http://www.nativeamericanchurch.com/
"NATIVE AMERICAN CHURCH
of Strawberry Plains Tennessee
Millennium Purification and Emergence"
"Dr. PeSheWa, Shawnee, is a Priest in the Ne'ishte' Kiva and in the Native American Church. He currently is working on the establishment of Sacred Ground. Nine years ago on a piece of land on Interstate 40 near Knoxville, he set the first Totem. Now there are four totems; the base for the first indigenous memorial (220 feet long); a community center, complete with restaurant; an art gallery; a gift shop; a 55 foot medicine wheel; and a 1000 foot red path.
This is typical of the manifestation of energy with which he deals. An active Shaman for 28 years and an ordained Priest for 21 years, Dr. PeSheWa has been exemplary in the Indian Movement."
The above comes from the section etitled Bio on Dr. PeShe Wa - I was sort of hoping to learn what his Ph.d was in but it didn't say a whole lot.......
You can read all about 'the church' in German, French and Spanish as well. Maybe this has already been addressed, I don't know.
"Dr. PeSheWa, Shawnee, is a Priest in the Ne'ishte' Kiva and in the Native American Church. He currently is working on the establishment of Sacred Ground. Nine years ago on a piece of land on Interstate 40 near Knoxville, he set the first Totem. Now there are four totems; the base for the first indigenous memorial (220 feet long); a community center, complete with restaurant; an art gallery; a gift shop; a 55 foot medicine wheel; and a 1000 foot red path.
Jerry Dills goes by several names, including Macaki Peshewa, and another name Neishte. They are all the same person. Dills administers peyote ceremonies in his home in Strawberry Plains, TN without a valid DEA permit. He claims affiliation with the United Remnant Band of Shawnee based in Ohio, where a priest there ("Chief Hawk Pope") did have a peyote permit. Dills does not have a permit and uses this borrowed permit to have peyote delivered to his home. He has, for several decades, administered peyote to young college students (including myself) who he taps into to become "Indian" enough to work for him for free. However, he has no standing to do this, hiding behind his "priesthood" and "Indian" in general and wowing starry-eyed wannabes with peyote trips using a borrowed permit.
As Jerry Pope [AKA "Chief Hawk Pope"] does not have a raptor feather permit, it is hard to imagine that he has a legitimate peyote permit.
Hmmm, I did not know peyote permits could be "lent".
Hay Just Like I Said I Know Something's but i want to know thats its safe to talk to you. and i am close to the situation. how do i know that you r not jerry? if you want to talk just let me know i will be happy to talk to you about it.
peace. star
look to the left in photo 3 fire circle and a lodge circle and further left a medicine wheel
looks like he made a bonified sacred sight
I ived in the situation for 20 some odd years and i know very much about what goes on. i am sorry i did not see what you posted in response to my message. i would have known you if you really lived with him for 8 years. and i know you would know me, things need to be set straight and i would just want to know someone else who lived through the hell like i did. there have been so many coming and going it's hard to imagin who u are. And i do not feel comfortable leaving my real name on this forum just as you do. Hope you understand, not trying to be difficult just protected. And i can fully swear to you i am not jerry or doc, i wouldn't wish that on my own worse enemy.
For starters when you said one of his "wives" Marion or Melanie or even one i don't know about. Doc gave me payote at a young age to young if you ask me. i witnessed first hand is lies, decit, and under handedness. I watched him get rid of countless people Bruse Torbit, Frank, Roger Crowe, a man named Joe and basicallly anyone that came against him. How many children did he have when you knew him and did you experience the child abuse first hand? And the bingo thing actually ended in 93, in South Carolina i was there. Did you ever partake in what Doc called "konah"? I know about alot of things but what i am more concerned with is the neglect of his children some that is still going on today. I know there are 6, but i have info there is more just don't know how many more. And myself and some others have tried to take him down but he's hard to get too. I pray that one day his delusional world will come crashing and burning down.
I'm sorry you blocked me again without giving me a chance to write back.
<snip>
Ok I read your post just now. I thought you were Sandy due to the omissions of who the godfathers were. You omitted Sandy, Charlie, Frank and a few others.
I am again unblocking you. If you wish to communicate that's fine, but there is an issue of trust here. As I explained, the death threat I took to heart. I believe Jerry would kill me in a heartbeat. And, possibly, his nephew(s) would too.
Whatever. You contacted me first. I am merely trying to protect myself. If you wish to tell me who you are, I will tell you who I am. But you first.
In any event, if I take this to a higher level, will you be willing to step up to the plate too? Or will doing so just me hanging myself?
Another reason I have unblocked you is because a poster here at NAFPS forum sent me a private message for concern of my safety, and I expressed to that poster my questions about you, including that I thought you were taking me to task rather than deal with the topic of the thread. That person did not see what I saw... <snip> ... I do trust that person who has been of considerable help at a psychic level. So, I defer to her opinion. My bad.
And I do tend to over-react sometimes, but when my personal safety may be at stake, I would rather over-react than not. You understand?
So, fire away. My commitment to you still stands, regarding only posting information with your express permission. It would be my hope, though, that you would choose to participate in the thread and offer what you know there, where it can actually make some difference.
I only know of a few people who were with Dills' group 20 years. And none of those people seem to fit you. So yes, I will probably be surprised to find out who you are. Are you Melanie? You do have me stumped, I admit. Which makes me ever MORE cautious and wary. Some of the folks you mentioned, Roddy for example, I don't know and never knew, but that name does ring a bell. I think he was on his way in when I was on my way out. Was he the young guy who spouted all that chemistry knowledge? And Joe, was he the mountain man artist who lived in a school bus on the property? Dim lights for me there.
So for you I stop being over-reactive but I think you probably understand why I have been so. When I sent you several PM's yesterday you were still online, just having made your public post literally while I was typing a message to you. Again, just trying to protect myself.
