NAFPS Forum

I’d like to share one of the sources I have relied upon, a site called Freedom of Mind by Steven Hassan. He explains the BITE method/model for identifying cults. I’ll attach it in case this is ever helpful to anyone else.

The Freedom of Mind website and Steven Hassan have been mentioned about a dozen times before. There is even a separate topic, and even after 17 years, all three links in the first post still work:

freedomofmind.com — http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=113.0

Good news!

I've been in touch with Steven Hassan, an anti-cult activist and expert on mind control within cults. He's an ex-Moonie who now heads the Freedom of Mind Reseource Center.

He's adding a Shamanism section to his website which will use NAFPS as the main resource. This should get our views to a much wider audience.
http://www.freedomofmind.com

A profile of Hassan.
http://www.apologeticsindex.org/h12.html

There's a quote from one of his books that I think can help us understand why twinkies are the way they are.

http://www.apologeticsindex.org/books/releasingbonds.html
"Few people understand that cult indoctrination superimposes a new cult identity that suppresses and controls the individual's authentic identity. Relatives and friends think they are having a conversation with the person they have always known when, in fact, they are probably addressing the cult identity. In most traditional exit-counseling and deprogramming cases, the cult identity is submerged but left intact. The pre-cult identity assumes control, but the cult identity is not fully absorbed and integrated into the new post-cult self. Specialized knowledge and training are required to effectively promote healing."

Thank you all in advance for reading my post. Thank you, too, for the valuable information shared here on the forum.

I have benefitted from this site and, if possible, I would like to pay it forward and share from my personal experiences with a couple individuals who are listed here. Their damage isn’t limited to my cohort and the harmful messages they call teachings are being passed down like subconscious, inherited traits. The next generation doesn’t know the origins of their beliefs but there is a direct line of influence from one person to another. They think they are safeguarding teachings but they are mimicking a fraudster from the 1940s who had his own motives from another era.

Several years ago I was going through a very difficult in my life and a trusted friend suggested I visit her and meet her new friend, a “real Native American shaman”. My friend was really good at sounding clear-headed so I trusted her. It was described as way to pray with other women and a potluck. What I didn’t know was that she was already into this cult and was now recruiting others.

Because I had never attended any ceremonies before and I didn’t want to be rude, I went with her to this charlatan’s house and met her core followers.

Ironically it’s that desire to not be rude that prevented me from speaking up online initially - one of the tactics of this cult was to say that we were colonizers engaging in race-policing if we questioned where the ceremonies and teachings came from. If we asked for their credentials they would tell us we were part of the patriarchy and drinking the Kool Aide. To further ensure we didn’t go poking around, whenever anyone asked if this was a tribally sanctioned ceremony we’d be laughed at and told that the local tribe was too traumatized, too politicalized, distrusted white people and was too Christian now to be associated with if we wanted to pray away from a Christian church.

The next step was my attending a large gathering with all the group’s members, and later I met some related groups that help reinforce the other’s agenda and provide mutual validation. This, I think, was the substitution for having any connection to the local tribal community, and furthered the talking point of creating community, creating a new tribe.

Over time I both learned the backstory of the group and looked the founders up online. Since two group leaders had a profile here on NAFPS and I could reconcile what I had heard with the forum posts, I decided to approach the group’s leadership with my concerns. They objected to my wanting to make changes, to be honest about the appropriation, and to repair the damage. They doubled-down on their claims, sanitized some of the PR materials, got a new crop of volunteers and continued as they wanted to.

Since leaving I have reflected on what I experienced there - and in the groups that collaborated with them - and have educated myself about what was going on. I have educated myself about cults and believe what I saw was a cult of personality. I am certain there will be those that won’t care if their “teacher” is a fake, will find justifications, and call people like me bitter but a least there would be informed consent.

I have been threatened for several years and can feel that I am still nervous about sharing certain identifying details about myself. If anyone would like me to share those details, if it comes up where anyone would like more info for any reason beyond what I might have posted, please just DM me. I’m open to talking with individuals if it’s helpful.

Thank you for reading, for the light y’all shone on my ignorance and allowing me a opportunity to fill in some blanks on some of the people who are doing harm. If anything I post here is an extension of any lingering ignorance, please say something. It would seriously stink if I kept perpetuating BS.

