherokee Indians; their headquarters are in Montague, NJ. The Sand Hill Indians, with Pete Smith as Chairman, is headquartered in Monmouth County, NJ. Not sure when the split occurred or the reasons for it.
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http://earthharmonyhome.com/conscious-language-1-jane-ely-episode-34/
Conscious language describes energy in the present now
Words as a tuning fork of clarity
Accessing more of ourselves
Where is your passion
The potential of who we are becoming
Dissolving the old paradigm
How to manifest now
I urge all of you who are here with questions about Jane Ely to listen to what she has to say in her own words....the truth of her can be heard on the above link. She even sings a special song at about 14.5 minutes into the program. The Cherokee words she uses are as stated according to my English to Cherokee reference book (a very handy tool).
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http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfAPR08/nf040808-5.htm
http://www.medicinecrow.com.au/
I met Medicine Crow in 2006, he was quite personable to me although others found him abrasive. First i've heard about him and Jane being former partners; is my "sister" been keeping secrets from me?
Wolfhawaii, you consider Jane Ely your "sister"?
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I know most of these people being discussed....
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I have just finished reading through these submissions about Dr. Jane Ely, and I feel very compelled to respond to these accusations/observations personally. Dr. Ely has been my friend, client, counselor and teacher for a number of years now, and, as far as I and many people in this community are concerned, her integrity is beyond reproach. She moved to Kauai four years ago with Sam Beeler, and my husband and I became good friends with both of them. Early in our relationships, Sam told my husband and I, on separate occasions, that Jane "Is the real deal". And during the years that I have known her, she has proven not only to me, but to our community, that she is, indeed, of high integrity and is always giving of herself, from the heart. I know many people, including my own clients, who have benefited greatly and have been healed as a result of their work with her. And, as a teacher, she has always proven her skills and humility in the teachings she presents. I feel honored to know her.
A couple of years ago, Sam introduced me to Steve Wolf, aka "Wolfhawaii", at the Kauai Pow Wow. Both Jane and Sam asked that if I knew of any possible jobs and/or places to live for Steve, because he wanted to move here, to please let them know. Dr. Ely assisted Steve and his friend, Aleta (aka "Frederika"), in their transition to Kauai from Oahu last year, and asked of me and many others for their assistance in helping them to get settled. She gave them both room and board for two months, at no charge, and then introduced her to a mutual friend who has given them both a free apartment for the last several months. To my knowledge, neither of them have worked (for very long), or have paid for any accommodations, since they have been here.
I have lived in Hawaii for almost 30 years, and my husband has been here for almost 40 years, and I can tell you with some authority that a Fraud does not do well, or last very long, on these small islands. I did not feel that I would ever be close with Steve Wolf from the first day I met him, and he has proven to many here that he is a user, a taker, and contoller. He has brought harm to many, including several of my personal friends. He is now bringing harm to my friend, Dr. Ely, and whatever his motivation is, it is toxic. It is my understanding that the Kauai Pow Wow Council is falling apart, especially since his involvement, as many who have worked hard over the last many years have resigned. But that's not my kuleana (responsibility). You can research that yourselves. His questioning her lineage because her mother is white is rather despicable; is he buying into the blood quantum that the govenement has established for the Native American Indian People and our brothers and sisters of Hawaiian ancestry? Shame on you. The truth will prevail.
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Aloha Meleika (Song of the Squid or should i say Carol?); as long as you are naming names, twisting facts, and making accusations, you could at least say who you are. Your facts are in error and your accusing me of causing harm to Jane is not supported by anything I have said in this thread. All I said was that a) i know many of the people mentioned in this thread; b) I met Medicine Crow and he was very personable to me; c) I had not heard of Jane and Medicine Crow being in partnership before and wondered if Jane was keeping secrets from me; d) that a former member here Ray Writenhour seemed to know many of the people being discussed on this thread; d) that Jane's truth can be heard in her own words on the link to her radio show. All that seems fairly innocuous to me.
