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American Indian Muslim Debunks "Cherokee Blac

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educatedindian:
...and Washitaws and Nuwaubians and all kinds of pseudo history.
This is Hasan's excellent article, posted in multiple parts. He's kindly offered it to be resposted. I for one would like to see this all over the net. Trish and Pat, could you post this to our sites when you get the chance, under articles?
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For those of you who may be unfamiliar with Islamic / Arabic terminology you may wish to look at the "glossary of terms" at the bottom of this treatise before proceeding.

Bismillaah Ar-Rahman, Ar-Raheem

"O mankind! We have created you from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know one another. Verily, the most honorable of you with Allaah is that (believer) who has At-Taqwa [i.e. one of the Muttaqun (pious - see V.2:2). Verily, Allaah is All-Knowing, All-Aware." (Al-Qur'an, Surah Al-Hujurat 49:13)

Burying 'Digging for the Red Roots'

  This is an American Indian Muslim's response to a tale that has been spread in the name of Islam and Native Americans since 1996. My name is Hasan Grooms. I am a PeeDee Indian. I have ancestry from other American Indian Nations as well, and I have been Muslim since 1990 CE.
  I have decided that perhaps the best way to assault the falsehoods in Mahir Abdal Razzaq El's "Digging for the Red Roots" is by taking this article apart piece-by-piece and refuting it's false statements and blatant lies and clarify it's inaccuracies and exaggerations, wa Allaahul musta'an.
  Before we proceed, I want to state that this treatise is aimed at Muslims to encourage them to cease spreading false tales like "Digging for the Red Roots" and to take a more serious approach to investigating information that is spread regarding both Islam and American Indians. This treatise is not intended as a form of da'wah to American Indians.
  We would also hope that Muslims would be willing to take a genuine interest in American Indians and to develop relationships and to have dialogue and interaction with them, and to learn about American Indians from American Indians themselves without relying on books, movies or the internet. And finally, not to approach Indians or da'wah towards Indians with a paternalistic attitude. We are not cave dwellers or stuck in the past. We are just as aware of the world, sciences, history, etc. as anyone else is.
  Some non-Muslim American Indians, who may read this treatise, may be offended by my assertions in this treatise that Islam is the only true path and that other ways are upon falsehood, this is my belief as a Muslim. The point I wish to make is that it is forbidden in Islam to mix different spiritual beliefs just as it is also highly looked down upon in American Indian spiritualities, religions and traditions.
  The path of Islam was the path chosen for me by the Creator, just as other American Indians are being guided to this path and are embracing Islam, for example, brother Russ Redner (Abdal Razzaq) who has been a long time activist in the American Indian Movement as well as other Indigenous activist groups.
  Islam is not a religion that has come to change the cultures of the people. It has come for the purpose for which all mankind has been created, which is that all of mankind should worship the Creator alone, without ascribing or associating partners with Him or worshiping others besides Him. You can look all over the Islamic world and see that different Muslims peoples maintain their own unique cultures. At the same time, Islam gives all oppressed peoples a viable means of "getting the man's foot off our neck" and confronting the social, economic and spiritual ills that plagues much of our societies, walhamdulillaah.

And so, let us proceed:

educatedindian:
Mahir says (which will be quoted in quotation marks and highlighted in bold face from here on out),

"My name is Mahir Abdal Razzaq El"

In the past, he has related this exact same story at a masjid in the Southwest, word for word, except using a different name. This detail may not be all that important but may give a clue to something more sinister behind this: DECEPTION! That particular masjid was one of the few who actually removed the article after being informed of it's falsehood, and may Allaah reward them. But anyway:
El is commonly used by those influenced by the teachings of the pseudo-Islamic cult - the MST (Moorish Science Temple) -  as a last name, El meaning "God". This is similar to the teachings of the 5%ers (Five Percenters), a.k.a NGE (Nation of Gods and Earths), who are an offshoot of the MST and the NOI (Nation of Islam), who refer to one another as "god", however, in the case of the 5%ers, they tend to make their last names "Allah", meaning 'God', e.g. Kareem "Allah". Bey is another common last name used by followers of the MST.

"and I am a Cherokee Blackfoot American Indian"

I am really quite surprised, due to Mahir's "Moorish Science" influence, that he did not say something more stupid like, "I am a Cherokee Blackfoot American Indian and the original American Indians were BLACK! And "red" Indians are actually the result of the racial mixing between the Black OLMECS and the Chinese." That would be more in line with the rhetoric of the followers of "Moorish Science" and it's offshoots. Allaahu ‘alam, perhaps the article was actually edited by the "Message" to remove the more outlandish claims.