And as you can imagine, communicating with an anonymous person about this stuff is a little weird. As I stated in my public posts, I welcome anyone to contact me as long as you identify yourself first, which you have not done even to this point. But on the flip-side, I understand why. I just thought it was odd you would, even could, think I was Jerry, when I am publicly accusing him of committing a Class A felony. Did not make any sense.
Again, on the abuse and neglect, I left the group in 1989-1990 and all I ever saw was over-compensation on Dills' part by spending thousands of $$ on his kids. I can only assume because he grew up in poverty?
Fire away. I'm all ears.
...
I will say that I contacted you and asked about a potential leak to your identity.. and I also stated that I did not read words as you have, but that I am not familiar with Dills and have no concept of the language involved, and that if you saw it, then it may be..
I am not psychic.
Thank you. :)
Thelma Dillshttp://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2008/apr/15/obituaries-april-15-2008/
RINGGOLD -- Thelma H. Dills, 89, died Sunday, April 13, 2008, in a local hospital.
She had been a resident of North Georgia for five years, coming from Spartanburg, S.C.
Mrs. Dills was preceded in death by her loving husband of 41 years, Henry Neal Dills; children, Phyllis Janelle Englis and Henry Neal Dills Jr.
Survivors are son, Jerry Neal Dills, Knoxville; daughter, Rebecca Dills Gregory, Ringgold; several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
The body has been taken to Floyd Funeral Home in Spartanburg, S.C., for services and interment.
Arrangements are by Heritage Funeral Home & Crematory, Battlefield Parkway.
76. Native American Church, Inc. (1981-89, 1993- )http://cita.chattanooga.org/TNNAorgs.html
PO Box 53, Strawberry Plains TN 37871 . 865/ 933.1456
www.NativeAmericanChurch.com . elders
Jerry Neal Dills aka "Dr. MaCaki PeSheWa" drpeshewa
Darrell Ridenour
Native Americas University Researchhttp://www.nativeamericanchurch.com/Research.html
Research Solicitation
We are commencing a research project between the Native Americas University and the Ne'isthe' Kiva.
This research involves any and all tribal cultures including persons of American Indian descent.
We are seeking personal experiences from Anyone who has had:
Out-of-the-body experience
Near death perception
Alien encounter or abductions
You can e-mail your experience to:
Contact
If you prefer use a video or video cassette and mail to:
Native Americas University Research
PO Box 53,
Strawberry Plains, TN 37871
You may call the N.A.C. at (865) 933-1456 and leave a phone number where you can be reached. Someone will return your call and set a time and date for interview by phone.
Please include your return e-mail address along with a phone number and mailing address.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"This is the fire that will help the generations to come,
if they use it in a sacred manner.
But if they do not use it well,
the fire will have the power to do them great harm."
-Sioux Indian
Dr. PeSheWa, Shawnee, is a Priest in the Ne’ishte’ Kiva and in the Native American Church. He currently is working on the establishment of Sacred Ground. Nine years ago on a piece of land on Interstate 40 near Knoxville, he set the first Totem. Now there are four totems; the base for the first indigenous memorial (220 feet long); a community center, complete with restaurant; an art gallery; a gift shop; a 55 foot medicine wheel; and a 1000 foot red path.
P.O. Box 59
Strawberry Plains, TN 37871
To the visitor coming from: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1T4HPIC_enUS306US306&q=PeSheWa+%2B+Shawnee&start=0&sa=N Who's IP address is: xx.xxx.xx.xxx You've really done it now. Look what you've done. You've broken the Internet. Tsk tsk tsk. And all because you tried to sneak in the back door to get what? A file? Shame on you! You should go wash your sneaky little hands right now before you decide to e-mail your mother. And don't you dare try that again. BTW, you are trying to access a forbidden page. Your IP address has been logged. Keep it up, and I'll complain to your ISP provider.
1. To the moderators of this forum: I will use some very strong language in this post, but ask that it not be edited, and remain as I have posted it.
2. I will post only information that can be independently verified by public records, or living persons, and I will cite all in this post.
3. Firstly, regarding the issue of polygamy. Jerry Dills' has two wives and has for many years....Jerry will freely flaunt to those who know him, his lifestyle, and in-your-face “fuck you I'm Indian” mentality to justify having two wives. However, on paper, Dills has done everything he can to hide his polygamy from the public record....Dills also has several illegitimate children born by other women out of wedlock.
4. Sandy Graves: Sandy is Jerry's nephew and was being groomed to be the next leader of the Native American Church. They had a falling out when Jerry used Sandy as the bag man to move hundreds of thousands of dollars from the bingo game in South Carolina to Dills' pocket. Sandy did not take one dime out of that game for himself. When the federal scrutiny came down on that operation, Sandy got quite pissed at being in the middle due to his love and loyalty to Jerry Dills. They had a falling out over this and have not spoken since. The statute of limitations has since passed on any illegal activities there, Sandy, so you can now be free to step forward. I have no idea where Sandy is to this day. If he can be located, or stumbles into this thread, he too is a person with a good heart, a good mind, and he will not lie for his uncle Jerry any more.
5. Norman Graves: ....One nephew, Kelley, was 19 years old and was put in charge of the concessions stand there, which Jerry owned silently in the background (he also owned the whole bingo game for that matter, but that is a side issue for now). Anyway, Kelley was very young and confused and under a great deal of pressure. The bingo game ran Friday, Saturday and Sunday. One Sunday evening, just as the doors opened, Kelley committed suicide by shooting himself in the heart....