Addressing some of your other contentions: Aleta has never been known as "Frederika" and does not participate on this board ; Jane needed a housesitter when she went back east to do seminars and asked Aleta and I to do it and care for her cats, saying she paid $25 per day. We continued paying rent on our place on Oahu while helping Jane. We bought our own food and shared it with Jane. She sold her condo before she went back east and we did most of the packing and moving for her, putting items in storage and in the rental unit she obtained. Upon her return she did not pay the money she had said she would pay until Aleta asked her about it, telling her that she could give whatever amount felt right to her....she gave Aleta $100. for the 3 1/2 weeks of house/catsitting. We then made an arrangement with Jane's student Rene to do property maintenance, yard care, and animal care in exchange for a studio apt and shop space. We have kept up our end of the deal since Nov. 07 but are now moving due to Rene's need to rent the space for money instead of our work trade arrangement. She gave us 2 weeks notice to move; the law specifies 45 days. As to work, i worked on the property every day, and Aleta worked as a janitor until she injured her back at work and is now on temporary disability. Your statement that frauds do not do well or last long on Kauai is funny; this place is full of them and their supporters. It is a cottage industry here. Your understanding regarding the Kauai Powwow Council is flawed. All of the former officers had resigned or had expressed their intention to resign prior to my being asked to come on board as council president. Since i was elected on 21 Jan 08, my efforts have been directed at trying to reconstitute an effective Board of Directors and clean up the mess left behind by the former officers. Their failure to file the closing report for their last grant will likely result in the denial of the grant for 2008, which will likely result in the cancellation of this year's powwow, and will have an effect on future grant funding as well. I have offered to try to do the final report but the necessary supporting documents have not been provided by the past president Dale Jacobs, and she has not briefed me fully on open actions. Some members of the board appear to be having a hard time moving forward and doing their jobs as well. This all puts the future of the organization in question. Finally, I do not subscribe to blood quantum genocide policies and accept people at their word for who they say they are. I do not tolerate or support liars, however. As you say, the truth will prevail. Remember that what you put out into the world will come back to you.
PS Say hi to Jane for us and let her know she is in our prayers....we don't hear from her anymore since Aleta told her she wasn't going to sign up for Jane's medicine training because there wasn't anything in it she would learn from, and since i refunded the money to her for the drum she wanted to buy from me....the drum just didn't want to be in her care. We figured from the way you looked at us in Costco that day that she must have been talking "stink" about us. We love her anyway, you and Don too.
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Meleika, as long as you are here, perhaps you could clear up a few things for us?
If Ms. Ely is "beyond reproach", how do you explain her claiming to be Cherokee, then teaching a very distorted version of what she says are Iroquois beliefs?
Why does she teach, or perhaps franchise out is a better term, one obvious Nuage fraud after another?
Why does she associate and work with many dubious characters? This includes a wife batterer, Khabazz.
Why is she passing off Nuage nonsense and pop psychology and altmedicine as being Cherokee (or sometimes Iroquois) tradition?
And why do the "Iroquois" elders she claims (who conveniently she never names) not seem to not know the most basic things about their own traditions, except to repeat the mistakes in history books written by white authors?
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The truth will prevail.....
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Wolfhawaii, who are these people?
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Just to clarify Dar Khabazz and his mother did Sundance for many years at Fools Crow but he was not adopted bu Fools Crow, he was adopted by a Mandan-Hitasa man whose wife's neice is Frank Fools Crow's adopted sister.