For all intents and purposes, Mahir looks to be an Afro-American (see http://www.blackconsciousness.com/media/GRID_PATTERN.ram and also http://www.blackconsciousness.com/media/MILITARY_MAHIR.ram ) which doesn't mean anything necessarily in and of itself because to us Indians, Indians are Indian regardless of skin color, but Mahir is found most frequently among Afrocentrist, pseudo-Muslims and other wannabe Indians, not genuine Native / American Indians. However, let's look into this Cherokee / Blackfoot phenomenon.

In reality, this is a very unlikely mixture of American Indian ancestry. Before the arrival of Europeans, the Cherokee laid claim to an area which today would include the states of NC, SC, VA, WV, KY, GA, AL and TN. Shortly before "Removal", the Cherokee's diminished territorial claims only included small portions of NC, TN, GA, and AL. During "Removal", Cherokees were forcibly marched to eastern Oklahoma. Cherokees who fled before "Removal" went to AK, LA and TX. Still others went as far south as Mexico. A small faction of Cherokees remained in the east hiding in a small area in the mountains of western North Carolina. Today they can be found in and around the area that was "reserved" for them, known as the "Qualla Boundary", a.k.a. the Cherokee Indian Reservation of the Eastern Band of Cherokee.

As far as the Blackfeet, they still remain in the area of their ancestral homeland which today is in the northwest portion of the state of Montana in the USA and the southern portion of the province of Alberta in Canada.

There are no apparent connections between the Cherokee and the Blackfeet. The language of the Cherokee is an Iroquoian language. The language of the Blackfeet is an Algonquian language. They have not shared any traditional tribal territories, nor have they shared tribal territory after the "Removal" of the Cherokee. Traditional religion of the Blackfeet includes the Sun Dance, whereas traditional Cherokee religion includes the Stomp Dance. So where is the connection?

The connection is very easy to make if you believe that American Indian languages, cultures, spiritualities and traditions is something monolithic and all inclusive. However, there are over 500 distinct Indian Nations in the US and Canada, each with their own cultures, languages and traditions, etc. There is no such thing as an "American Indian / Native American" culture, spirituality or language. This kind of assumption (i.e., Indians are all the same) is what produces the stereotypes that cause wannabe Indians, "Indian" Barbie, and "Indian" Nativity sets to flourish, let alone the perpetrators racism and plain old greed.

Needless to say, there is the possibility of a Cherokee / Blackfoot mixture if a Cherokee citizen and a Blackfoot citizen had a relationship that bore offspring from the union of these two Nations. The problem is, however, the enormous distribution of claims of such a union. The claim of either Cherokee ancestry or Blackfoot ancestry or a combination of the two is something widely spread in the east and southeast of the US, eventhough such a union is highly unlikely, yet it's claim is spread on such an enormous scale.

educatedindian:
As far as the Cherokee are concerned, then there is a very fitting saying: "Everyone and their momma". Claims to Cherokee ancestry are widespread and laughable, although not very funny. It seems as almost everyone has a "Cherokee Princess grandmother" or Cherokee great uncle or grandfather who was a "chief", "warrior" or "medicine man". Cherokee ancestry is very well documented, so if someone can make the claim of Cherokee ancestry there should really not be much of a problem for them to enroll, especially with such low blood quantum requirements. And if your blood quantum is so low that you can't enroll, then why bother claiming to be a Cherokee?

Most of the Cherokee claimers usually have some sort of tale to explain why they can't legally claim to be Cherokee such as their ancestors separated from the "Trail of Tears" or they hid out in the woods, etc., however, these are simply tales and claims. Or, if they haven't been able to come up with a tale yet, they try to sidestep or avoid the issue altogether, or say "I am Cherokee in my heart", which is really absurd. "Cherokee" is not a religion that you convert to. How can you convert to being "Indian"?

And then there is the infamous ascription to being "Blackfoot". This is a very strange claim, especially due to it's persistency in the East and Southeast so many hundreds of miles away from the tribe of it's namesake.

What seems to be the truth surrounding this appellation is that it was devised to explain away certain racial features or to bury family secrets. Blackfoot seems to be used equally by both blacks and whites. It has been used by blacks to explain their "good hair", light eyes, light skin and "high cheek bones". And by whites to explain their darker skin, dark hair and of course, "high cheek bones". It was used to hide African blood within white families and Caucasian blood within black families.

One clue to this enigma is the fact that it was, at one time in American history, illegal to be an Indian and remain east of the Mississippi. If anything, Indians who could "pass" would have claimed to be "white", or, if they couldn't pass, they would have claimed to be "Black Dutch", "Black Irish" or even "black", than to have to face "Removal", repression and further victimization as an Indian. And while such racial designations as "Black Dutch",  "Black Irish", etc. could have been used to hide Indian blood, a designation such as "Blackfoot" never could. So "Blackfoot" is an anomaly even among other fictitious racial classifications.