Kelley's death can be verified by a search of the Commercial Appeal newpaper in Memphis. I do not remember the date of death. I believe he was buried in Arkansas, where Norman resided (still does?) at the time. It is a blur to me. That was a definite turning point for me as I clearly saw Jerry's deceit and lies and the real effects and real harm they could have. They could not be hidden from my view any longer. As stated, I was there. I know. I saw. Jerry too has told the lie about the “accident.” Bullshit. All total fabricated bullshit. Let me be very clear here: Jerry Dills' inaction contributed in a direct way to Kelley's suicide. Period. End of story.
6. Shanti Peshewa: Shanti is Jerry Dills' first born, and his only legitimate son. Shanti was given peyote at age 4. Is this a practice of the Native American Church, to give peyote to children?
7. Steven Lohrey:....Steve was one of those who was subpoenaed by the federal Grand Jury in Nashville in the mid-1980s who was also shielded from testifying by the very powerful attorney Lionel Barret. For the record, Jerry Dills, Steven Lohrey, and Fritz Niggeler (deceased) were subpoenaed. Lionel Barret shielded them all from testifying by informing the grand jury that they would all plead the “5th Amendment” to all questions....
8. Eugene Hager:....Jerry Dills had set up Eugene with his own Corporation, and you will find Eugene's name listed on the one of the many google search results for Indian organizations in Tennessee.
9. Roger Crowe: Roger Crowe is deceased, however, I believe his widow can share his story. Roger was a registered member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee, was born and raised on the reservation there in North Carolina, a member of the Longhair Clan. Roger was directly involved in helping form the “sacred grounds” and it was he who carved the first totem poles found there. Roger was forced out of the church when Roger began having doubts and openly questioning Jerry in front of his family....
10. Myself: For now I wish to remain unnamed. I have no illusions that my life is in jeopardy....If I am murdered because of this, well, ok. Am I being reactionary here? Yes. Absolutely. I would like to live a long life and die of natural causes. Who wouldn't? But upon my voluntary departure from the Native American Church, Jerry issued a death promise – not a threat – a promise to me. I have no reason to believe he will not try to make good on that promise, save for the fact that Rossi's protection was for forever. If I am murdered, oh well, just add that to the long list of misdeeds of Jerry Neal Dills....
11. After joining this thread I had considered taking these matters to both the Federal Bureau of Investigation as well as the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, but have opted not to because, well, I don't think they give a damn....
#139 Tennessee Band of Cherokee (ca. 1999; same as above?)http://cita.chattanooga.org/TNNAorgs.html
Eugene Hagar, Audrey Little, Knoxville
Name: TENNESSEE BANK OF CHEROKEES, INC.
Old Name:
Business Type:
Status: Inactive - Dissolved (Administrative) Initial Filing: 04/29/1982
Formed in: Knox County Delayed Effective Date:
Fiscal Year Close: April AR Due Date: 08/01/1988
Term of Duration: Perpetual Inactive Date: 12/31/1987
Principal Office: ROUTE 2
STRAWBERRY PLN, TN 378710000 USA
Annual Report
Mailing Address: 1801 JEFFERSON AVENU
KNOXVILLE, TN 379170000 USA
AR Exempt: No
Shares of Stock: 0
REGISTERED AGENT NAME: HOTZ, WILLIAM A
000085505: Corporation Non-Profit - Domestic
Name: TENNESSEE INDIAN COUNCIL, INC.
Old Name: TENNESSEE INDIAN CENTER, INC.
Business Type:
Status: Inactive - Dissolved (Administrative) Initial Filing: 08/13/1976
Formed in: Davidson County Delayed Effective Date:
Fiscal Year Close: December AR Due Date: 04/01/1992
Term of Duration: Perpetual Inactive Date: 04/26/1991
Principal Office: 1018 OSCAR ARMSTRONG
ROAD
KNOXVILLE, TN 37914 USA
Annual Report
Mailing Address: 1018 OSCAR ARMSTRONG
KNOXVILLE, TN 379140000 USA
AR Exempt: No
Public Benefit Corporation: Yes
REGISTERED AGENT NAME: HOTZ, WILLIAM A
000130935: Corporation Non-Profit - Foreign
Name: NATIVE AMERICAN INDIAN MEDIA CORPORATION
Old Name: NATIVE AMERICAN INDIANS IN MEDIA, CORPORATION
Foreign Name:
Business Type:
Status: Inactive - Revoked (Administrative) Initial Filing: 07/21/1983
Formed in: South Carolina Delayed Effective Date:
Fiscal Year Close: July AR Due Date: 11/01/1990
Term of Duration: Perpetual Inactive Date: 04/26/1991
Principal Office: PO BX 671 2901 BUNCO
GREENVILLE, SC 296020000 USA
Annual Report
Mailing Address: PO BOX 59
STRAWBERRY PL>, TN 378710000 USA
AR Exempt: No
Public Benefit Corporation: Yes
REGISTERED AGENT NAME: HOTZ, WILLIAM A
000100173: Corporation For-Profit - Domestic
Name: NATIVE AMERICAN CHURCH, INC.
Old Name:
Business Type:
Status: Inactive - Dissolved (Administrative) Initial Filing: 01/23/1981
Formed in: Jefferson County Delayed Effective Date:
Fiscal Year Close: January AR Due Date: 05/01/1989
Term of Duration: Perpetual Inactive Date: 09/15/1989
Principal Office: RT 4 OSCAR ARMSTRONG
STRAWPLAINS, TN 378710000 USA
Annual Report
Mailing Address: RT 4 OSCAR ARMSTRONG
STRAWPLAINS, TN 378710000 USA
AR Exempt: No
Shares of Stock: 0
REGISTERED AGENT NAME: HOTZ, WILLIAM A
000261765: Corporation Non-Profit - Domestic
Name: NATIVE AMERICAN CHURCH, INC.