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This is my first chance to log on since Tuesday 15 April....as to who these people are, it is hard to say but by their fruits you will know them. Aleta and I received an unannounced visit in the early hours of Wednesday 16 April 2008 from Jane Ely and Don Moses, Carol's husband, at our former residence owned by one of Jane's students. Jane said that the discussion here on this site was harmful and asked that I not feed the negativity, and that she wanted to make things "pono" (Hawaiian for peaceful harmonious resolution). There were some further comments, then Don put his face very close to mine and said that Jane was his friend and she was hurting and that he would hurt me if I hurt her. I asked him what I had done to hurt Jane, and he did not reply but reiterated his threat by saying he knew everybody on Kauai and that he could help me or hurt me. For the record, it was Meleika who slung the first mud. I follow the White Path of peace and nonviolence but we are allowed to defend ourselves and will do so vigorously and effectively. My participation in this site will hereafter be limited so we can focus on what is necessary.
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Got a request for information on him. Since he's a longtime associate of Ely's, decided to put it in this thread.
Though claiming to be a shaman and leader for Sandhill over in New Jersey, his website and much of his ceremony selling are based in Australia. All the contact information is for Australia.
One part of the site is still under construction, for selling crystal wands, crystals, and his music CDs.
The testimonials seem to have whites who've been given "Indian" names.
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http://www.medicinecrow.com.au/
We now have an opportunity to participate in your personal Vision Quest with a Master Shaman, Medicine Crow....
At the quest you will learn how to;
Use Ceremony to increase power to your prayers and dreams
Apply telepathy and Clairvoyance to effect a positive outcome in your life through Rainbow Journey Meditations.
Get in touch with your Animal Spirit Totems....
What Happens at the Vision Quest?
Friday
Friday's session will cover Ancient Shamanic Teachings that enable us to use our personal powers to bring about profound change in our lives: how to use your mind to expand your field of personal energy and influence, and the use of the Shaman's drum and rattle. You will also learn how to get in touch with your animal spirit totems and to increase the power of your prayers and dreams. To "speak" to the spirits of nature and to receive advice and guidance. You will be given the "Principles to the Game of Life", a drum ceremony will conclude the session.
Friday Afternoon
The participants will be taken to their personal "power place" to begin their quest for enlightenment in solitude amongst nature. Throughout Friday night, Saturday, and on to early Sunday afternoon, situated within their power circles, participants will endeavour to stay awake, say prayers, do ceremony, journey work, and be available for answers and visions.
Sunday
The final gathering will end with a drum ceremony
1. Earth Medicine Priciples
.....Learn to apply these principles to everyday of your life to be healthy, wealthy and enlightened.
2. Walking in Balance
.....
4. Huna the Shaman's Journey
Crow teaches another way 'in' the Shamans World. A marriage of the Adventure Huna Shaman and the Warrior Shaman, the pathway to power and good health. It incorporates the basic principles of Huna, understanding consciousness, and the lessons behind unpleasant programs, situations and physical symptoms that we draw to our lives. He reveals "The Shaman's Principles". The system that operates behind all systems. The workshop also includes a Second Level Drum Journey to work with your animal or spirit guides. Approx. 4 hours
.....
6. The Rainbow Cocoon
By using the colors of the rainbow, very deep and profound active meditation (Journeywork) can be achieved. This workshop covers the relationship of vibration, sound, rainbow colour, Chakras and well being. It includes a Third Level Healing Journey where one levitates and encapsulates and floats in a healing cocoon of the Rainbow. This is a very powerful Journey for healing and regeneration. Approx. 4 hours.
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Most would consider him questionable at best and an outright fraud at worst.
He says he is Sandhill Cherokee, in fact the chairman of the group. This is not a recognized Cherokee band, and the ancestry of that group is heavily disputed. We have several thread in here on them.
Virtually nothing that he teaches is of Cherokee tradition. Huna, for example is a false version of Hawaiian tradition founded by a white man, Max Long, about 80 years ago.
Vision quest is a ceremony of Plains tribes, not Cherokee. And someone claiming to be Indian based in Australia is obviously not considered ethical.
Also ceremony selling in New Jersey.
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http://www.mysticalworld.net/classes/
Mystical World Bookstore & Enlightenment Center...