I’d like to share one of the sources I have relied upon, a site called Freedom of Mind by Steven Hassan. He explains the BITE method/model for identifying cults. I’ll attach it in case this is ever helpful to anyone else.

Kiara Estara on this thread claims to be trained by the 13 ladies.
http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=5600.0

Their twitter account has been inactive for 4 years. FB groups are still very active but it's unclear who runs them.

There's a good interview with faculty on Saskatoon Morning show in this article. It's about 8 minutes long.



https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/university-saskatchewan-indigenous-verification-policy-1.6459520

U of S will have Indigenous verification policy in place this fall


Policy meant to ensure Indigenous programming, funding goes to Indigenous people
CBC News · Posted: May 19, 2022 12:56 PM CT


A task force at the University of Saskatchewan is creating an Indigenous verification policy.

The policy is meant to ensure Indigenous programming and funding goes to people who are actually Indigenous.

This comes after some high profile cases of professors across the country who were unable to provide evidence of their Indigenous identity.

Last fall, the CBC reported on the legitimacy of a U of S professor, Carrie Bourassa, who is on administrative leave after claiming to be Metis, Anishnaabe, and Tlingit.

Angela Jaime, interim vice-provost of Indigenous engagement at the U of S and chair of the task force, said faculty, staff and students will need to show documentation starting this fall when applying for Indigenous jobs and programming.

"Those documents will be determined by the Indigenous community, the task force itself that has representation from the Indigenous community both inside the institution and out," said Jaime, who is a member of Pit River Nation in Northern California and Valley Maidu Tribe in the Sacramento Valley.

Examples of documentation would include a Métis Nation-Saskatchewan citizenship card or a letter from the registry that states the individual meets the criteria to be a citizen.

"We're not adjudicating people's identities," Jaime said. "We're not using the term identity in any of the work that we're doing, but rather membership and citizenship of Indigenous communities. So we're looking for that documentation to help provide a path forward."

Kurtis Boyer, a faculty representative from Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy and a citizen of Métis Nation-Saskatchewan, said the U of S has brought Indigenous communities into the decision making process.

"Before now, Indigenous communities have not been included in this process. And so I think that's a good change," Boyer said.

He said Métis nations are in the process of rebuilding in many areas, including relationships with universities and colleges.

"I think the goal of any Indigenous person when at the university is to transmit knowledge, to protect and be part of that reclamation process of those stories and that culture and that heritage in those institutions," Boyer said.

"That's why it's very important to have people that are genuine there, and genuine in heart. Because in that role, when we have genuine people in that role, the universities are going to be a part of supporting that reclamation process of this nation."

Jaime said the new policy is about "creating a space that is meant for Indigenous people, resources that are meant for Indigenous people to make sure that we don't have fraudulent claims going forward.

"We're working to do an even better job going forward in creating that space of funding resources positions [and], senior leadership positions. And we want to be very clear that it's important that Indigenous voices are holding those spaces."

The task force will submit the policy for final approval next month.

With files from Saskatoon Morning

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices|About CBC News

Her website http://www.littlegrandmother.net now yields "Error establishing a database connection".

Seems the Facebook Page and the Facebook Profile are the venues she now goes to the market with:

https://www.facebook.com/littlegrandmother.kiesha/. [Little Grandmother Kiesha]

https://www.facebook.com/kiesha.crowther  [Kiesha Rae Crowther]

There is also a public Facebook Group (809 members; no activity since November, 2021):

https://www.facebook.com/groups/IbelieveKieshaCrowther/. [I believe Kiesha Crowther]

Then there is a private Facebook Group (1.1K members):

https://www.facebook.com/groups/146849148671641/  [Tribe of Many Colors Official Page]

There is also a small private Facebook Group (41 members) that may or may not be related:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/731284013678723/  [The tribe of many colors]

I'll add a link that has been posted thrice in the forum, but not in this thread:

https://www.psiram.com/en/index.php/Kiesha_Crowther [English version]

See also the original German version: https://www.psiram.com/de/index.php/Kiesha_Crowther