Old Name:
Business Type:
Status: Active Initial Filing: 01/26/1993
Formed in: Jefferson County Delayed Effective Date:
Fiscal Year Close: December AR Due Date: 04/01/2010
Term of Duration: Perpetual Inactive Date:
Principal Office: ROUTE 4
OSCAR ARMSTRONG RD.
STRAWBERRY PLNS, TN 37871 USA
Annual Report
Mailing Address: P.O. BOX 53
STRAWBERRY PLNS, TN 37871 0 USA
AR Exempt: No
Public Benefit Corporation: Yes Religious Corporation: Yes
REGISTERED AGENT NAME: LEE EA, JAMES E
NATIVE AMERICAN CHURCH OF THE KITUWAH NATION (Active)
TELLICO PLAINS, TN
REGISTERED AGENT NAME: SILVARAHAWK, REV ALDEA
http://tnbear.tn.gov/ECommerce/Common/FilingDetail.aspx?FilingNum=000530131
NATIVE AMERICAN CHURCH OF PEJUTA (PEYOTE) WAKAN (Dissolved by TN Scty of State)
MEMPHIS, TN
REGISTERED AGENT NAME: REYNOLDS, MS JUDY CREEK
http://tnbear.tn.gov/ECommerce/Common/FilingDetail.aspx?FilingNum=000328211
000031348: Corporation For-Profit - Domestic
Name: SYSTEMS THEORIES AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, INC.
Old Name:
Business Type:
Status: Inactive - Dissolved (Administrative) Initial Filing: 05/26/1977
Formed in: Knox County Delayed Effective Date:
Fiscal Year Close: December AR Due Date: 04/01/1992
Term of Duration: Perpetual Inactive Date: 09/18/1992
Principal Office: POB59,OSCAR ARMSTRON
STRAWBERRYPLAI, TN 378710000 USA
Annual Report
Mailing Address: POB59,OSCAR ARMSTRON
STRAWBERRYPLAI, TN 378710000 USA
AR Exempt: No
Shares of Stock: 1,000
REGISTERED AGENT NAME: HOTZ, WILLIAM A
Name: TENNESSEE BANK OF CHEROKEES, INC.
Old Name:
Business Type:
Status: Inactive - Dissolved (Administrative) Initial Filing: 04/29/1982
Formed in: Knox County Delayed Effective Date:
Fiscal Year Close: April AR Due Date: 08/01/1988
Term of Duration: Perpetual Inactive Date: 12/31/1987
Principal Office: ROUTE 2
STRAWBERRY PLN, TN 378710000 USA
Annual Report
Mailing Address: 1801 JEFFERSON AVENU
KNOXVILLE, TN 379170000 USA
AR Exempt: No
Shares of Stock: 0
REGISTERED AGENT NAME: HOTZ, WILLIAM A
Registrant:
Bill McKee
c/o pairNIC.com Whois Privacy
PO Box 42319
Pittsburgh, PA 15203
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0z0m762747@nojunkemailaddress.com
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Domain Name: NATIVEAMERICANCHURCH.COM
Administrative & Technical Contact:
Dr. PeSheWa
c/o pairNIC.com Whois Privacy
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Bill McKee
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0z0m762747@nojunkemailaddress.com
+1.4123257437
Domain Name: INDIANREADER.COM
Administrative & Technical Contact:
Dr. PeSheWa
c/o pairNIC.com Whois Privacy
PO Box 42319
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Domain ID:D147908110-LROR
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0z0m762747@nojunkemailaddress.com
+1.4123257437
Domain Name: NEISHTEKIVA.COM
Administrative & Technical Contact:
Thomas Wilkinson
c/o pairNIC.com Whois Privacy
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PO Box 42319
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0z0m762747@nojunkemailaddress.com
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Domain Name: BEYONDPROPHECY.COM
Administrative & Technical Contact:
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a way to see if someone has passed
http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/
I find this very odd that I am unable to locate any records regarding Kelley's death. As a test I searched my own father's death which was a few years later, and that is found. My grandmother who passed much earlier than that is also found.
Google's results to change, the information must first change on the site where it appears, and this is a change that Google's unable to make for you. We run into a lot of people who think that Google runs the Web and controls all the sites on it, but that's really not the case. The sites in Google's search results are controlled by those sites' webmasters.
If you contact the webmaster, he or she has a few options. He or she can remove the concerning information, take the page down from the Web entirely, or block Google from including the page in Google's index.
Once the webmaster makes a change, your work is done. The change will automatically show up in the search results once Google re-crawls the site.
In most cases, the only way to change a search result is for the webmaster to change the site itself. However, we may be able to help in a few cases including these:
Social security or credit card information in results
Adult content in results, when SafeSearch is enabled
Inappropriate images on our featured video results
TO ALL: If anyone wishes at this time to step forward to defend the deeds of Jerry Neal Dills, now is the time to do so.
TO THE NATIVE AMERICAN CHURCH (the real NAC, that is): If any members of the true NAC have words or thoughts regarding the matters presented in this thread, now is the time share them here.
Please make your posts now. This matter is about to be jacked to the next level. I will reveal what that means only once it is done.
Enough is enough.
clearwater
For starters when you said one of his "wives" Marion or Melanie or even one i don't know about. Doc gave me payote at a young age to young if you ask me. i witnessed first hand is lies, decit, and under handedness. I watched him get rid of countless people Bruse Torbit, Frank, Roger Crowe, a man named Joe and basicallly anyone that came against him. How many children did he have when you knew him and did you experience the child abuse first hand? And the bingo thing actually ended in 93, in South Carolina i was there. Did you ever partake in what Doc called "konah"? I know about alot of things but what i am more concerned with is the neglect of his children some that is still going on today. I know there are 6, but i have info there is more just don't know how many more. And myself and some others have tried to take him down but he's hard to get too. I pray that one day his delusional world will come crashing and burning down.