Newsletter –Summer 2008....
Women’s Circle with Medicine Crow – New Day!
The Circle is about encouraging and empowering women to stand up and recognize themselves as the caretakers and nurtures of the Earth Mother while gaining respect by demanding it of themselves. The Circle will meet on a regular basis where participants will experience the shamans drum and journey meditations. This will help to bring about a new sense of power and well being.
As of July our Circle moves to the Third Saturday of every month from 1:00 to 4:00 pm.
The cost is just $40.00. (Please note: No Circle in June or August)
.....Shaman’s Workshop with Medicine Crow
Part 1
The Medicine Wheel:
....Medicine Crow teaches the connections between: the Zodiac, the Native American and Australian Medicine Wheels, and you as the Shaman of your destiny. We learn what totems are on our personal Medicine Wheel and conclude with a Shaman’s Journey to connect with your Spirit Totems.
The workshop is open to men, women, and mature teenagers. Participants will need to bring their birth chart and a pad and pen to take notes.
.....Shaman’s Workshop with Medicine Crow
Part 2
Rattle or Drum Making....
Date: Saturday, August 16th from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
Cost: $150.00 Workshop with Rattle making ($175.00 workshop and drum circle)
$275.00 Workshop with Drum making ($300.00 workshop and drum circle)
$40.00 Drum Circle Only (6:00 to 8:00 pm)
Mystical World
Class/Workshop Registration form
648 Ridge Road, Lyndhurst, NJ 07071
201-896-3999
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People that CMC has worked with or franchised out.
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http://www.heatherprice.net/heddy1_002.htm
Heather Price
....She moved to the city in 1995 where she trained to become a social scientist, counsellor and shamanic healing practitioner. Most recently her work has been influenced by the Huna philosophy and teachings of Hawaiian shaman, Serge Kahili King. These teachings were brought to at first by Medicine Crow, a native American shaman, and later by Serge himself.....
Heather works and participates extensively within the community she is living. Her primary interest is in sharing shamanic teachings from the earth. She runs regular 'Shaman's Walks' for free along local beaches and local mountain and is often guest facilitator for monthly gatherigns at a local community gatering place - HEARTspace.....
Her two latest projects are: Journey Cards; for Inner Growth, and Mother Dreaming ~ Father Shining; a shamanic guide for Soul Parenting. These works will be published in the near future.....
B.Soc.Sc.(Couns.), Shamanic Healer, Reiki
Private Practice: Heather Price Creative Counselling and Healing Centre at Sandgate, Brisbane Northern Bayside. Workshops
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Guy who did a drumming circle with him calls CBC a Cherokee Delaware descendant. Look who he turns out to be.
http://www.orble.com/an-evening-with-steven-farmer-phd-a-native-american-drumming-circle-part-1/
"Cherokee-Delaware descendant, Medicine Crow, returned to take leadership of his tribe in New Jersey, USA., announcing that he wouldn’t return to Oz until 2008.
For those of you who don’t know much about this form of meditative shamanic healing/balancing, there really is nothing like a good drumming meditation to help heal and balance our natural rhythms, back in-step with those of the planet upon which we walk. The bonus with Steven Farmer was to be that we would also get to learn a heap more about Power Animals...
Steven Farmer is Doreen Virtue’s Husband...."
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I Love YaBB 2!
Re: Jane Ely
« Reply #24 on: April 15, 2008, 12:42:19 PM » Quote Modify
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The truth will prevail.....
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This place looks amazingly like the Nuyagi Ceremonial Ground near Barryville, NY......I wonder if the Nuyagi folks were/are aware of these commercial activities? I could add a lot more but i wonder if the moderators think enough research has been done and this thread can find a more suitable home?