Another clue is the fact that no one claiming Blackfoot ancestry in the East and Southeast has ever been able to successfully trace their lineages back to the Blackfeet. This is also overwhelmingly true for those claiming Cherokee ancestry, the result of which is usually those individuals starting their own tribe, or joining other fictitious, wannabe tribes, and creating their own "Native American culture" and spirituality, which is misappropriated from American Indian nations, distorted, mixed and abused, all the while claiming to honor those who they are "imitating". Many times these same people are also able to get their hands on funding and services that are specifically set aside for real Indians (who really need it!). They also make the process of legitimate American Indians gaining Federal Recognition that much harder and longer due to so many of them petitioning the Federal Government to gain status as recognized American Indian tribes and nations. So do they honor us or harm us?

educatedindian:
In the Messenger of Allaah's , sallallaahu ‘alayhi was sallam, Last Sermon, he says, "the Curse of Allaah is on those who would claim a lineage other than their own." This is more than a sufficient warning for Muslims not to go around "playing Indian".

"who is Muslim."

Mahir is a Muur (Moor) as you will see below at the end of this treatise (see "Muur from Mahir"). These "Moors" are not Muslims but pseudo-Muslims who chase after esotericism, junk science, junk knowledge, junk history, and pseudo-esoteric-kufr based Isl.. (well, I don't know what to call it because it is certainly not Islam!). They are not Muslims! There is information available from a variety of sources that explains why they are not Muslims so I will not get into it here. However, I would like to point out one of their beliefs, which is that they believe Timothy Drew, a.k.a. "Noble Drew Ali" was the final Messenger and that he came with his own Qur'an. This is a belief that would negate the Islam of anyone claiming it or believing in it.

It is also highly probable that Mahir is more specifically a Nuwaubian, who are highly influenced by the teachings of the Moorish Science Temple and who also call themselves "Moors". I base this on the fact that Mahir refers to "dynoids (dinoids) and reptoids" (see Muur from Mahir) which is more specific to Nuwaubian teachings than it is to "Moorish Science".

Nuwaubians are the present incarnation of a cult that has been known by many different names and is continuously changing and contradicting is theology, since the late 1960's. They are led by Dwight D. York, a.k.a. "Dr. York", who has had numerous identities and personas, including al-Masih, al-Mahdi, and even God. One of the names which the group was known as in the past is the "Ansaaru Allah" community. Their false ascription to Islam, during that particular manifestation, was exposed by Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips in his book "The Ansaar Cult".

In general, the Afrocentrists  making these claims of being Muslim American Indians / Native Americans are people influenced by "Moorish" teachings. They are known as Native American Moors, Yamassee Native American Moors of the Creek Nation (The Creeks already busted them for their deception.), the Washitaw de Dugdamoundyah (Supposedly an ancient "Black Indian" word meaning "dug the mound". Yah? I thought they were "mound builders" not "mound diggers".), and others. They even claim that they are the "real" Indians who basically taught Indians everything they know and have more of a birthright to America than American Indians . They make similar claims with Asians, Europeans and others, the only difference being that these Afrocentrists do not usurp the identities of Europeans, Asians, etc.

They harbor a separatist agenda and philosophy. Therefore, their claims to being Indians are from the roots of their Afrocentric racial superiority complex and their desire to be sovereign, separate entities here in the US. It is also to claim immunity from prosecution due to the criminal activity and fraud that plagues their cults and their followers, being that they are liars and criminals at heart and nurture such anti-social, criminal behavior. Some cases in point are the criminal cases of Dwight D. "Malachi Z." York (who has too many names and titles to enumerate) and the fraud cases of "Her Majestic Imperial Highness, Empress" Verdiacee ""Tiari" Washitaw-Turner (Tunica)" Goston "El-Bey", let alone the numerous murder and other criminal cases surrounding these cults and their followers. They use their claims of being American Indians and "Moors" so that they may claim immunity from prosecution. Real Indians know there is no such thing as American Indian immunity from prosecution, and sovereignty is at the discretion of the US Government. In other words, "what sovereignty"?

"I am known as Eagle Sun Walker."

Mahir may be known as Eagle Sun Walker to other wannabe Indians, but real Indians do not go around with names like Eagle Sun Walker, that is going just a little too far. Besides, Indian names that may be similar are usually more simple and actually have realistic attributes. "Eagle Sun Walker" is too "Hollywood-ish" and too "storybook tale-ish" to be believable. How many eagles do you know who walk on the Sun!? Real Indians have real (and realistic) Indian names and they are given to them usually by their respected Indian elders and family in their own language, not English!