It's not clear why you went to another city to mail letters, and why did you take precautions insuring they couldn't be traced back to you, if the letter inside says who you are and your phone number?
Jerry Dills goes by several names, including Macaki Peshewa, and another name Neishte. They are all the same person. Dills administers peyote ceremonies in his home in Strawberry Plains, TN without a valid DEA permit. He claims affiliation with the United Remnant Band of Shawnee based in Ohio, where a priest there ("Chief Hawk Pope") did have a peyote permit. Dills does not have a permit and uses this borrowed permit to have peyote delivered to his home. He has, for several decades, administered peyote to young college students (including myself) who he taps into to become "Indian" enough to work for him for free. However, he has no standing to do this, hiding behind his "priesthood" and "Indian" in general and wowing starry-eyed wannabes with peyote trips using a borrowed permit.
As Jerry Pope [AKA "Chief Hawk Pope"] does not have a raptor feather permit, it is hard to imagine that he has a legitimate peyote permit.
Hmmm, I did not know peyote permits could be "lent".
look to the left in photo 3 fire circle and a lodge circle and further left a medicine wheel
looks like he made a bonified sacred sight
What I have not seen is the supposed NAC charter number - no official charter and it is not an official NAC chapter. As far as giving the medicine to children, well it is up to them if they eat the medicine and frequently children are given a little medicine if they want it, at least that has been my experience as a baptised member of the NAC, charter 3132 from SD
The listing of peyote as a controlled substance in Schedule I does not apply to the nondrug use of peyote in bona fide religious ceremonies of the Native American Church, and members of the Native American Church so using peyote are exempt from registration. Any person who manufactures peyote for or distributes peyote to the Native American Church, however, is required to obtain registration annually and to comply with all other requirements of law.
PEYOTE AND PEYOTE LAW
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency reports only a handful of registered distributors who are permitted to sell peyote, and sell only to persons who can prove at least one-quarter blood lineage to a Native American tribe.
Medicine men who live too far from the Texan plains to harvest their own peyote purchase it from such distributors, who must follow regulations from the DEA and the Texas Department of Public Safety. Peyote can be mailed using the U.S. Postal Service if both the distributor and the purchaser of the peyote meet the government's requirements.
Salvador Johnson, a peyote distributor in Mirando City, Texas, said the DEA has pressured him in recent years to be more selective in deciding to whom he should sell peyote.
He said that while membership in a Native American church used to be sufficient, his clients must now prove American Indian ancestry.
"We started asking for tribal enrollment cards and certificates of Indian Blood," Johnson said. "That is the only way we can prove a person is who he says he is."
A federal statute limits peyote use to "Indians" who use it in "bona fide religious ceremonies."
To clear up any confusion: The only people who should consider preparing a declaration like that modeled in this article are those people: (1) who, because they are not members of an established entheogen-using church, need to document their religious intent; and (2) fully intend to make efforts at presenting a religious defense (under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act) in the event they are ever arrested. If a person plans to defend on some other ground (e.g., "it's not mine," or "I didn't know what it was"), the declaration, if found, will likely be the best thing the prosecutor could have to rebut the defense.
Choose your weapon wisely.
As a practical matter, a court will be more inclined to grant religious protection to a person utilizing a single entheogen rather than a multitude of entheogens. In fact, every case finding in favor of religious use of entheogens has involved a person or church employing a single entheogenic sacrament — namely, peyote.
Under federal law, peyote is listed as a Schedule 1 narcotic, which puts it right up there with heroin. Depending on the amount and circumstances, to possess or possess with the intent to sell peyote can carry a maximum fine of $4 million and a jail sentence that can range anywhere from 20 years to life.
However, if you are a member of a federally recognized Native American tribe, you are exempt--as long as everything is kept among tribal members.
"Frankly speaking, we have not come across any peyote seizures for several years (in Southern Arizona)," says DEA Public Information Officer Ramona Sanchez. "It is a controlled substance and is of course on our radar, but we have not seen an alarming use of it. We have a trusting relationship with the Native American Church (that peyote will not be abused). As far as the DEA is concerned, there is a list of all the tribes which can use peyote, and you must be of American Indian heritage with federally recognized criteria to possess and use peyote." (emphasis added)
Meaning: “a ceremony having religious meaning”
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "religious ceremony"):
agape; love feast (a religious meal shared as a sign of love and fellowship)
libation (the act of pouring a liquid offering (especially wine) as a religious ceremony)
inunction; unction (anointing as part of a religious ceremony or healing ritual)
sanctification (a religious ceremony in which something is made holy)
sacrament (a formal religious ceremony conferring a specific grace on those who receive it; the two Protestant ceremonies are baptism and the Lord's Supper; in the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church there are seven traditional rites accepted as instituted by Jesus: baptism and confirmation and Holy Eucharist and penance and holy orders and matrimony and extreme unction)
divine service; religious service; service (the act of public worship following prescribed rules)
religious rite; rite (an established ceremony prescribed by a religion)
1 : a building for public and especially Christian worship
2 : the clergy or officialdom of a religious body
3 often capitalized : a body or organization of religious believers: as a : the whole body of Christians b : denomination <the Presbyterian church> c : congregation
4 : a public divine worship <goes to church every Sunday>
5 : the clerical profession <considered the church as a possible career>
The most famous opinion from Jacobellis, however, was Justice Potter Stewart's concurrence, holding that the Constitution protected all obscenity except "hard-core pornography." Stewart wrote, "I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it, and the motion picture involved in this case is not that." (emphasis added)
What I have not seen is the supposed NAC charter number - no official charter and it is not an official NAC chapter. As far as giving the medicine to children, well it is up to them if they eat the medicine and frequently children are given a little medicine if they want it, at least that has been my experience as a baptised member of the NAC, charter 3132 from SD
Does he a valid charter number? I have seen no mention of it. And more importantly, if he is a leaderman in the NAC who gave him his fireplace? and does that person acknowledge giving him the fireplace (there are some who have claimed to have received fireplaces from well known roadmen but when asked the roadman will say I never gave him a fireplace). Without that documentation someone is never a bonafide NAC leader.