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The last several times I have checked, all of Jane Ely's website were no longer functional. She is still active here in Hawaii and presumably in the Wilmington DE, Wilkes-Barre PA, NJ/NY area. My wife saw her in Walmart the other day at a distance of about 4 feet and Jane pretended not to see her. Jane did the same to me at the last powwow and disrespected all of the other gourd dancers in the arena in not shaking hands during a giveaway. So much for walking her talk.
I have not found any Eastern Band Cherokee folks who know or claim her, nor have my inquiries to Miqmak folks found any who know her. Jane Ely has solicited members for SECCI here
on Kauai and was enrolled with SECCI according to the former registrar for that organization. There is a thread regarding SECCI elsewhere on the site. http://newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=1166.0 Jane's former partner Sam Beeler had also solicited members for SECCI; this seems odd as he has been said to be enrolled Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma (a claim I seriously doubt) and has been active in the Sandhills Band in NJ. The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma has formed a task force to combat fraudulent Cherokee "tribes" including SECCI and Sandhills. http://taskforce.cherokee.org/LinkCl...d=106&mid=2118
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http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfAPR08/nf040808-5.htm
http://www.medicinecrow.com.au/
I met Medicine Crow in 2006, he was quite personable to me although others found him abrasive. First i've heard about him and Jane being former partners; is my "sister" been keeping secrets from me?
Wolfhawaii, you consider Jane Ely your "sister"?
Notice the quotation marks.... Jane Ely has falsely claimed to be of the same clan I belong to, using this as a way to get me to do things on her behalf until her deception was revealed. Coersion and manipulation are well-used tools in her repertoire.
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The Sand Hill Band have filled a trillion dollar lawsuit. That is not a typo.
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http://www.bluejersey.com/userDiary.do?personId=691
Tue Feb 17, 2009 at 04:53:46 PM EST
The suit by the NJ Sand Hill Band of Lenape and Cherokee Indians filed today, named defendants including Governor Corzine, Secretary of State Nina Wells, and the NJ Commission on American Indian Affairs. Chief Ron Yonaguska Holloway answered questions for NBC news, NJN news, and the Star Ledger reporters at 50 Walnut Street in Newark about how the situation resulted in a lawsuit. Chief Yonaguska Holloway explained the treaty laws involved that had been violated and reiterated that the Governor had refused to even meet with the tribes, despite repeated requests over several years. Also present today were Principal Chief Darius Two Bears Ross of the Ani Tsalagi Onaselagi, Principal Chief Carroll Medicine Crow Holloway of the New Jersey Sand Hill Band of Lenape and Cherokee Indians as well as several other Native Americans. This was a very serious occasion for the Chiefs to be present. It is unfortunate that the stubbornness of the Governor and the Secretary of State to resolve this issue peacefully over the past 2 years has resulted in this lawsuit. Both the Ani Tsalagi and Sand Hill Band had made repeated requests to be included in the Commission on Indian Affairs or even in the report on Native Americans that the Governor KNEW was false, since it left out mention of the Sand Hill Band and the Ani Tsalagi. And so we are here. Our NJ Governor is being sued for knowingly violating the civil rights of our indigenous peoples by ignoring their rights altogether. And it may cost us all quite a bit of money. The amount listed in the suit which is actually LESS than the current value of the property and water rights taken is roughly $1 trillion. Yes. Trillion with a T. As an elected official I try my best to uphold the laws of NJ and stay out of lawsuits by bargaining in good faith. By completely ignoring the rights of the two tribes in question - for whatever reason, our Governor and appointed officials in NJ on the NJ Commission on American Indian have let us down by not even bothering to address this issue till it got to this point... snip [T]he gist is that the Governor and Secretary of State as well as the NJ Commission on American Indian Affairs basically knowingly conspired to eliminate the existence of the oldest indigenous tribe in the state of NJ and in so doing violated nearly every treaty with the Sand Hill Band ever signed.