"I serve as a Pipe Carrier Warrior"

Well, Cherokees do not have "pipe carriers". That is not a part of their tradition. If there are any Cherokee pipe carriers, they are practicing other nation's traditions. Unfortunately, tales of Cherokee pipe carriers are not uncommon due to wannabes hijacking Cherokee identity as well as (generally) Lakota religion, and usually "Plains Indian" dress. Pipe carrying is something sacred among SOME Native religions and is an integral part of those religions. Any and every Tom, Dick, Harry and Mahir just can't go and become a pipe carrier. Besides, Mahir, who do you carry the pipe for? Which Nation honored you to carry the pipe for their ceremonies? It surely wasn't the Cherokee.

educatedindian:
The mixing of Native religions and the mixing of Islam is something highly looked down upon by Indians, and in Islam it is kufr which takes the perpetrator outside of the fold of Islam, i.e. they are no longer Muslims.

Allaah says,

"And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers." (Aali Imran 3:85)

and,

"And mix not truth with falsehood while you know (the truth)." (Al-Baqarah 2:42)

Warrior? I can only shake my head. Warrior is not just some title you are at liberty to label yourself as because you "feel" it. Don't you actually have to physically engage in combat, in a battle, to be a warrior? And real warriors do not only engage in combat or carry weapons but they actually do the things for their people that are going to be a benefit to them, even little things like chopping the firewood for their elders or making sure the less fortunate ones will have something to eat. So does Mahir's perpetuating stereotypes and making false claims do anything to benefit the Cherokee, American Indians in general or Muslims? Generally, warriors in Indian societies come from the best of their men, and that would not include liars, so that seems to exclude Mahir.

"for the Northeastern Band of Cherokee Indians in New York City."

This causes me to remember the Pace® Picante Sauce commercials where some cowboys exclaimed with inquisition, "New York City!?!?"

There is no such band, tribe or nation that exists among the Cherokees, and this "Northeastern Band" is just one more of over 200 wannabe "Cherokee tribes" claiming to be Cherokee. The "Sioux" come in second place for the number of wannabe tribes claiming some sort of connection to them.

The Cherokees have never resided in New York as a tribal entity. This "band" of wannabes are headquartered in the "Boogie Down" Bronx in their so-called "urban reservation". They are a group of Afro, Hispanic and Puerto Rican-American wannabes who attend Pow Wows and Drums with their Euro-American wannabe counterparts. You will seldom find any real Indians among these wannabe Pow Wows and Drums, and we are never invited as that would also invite exposure to their falsehood. Most members of this "band" seem to "become Cherokee" through "adoption".

The "band's chief" is named Okena Tsali Littlehawk. He is an Afro-American who is involved with a group named the "Order of the Feather Fraternity" (a.k.a. Feather Fraternity / Feathermen) who take young Afro-American males to a summer camp named Camp Minisink, during an initiation period or "rites of passage" where they shave their heads bald and "play Indian" for the summer ( http://www.feathermen.org/photos/tapout04/Mvc-031s.jpg ).

The "order's" logo is a tipi between two pine trees. This is really odd, as tipis are usually typical of the "Plain's Indian" stereotype, and New York is certainly a long way away from the Plains. However, for those wishing to propagate stereotypes and falsehoods, little details like this is of no consequence.

Okena is "Chief Feather" in the Feather Fraternity -  meaning he is their "head man" in propagating these stereotypes against Indians. Okena also makes it a point to label himself ukuwiyuhi, which means "principle chief". This is not a proper title for the tribal leader of a "band" but of a nation, but these "Northeastern Cherokee" claim they are a "band". He  makes labeling himself ukuwiyuhi a point to the extent that uku (chief) seems to be part of his legal name as he is listed in the phone directory and official records as Uku O. Littlehawk. Most chiefs do not make "chief" as a part of their legal names, it is merely a title and designation. But the point is, if he was an actual "Cherokee chief" he would have seen through these stereotypes and put a stop to them, not take a lead role in propagating them.

Okena was also on a Tupac Shakur memorial compilation titled "The Rose That Grew From Concrete". He was featured on the track "The Sun & The Moon" which was said in a broken type of Cherokee that sounded "rehearsed"or "practiced" and "indiany" and the inflection was off, kind of like in movies where Native languages are spoken in a manner that is supposed to make it sound authentic (heavy and slow, i.e. Tonto-style) and would never make a difference to those who are not speakers of the Cherokee language. Also some of the words he said in Cherokee were wrong. The main problem is that what the story is relating in Cherokee and what he expresses as it's meaning in English is way off. It is an old Cherokee story relating to a man and a woman and he obviously doesn't understand the analogy. It's an Indian "thang", so to speak. (I do not speak Cherokee and this information was provided to me by Robert Chastain, a Cherokee, and head of the South Carolina Chapter of the American Indian Movement, after conferring with him on the details of that particular recording, "The Sun & The Moon".)

"There are other Muslims in our group."

Well, if these "Muslims" are upon the same creed as Mahir, they are not Muslims and it is already obvious that this group are not Indians, let alone Cherokees.

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