If that "church" never heard of something as basic as a roadman...that's like a Catholic church having never heard of altar boys or eucharist.
Thanks to James "Flaming Eagle" Mooney's court case, the requirement for Indian blood to possess and use peyote is pretty much gone. A search in the threads would tell you more.
TRUTH, LIKE THE AIR WE BREATHE COMES TO US COMPLIMENTS OF THE CREATOR MAY IT ALWAYS BE SO
Talking with Neiste is a strange sort of phenomenon all in itself. When he speaks the mental images appear and continuously accompanies what he is saying. At times, the images you see and the words he speaks blend together so it's difficult to know where one leaves off and the other begins.
Recent Encounters with Neishte
Everyday you increase and exercise your Being, the easier it is it to 'see' the 'animal' in people; the easier it is to 'see' the Human and the Human condition in people. You will perceive clearly and succinctly because you do not have to falsify your ability to perceive 'things' as they are. This brings power of life to your Spirit - to your soul. You do not have to go around developing a false ego in order to defend your actions or your 'self'. You do not have to falsify images in order to live an imaginary 'self'. (emphasis added)
Glimpses of Neiste
If you truly want to be a student, you must become centered and you must initiate your 'self'. Your life energy will increase and then a Shaman is necessary... Without a Shaman there is a strong possibility that 'things' will be worthless.
Your words and actions must possess spiritual energy (Power). Your words direct your consciousness and reflective consciousness. If you utter stupid-lying utterances, then your knowledge begins to reflect this and your signals will distort everything around you. You must rely on your spiritual strength, your 'genetic' strength. If you do this, THEN ALL YOU NEED WILL BE YOURS...
...Each one of our individual spirits is made from the marvels of the universe and it is made up of the stuff stars are made of. When you utter complaints, excuses, avoidance i.e. - They made me do it - This is what was done to me - I don't know what to do-This or That did not happen - THEN your intonation, your projected energy has little or no effect. Except at times, it affects others who are infected just like to you....
...If you seek 'things', to escape your self - Then you are the one who has-no one-home. Do you tell people 'Dare to be great' - 'Live and Listen' to the universe as a participant. Learn to forgive. Or do you treat people like furniture, sit in it for awhile, as long as it's comfortable or rewarding. Something more comfortable, comes along - trade it in. Then you will have no sustained joy-peace-tranquillity... (emphasis added)
The Emergence into The 5th World has begun.
People who can be ‘Spiritual’ have been being born for a while now. People of all walks of Life and all colors have started to feel the energy of what it-is-to-be. New kinds of plants are being manifested, also old plants have made a reentrance...
...The covenant is ‘never turn on the Creator or Creation’. If you do not break this covenant then ‘newness’ will appear in your life. If you have been breaking the covenant with the Creator turn from this path ...
...Gossip, false witnessing, causes a division and a misunderstanding between people. Telling lies for whatever reason, fragments people and this causes division in families, in our loved ones...
...In the World, there is lying, stealing and purposeful misleading going on every second of every day. Will this type of relationship bring harmony and harmonic convergence into our family; into this Life-Space?... (emphasis added)
Thought this "research project" was interesting. Think that Sioux saying they used on this page is fitting; should be coming around to bite him on the ass.QuoteNative Americas University Researchhttp://www.nativeamericanchurch.com/Research.html
Research Solicitation
<snip>
"This is the fire that will help the generations to come, if they use it in a sacred manner. But if they do not use it well, the fire will have the power to do them great harm." -Sioux Indian
EXCERPT FROM THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
ONE: You shall have no other gods before Me.
SIX: You shall not murder.
EIGHT: You shall not steal.
NINE: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
Newspaper article as appeared in The Spartanburg Herald-Journal
on May 17, 1993, on pages B1 and B5
Shawnee works to save his heritage
By Suellene E. Dean, staff writer
Most people know him as the Bingo Man.
And rightfully so. For four years, MaCaki PeSheWa ran a bingo hall -- Indian Bingo off Reidville Road. I will have detailed information about this location in a future post on this forum.
He reluctantly closed the bingo hall three weeks ago, blaming his losses of more than $100,000 last year on big promoters who have taken over the lucrative fundraising business by aligning themselves with charities like his. Not exactly true. From inception, Jerry Dills (Peshewa) aligned himself with a silent partner named Hallow, a name well known to officials in South Carolina. I will have more information about Jerry's silent relationship with Hallow as you continue reading and in future posts.
PeSheWa refused to use big-time promoters. He raised what money he could to pay taxes and filtered the rest into the Native American Church. The SC bingo permit was issued to Native American Indian Media Corporation, based in SC. The NAC never had a SC corporate presence. So he took money from a SC charity and funneled it to a TN Corporation, by his own admission. PeSheWa is not only a Shawnee Indian but a 51-year-old Indian priest. And his mission from his church -- he took vows in 1974 -- has been to enter the white man's business world and raise money to help the needy. Jerry Dills is his own church, and he is definitely needy, and greedy. This will all become more clear soon.
His life's path as an Indian has included figuring out ways to honor his heritage. I can only presume that he is still trying to figure out what those ways are...
His grandmother, Rebecca Eagle, was married to John Dills from Illinois, and they moved to Spartanburg so he could work on the railroad. The family never left. During the 8-10 years I associated with Jerry Dills, he claimed his Indian heritage was from his father's side. This maternal connection was news to me.