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The only place I found it posted is pretty right wing, not quite militia types but close.
http://www.thetreeofliberty.com/vb/showthread.php?t=49413
Americans United for Truth and Freedom has lots of articles about gun rights, lots of ominous warnings about the End Times, and posters who claim, for example, that Obama is like Hitler, that the Illuminati control everything in a vast conspiracy, etc.
Note there are several posters there, Limner and and Two Hats, who ID as NDN and suggest they may be members of the tribe.
Found this discussion on an academic listserv that turns up a statement that the "band" is not even recognized by actual Sand Hill descendants.
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http://h-net.msu.edu/cgi-bin/logbrowse.pl?trx=vx&list=H-New-Jersey&month=0902&week=d&msg=JqogJl6cLnA42vZUhuEyQw&user=&pw=
Hello Tim,
Your email was referred to me by Randall Gabrielan, President of the
Monmouth County Historical Commission. The lawsuit was filed by a bogus
group in Paterson who have stolen the identity of the original Sand Hill
Indians of Monmouth County.
My grandparents and great-grandparents were the original owners of the
property known as Sand Hill in Neptune, NJ. For several years this other
group has been claiming that our cousin, Jim Revey, of the NJ Indian
Office in Orange, turned over the tribe to them, which is untrue.
Last year I sent letters to the governor and other state officials to
disclaim this false group and try to separate our names from them.? They
have quite a bit of info on the bluejersey.com criticizing everyone in the
state and us.
We are the descendants of the Richardson-Revey families of Monmouth
County.? NJNTV covered one of our pow-wows in August? 2004 and we have the
film clip taped from News 12.
I can supply more info about the bogus group if you call me- 732-747-5709.
Claire Thomas Garland
Director of Sand HIll Indian Historical Association
PO Box 444, Lincroft, NJ 07738?
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Another article on the suit and some of the history of these folks.....
Headline:
With lawsuit against N.J., little-known Indian group is thrust into spotlight
by Joe Ryan/The Star-Ledger
Sunday March 22, 2009, 6:59 PM
The story of the Sand Hill Indians and the $1 trillion lawsuit begins on a wooded slope in Monmouth County . Rising in Neptune Township , Sand Hill was settled 132 years ago by Lenape and Cherokee Indians who raised cows and chickens and helped build Victorian houses in nearby Asbury Park . Some of their descendants, who say they are more extended family than tribe, still gather for reunions near the ancestral hill.
Claire Garland, a member of the Sand Hill Indians, holds a peace pipe that belonged to James "Long Bear" Revey, the tribe's contemporary patriarch.
But during the last decade, a second group has surfaced in North Jersey, headquartered in Paterson . Its members also call themselves Sand Hill Indians, saying they are named after the same spot.
The trouble is, the Sand Hills of Neptune say the ones in Paterson aren't Sand Hills at all. And therein lies the debate.
It began quietly as a disagreement about genealogy and bloodlines but gradually spiraled into a bitter feud. And now, with a federal lawsuit naming Gov. Jon Corzine and all 21 counties, that feud has thrust a spotlight on the Sand Hills -- a little-known group that historians say may include some of the last few local descendants of New Jersey 's original inhabitants.
Ronald Holloway, who says he is the chief executive of one faction of Sand Hills, has filed a federal lawsuit against Gov. Jon Corzine and all 21 New Jersey counties.
The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Newark last month by two men -- one from Australia , one from California -- who say they are long-lost Sand Hills and are the Paterson group's new leaders. Its demands include state recognition of the Sand Hills and $1 trillion in damages, paid in 1-ounce gold coins.
The move stunned the Sand Hills of Neptune . They accuse the two newcomers of hijacking their heritage to try to extract money from the government.
"They have stolen our name," said Claire Garland, 64, a retired middle-school teacher and member of the Neptune contingent.
In an age of multimillion-dollar tribal casinos, competing genealogical claims among American Indians are fairly frequent, scholars say. But they can be tough to unravel. Tribes traditionally did not keep records. Many records they did have were lost during forced migrations. Bloodlines fade with time. Years later, it can be tough to prove who is related to whom.