PeSheWa (which means mountain lion) walked in white man's shoes as Jerry Dills. He graduated from Spartanburg High School. A couple of local businessmen helped pay his way through college, where he played basketball. He went on to complete a psychology degree at Wofford College in 1968 and then studied similar courses at more than a half dozen other colleges across the Southeast. A more accurate interpretation of Jerry's Indian name is actually "wild cat." I am in the process of verifying the degree with Wofford College and will update this post once I have that information. Note that Dills does not claim doctorate degrees, nor does the prefix "Dr." appear anywhere in this article although he claimed these designations before, and after, this article appeared.
Shortly after graduation, he worked for the S.C. Commission for the Blind, but he shed his suits and filed bankruptcy. This is true, except for the part about wearing suits.
He left to study with 12 medicine men from Mexico to India. He camped in teepees and toughed it out on mountainsides. After his study of life, he took vows of priesthood with his church and started raising money to "expand consciousness of American Indians." There is no way to verify this information. Jerry has claimed two doctorate degrees from the "Native Americas University" based in Mexico. I am also unclear why expanding consciousness requires raising money. Oh yeah, wait a second ... Jerry Dills worships money ... so the more money, the higher the consciousness?
"He was raising money for a purpose. He wasn't living a frivolous life," said Sen. John Russell, adding that PeSheWa has been calling him to talk about problems with bingo and big promoters for the past two years. Note that Jerry Dills immediately began cultivating a friendship with a powerful politician. It seems Jerry Dills forgot to mention to Senator Russell his silent partnership with Hallow. It also appears that Jerry Dills completely omitted his involvement with the largest bingo game in Tennessee and that he was the target of a federal investigation for his activities in the late 1980s. Amazing how these details seem to slip Jerry Dills' memory. I will have specific details of the TN bingo activities and the federal probe, which was widely reported, in an upcoming post.
Last year, the S.C. Legislature passed a tax on gross income from bingo revenues. The law was aimed at the promoters but is hurting the charities, Russell said. With the new tax on bingo came a 20 percent drop in charitable contributions.
With some of the bingo earnings, PeSheWa and his church bought seven acres of land off Interstate 40 near Strawberry Plains, Tenn. On the land are three totem poles carved from cedar. The first represents peace, the next medicine and the last creation -- a woman carrying a shield on her back, one of her arms holding the hand of one beside her. She was carved by an Indian who was a convicted felon who took up woodworking while in prison. Yes, and no. The three totems mentioned were carved by Roger Crowe (Cherokee), John Paul CutThroat (Lakota Sioux) and a non-Indian named Joe, who had been in prison. When he got out of prison, he dedicated his life to the church. That is, until Dills chased him off, prior to this article appearing.
A 50-foot-long concrete monument also has been erected near the totem poles. PeSheWa dreams that one day the valley will be filled with symbolic poles and the monuments will be covered in cedar and carved with names of thousands of tribal people, past and present, who have contributed to the world culture.
He calls the valley off the busy interstate the "Valley of the Totems." Apparently, he now calls this site his "sacred grounds" as described in an earlier post.
He said his plans for the monument have been developing in his head over the last 18 years. But he believes life is a constant journey and the totems are one part of it.
He also has spent the last two decades writing grants for Indian programs. Untrue. He has been associated with others who wrote those grants, but Dills has never written the first grant proposal, ever, and cannot produce one he wrote if he needed to. He's headed bingo fundraisers in Tennessee and was the co-founder of the Tennessee Indian Council, the first statewide delivery system for Indians. No, and yes. Jerry Dills / Peshewa was not a co-founder or incorporator of TIC at all, which is a matter of public record. What is true is that he was hired by Fritz Niggeler, who was the founder of TIC, to run the east Tennessee part of the statewide programs, back in the mid-1970s. Fritz found Jerry Dills by pouring through records in the unemployment office in Knoxville as he was seeking persons of Indian heritage to recruit as his staff so he could start operations. And yes, it is true that Jerry Dills later operated the largest bingo game in Tennessee, after engineering an overthrow of the TIC Board of Directors (which I helped him plan and execute); and, he was also silent partners in numerous other bingo games, mostly in east Tennessee. More detail on this and his relationships withorganized crime"creative businessmen" to come in a future post.
In the mid-80s, one of his projects included an Indian newspaper concerning Indian and global affairs. He printed three issues, and money ran dry, but his publications won awards from the Native American Press Association. A few falsehoods are presented here. Actually, Jerry Dills refused to finance the complete mailing of issue three of the paper, and over 12,000 copies of that paper, bagged and ready to mail, were eventually thrown in the dumpster; he then stole a $3500 grant from the East Tennessee Foundation made to Native American Indian Media Corporation, to fund issue four of that paper, and did absolutely nothing after drawing those funds down; and, finally, the publication has never won any awards from NAPA, or any awards at all, and that is easily established. More on all this in an upcoming post.
And beyond the goal to establish the first monument honoring Native Americans, he has helped others. He can rattle off lists of ways he spent the money to help other people in Spartanburg. But his favorite charity has always been playing Santa Claus -- something he has found joy in doing for nearly 20 years. True and false. Jerry played Santa Claus for about 4-5 years than abandoned that "project." He has not played this role since this article appeared.
Last year, he spent $15,000 of his church funds to purchase truck-loads of toys for needy children. He personally delivers them to homes across six states. Six states?? I guess he flew around on his magic sleigh? He delivered toys within the Knoxville, TN area, and perhaps the Spartanburg, SC area, and then only for a few years. What a crock of crap.
"If I could be one person in history, it would be Santa Clause," says PeSheWa with a sheepish smile. He admits he looks an awful lot like the Christmas character anyway. A fictitious priest pretending to be a fictitious Christmas character. It does somehow seem fitting...