"This kind of tangled web is common," said Tom Kavanagh, a Seton Hall University professor of sociology and anthropology who studies American Indian cultures.
Roughly 50,000 people in New Jersey claimed some form of American Indian ancestry on the 2000 census. There are no federally recognized tribes based here.
But during the last three decades, the state Legislature has passed several resolutions acknowledging three groups: the Nanti coke-Lenni Lenape, whose tribal office is in Cumberland County ; the Powhatan-Renape of Burlington County ; and the Ramapough Lenape, headquartered in Mahwah.
Those resolutions, however, did not provide the groups with access to special services or tax breaks.
So who are the Sand Hills? The two sides agree on this much: The Sand Hills are descended from Lenape and Cherokee Indians who intermarried in New Jersey during the 19th century.
Five hundred years ago, New Jersey was home to the Lenape. Vestiges of their language echo in names like Hackensack , Manasquan, Watchung, Lackawana and Cheesequake.
The last large group of Lenape left the state in 1801. But a few clusters remained, including in Monmouth County , where they intermarried with Cherokee who had migrated from the Southeast, according to historians.
During the 1870s, a New York businessman built a summer resort amid the coastal woodlands near what is now Asbury Park . He hired local Lenape-Cherokee craftsmen and carpenters and in 1877 sold them 15 hillside acres, in what eventually became Neptune .
Locals called the spot Sand Hill. And the craftsmen and carpenters came to be called the Sand Hill Indians. They lived there for generations, working as builders, basket weavers and tanners. They had a chief and tribal council system and held ceremonial powwows.
But many of the traditions faded by the mid-20th century. The last powwow was in 1949, and the chief and council structure dissolved four years later, historians say.
"The old people died and nobody stepped up," said Fortune Thomas, 62, who is Garland 's brother and owns an auto body shop in Tinton Falls .
Still, Thomas said the family gathered each Labor Day for reunions in Neptune, where members would grill corn, swap ancestral stories and pull crabs from the Shark River .
Things grew complicated after the 1998 death of James "Lone Bear" Revey.
Revey was the longtime head of the New Jersey Indian Office in Orange . Most say he was the Sand Hills' contemporary patriarch.
But some -- including the Paterson Sand Hills -- contend Revey was more than an unofficial leader. They say he was chief.
Sam Beeler grew up in Paterson and has been active for years in local American Indian causes. As he recalls it, Revey lay dying at age 74 when he asked Beeler to assume leadership of the Sand Hills.
"He asked me to take over," Beeler said.
And so Beeler became chief, he said.
That was news to the Sand Hills of Neptune .
"No one had ever heard of him in our family," said Garland , who lives in Lincroft and has compiled a 17-page family tree stretching back to 1790 using property deeds, obituaries and other records.
At first Beeler and the Neptune Sand Hills were cordial, they said. But harmony was short-lived. Disagreements arose about who owned artifacts at the now-defunct Neptune Museum . Threatening letters were exchanged. Garland asked Beeler to stop calling himself chief.
Then two of Beeler's relatives arrived: Carroll "Medicine Crow" Holloway and his son Ronald Holloway. They said they were Sand Hills, too.
The older Holloway is Beeler's cousin and a Philadelphia native who has spent most of the last 30 years in Australia working as a fashion photographer. He moved to eastern Pennsylvania about two and a half years ago, according to his son.
In 2007, Carroll Holloway be came chief of the Paterson Sand Hills, whose official name is the Sand Hill Band of Lenape and Cherokee Indians. Ronald Holloway -- who moved to New Jersey in November from a town 50 miles east of San Francisco -- said he is now the group's chief executive.
The lawsuit was filed last month. It surprised even some of the Paterson Sand Hills.
"That lawsuit was filed without the advice and consent of the tribal council," said Yona Youngblood, a Paterson Sand Hill elder.
And why the $1 trillion in 1-ounce American Eagle gold coins?
"It's a financial move that says that we are serious," said Ronald Holloway, 45, who said he is a theologian and former police officer who holds a half-dozen securities licenses.
He is not a lawyer, but he plans to litigate the suit himself.
Garland and her relatives, meanwhile, say they don't want the Sand Hill name used for any lawsuit against the state.
"They are trying to use our legitimacy and heritage to make themselves look credible," said Garland , who lives in Lincroft.
Part of the two groups' disagreement is about how to define who is a Sand Hill.
By Garland 's measure, the only true Sand Hills are direct descendants of the single Lenape-Cherokee family that bought the 15 hillside acres in 1877. But Beeler and the Holloways contend there are 14 families who make up the group and only one of them actually lived on Sand Hill.
They also say James "Lone Bear" Revey was their cousin.
Not so, said Revey's niece, Carol Clarke.
"As far as I know they are not my relatives," said Clarke, who lives in Hempstead , N.Y.
The two sides also differ on the matter of chiefs.
Beeler and the Holloways tell of an unbroken string of chiefs going back hundreds of years, ending with Revey, Beeler and Holloway.
Most historians say that's not true. And Revey himself wrote in a history of the Sand Hills that the group's chief and council system dissolved in 1953.
These days, the Sand Hills of Neptune and the Sand Hills of Paterson are no longer speaking. Their dispute and especially the lawsuit -- has jolted the state's American Indian community, said the Rev. John Norwood, a member of the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape.
"It casts a cloud," Norwood said. "And it airs a dispute that should be handled inter-tribally."
Ronald Holloway, however, predicted the suit would once and for all settle the question of who is a Sand Hill and who is not. Claire Garland hopes he is right.
"I don't care what they do in North Jersey ," she said. "It has nothing to do with us. But using our name to sue the governor is a whole other story."
For comments see:
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/03/with_lawsuit_against_nj_little.html
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Excerpts from another article:
By JESSICA COHEN
Community News Writer
January 23, 2009
MILFORD — Upon entering Lightseeds Yoga in Milford , patrons sit down in the healing circle led by Medicine Crow, a gracious bearded man hastens over to me and passes an aromatic burning herb under their noses. The eyes sting, and this writer wonders what the herb is and what it will do.
But 20-some other people, young to gray, sit in the circle looking fairly lucid as Crow, eclectic shaman, paces around, his patter ranging from serious to silly or both at once.
Introductorily he says, "I could strip, but there's not much to see. Twenty years ago maybe. ... Why is it that for some people the skin suit lasts only 20 years, but for others it lasts more than a hundred?"
To him, the body expresses the mind's state, and what makes him a healer is his odyssey in healing his own ills, as he evolved from being Carroll Holloway, a respiratory physiologist in Los Angeles, where he received his Ph.D. from UCLA, to Medicine Crow, peripatetic healer and student of healers, with a doctorate in religious philosophy from the University of Sydney in Australia, and doctorate in metaphysics from the Universal Life Church.
Though a Native American from the Sand Hill band of the Lenni Lenape tribe in New Jersey , his shamanic knowledge, he says, comes from other places as well, including China , Tibet , and Australia , where he spent 17 years. But, he emphasizes that he is only a good "assistant" healer.
"You want to be a shaman?" he asks the circle. "Be one! You are the supreme being. In my circles there's no hoochie koochie — you're the boss. You think it's all just happening to you. The car splashes slush on you. The dog lifts his leg on you. Annie says I talk too much. But you have to have tools."
People retreat into their meditations as he plays a rambling melody. He can also sing and play bass, medicine drums, rattles, gongs, synthesizer, and didgeridoo. In the Native American Music awards (NAMMY) in 2008, he won Best New Age Recording for his CD Homeland Security, in which he sings and plays all the instruments.
Full article here:
http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090123/NEWS13/901230325