He also keeps an artificial Christmas tree lighted year-round in his primitive, clapboard house he built near Knoxville, Tenn. He has a similar family farm in Spartanburg The farm was his mother's, Thelma Dills.
PeSheWa has four children, ages 3 to 11. All are taught at home. A recent DHS complaint was filed in 2009 against Jerry Dills for not educating his children, who mostly remain unable to read or write as of 2010. The complaint was dismissed with only a cursory investigation, one can only presume, because Jerry bamboozled the investigator with bullshit piled deep. Too bad the investigator failed to actually determine if his kids had ever been educated. Their hair is worn in braids and never cut. The oldest -- Shanti, which means peace -- is being reared as a priest. Note that Jerry now has six legitimate children by two wives, as noted in an earlier post. Several of Dills' children, including Shanti, have since rejected his dad's teachings and are members of a Christian Church and do not practice the Native American faith. Shanti, who just turned 28 years old, is currently working on obtaining his GED, never having graduated from high school or anything equivalent.
Around his neck, PeSheWa always wears leather bundles. The last two he will give his youngest daughters once they are older. The bundles are filled with simple things -- rocks and shells they picked up together. The bundles can be opened at anytime. But the objects inside mean something only to his daughters and himself.
His main complaint about society is that people live in the future too much, waiting on what they think they will become. He plans to write his own book of thoughts. The title of his book will be "The Days of Gone." WTF?? These "days" can't be "gone" soon enough in my opinion.
"People are always waiting to become something. When you are born, you are something. There is no becoming. Instead of life after death, we should worry about life after birth."
PeSheWa, in his years as a priest, has had thousands of people come to him to help cope with a troubled, stressful world. Thousands of people?? Really?? This is so laughable as to be beyond the pale. Dills would be hard pressed to name two dozen people he has helped in 40 years, mostly having helped himself. It is actually much easier to name the people he has caused great harm and hardship to, and there are many of them with independent but similar stories to tell, stories waiting to be told.
One of the many who have sought help from PeSheWa is Mark, who was working at a convenience store on Reidville Road when a friend mentioned "Doc" to him. Mark, a commercial artist, said he was at "death's door." He was preparing to commit suicide, he said.
Because of his studies with PeSheWa, he said he is a new person. He carries a journal, which includes his feeling and interpretations of life. So where is Mark now? That is an interesting story that will not be shared here, but maybe Mark will stumble into this thread and add his story to this discussion. You out there Mark? Jump on in here. Maybe provide an update as to how Jerry's "help" worked out for you?
"People come to him for help, and he basically shows them that it is OK to just be yourself," said Marion, PeSheWa's wife.
Some may study with him for three to 10 years, PeSheWa said.
"The idea is to find your center," he said. He said too many people get caught in a forced routine of living and forced images of reality.
"People are always looking for security and absolutes, but everything is relative, beyond what we can see," he said.
"Most people in Spartanburg just see me as the Bingo Man, but I live a life beyond that. If you don't do something everyday that enriches your soul and benefits others, you aren't really living," he said.
PeSheWa is in a transition period. He said bingo corruption in the state has pushed him on. This is an interesting assertion he makes because Jerry Dills operated his own SC game and did not use any outside operator. Again, more on his relationship with Hallow to come. The next journey will be to read federal grant proposals for minorities. Yep, reading proposals is not the same as writing them.
"I'm leaving behind a lot of friends in Spartanburg, but I've realized I can't run with the big dogs and live with myself. I've got to answer to Grandfather, the Creator." An interesting play on words here. Yes, Jerry did run with the "big dogs" and tried to beat them at their own game. More on this "can't run with the big dogs and live with myself" follows below.
The S.C. tax Commission admits there is a problem with bingo. They say they are looking into it. Only 1 percent of the revenues generated in this state went to charities last year. This is almost verbatim what the TN Department of Revenue and TN Secretary of State were saying prior to bingo being outlawed in TN. History does seem to repeat itself...
Less than half a dozen bingo licenses are held by churches, according to a special task force of the commission. Jerry Dills had this newspaper reporter believe the permit was issued to Jerry's church. This is a calculated misrepresentation by Dills. The public record will show the permit was issued to Native American Indian Media Corporation based in Greenville, SC, and not to a church. More on this in a future post.
"We know there is corruption and that most promoters are crooked." Correct, and Jerry Dills was his own promoter and operator, and is crooked. More to come. We'd like to see them brought under control," said Danny Brazell, spokesman for the commission. Now we're beginning to see one of the reasons why Jerry Dills cut and ran from SC bingo. More to come.
"Big-time promoters are siphoning off business and corrupting bingo, making it difficult for the honest man," Brazell said. I agree completely.
in bad taste i made a joke about picture # three sorry
so the question is who built the items in picture #3, as in being a native ceremony sight
how long have they been there
Totems since about 1985-1986. I do not know who made the fire circle or the medicine wheel. My beliefe would be this was done by Dills' apprentices. The building was built after 1993.
are they documented as a historic sight, by historians or state or native groups
No.
and if they are or if they are not real, is he using them as a validation for his church
In the newspaper article I included above, you will find two links to the actual article I scanned. Take a look at those scans/links. You will see Dills standing next to those totems. I am not Native American, I am white, so I cannot respond to what a real totem is. Dills claims Shawnee heritage. Are totems part of the Shawnee culture? I think his intent here was to combine various cultures and traditions into a world-based system. He alludes to that in the article. Regarding validation for his church, that he uses the totems in newpaper articles to validate himself, since he is his own church, I would have to say yes, he uses these to validate his church.
and next what to do about it, if they are fake remove them
if they are real remove him and his kind from disturbing it
and putting it under protection
I do not know how to respond or proceed. All I can do here is continue researching, and reporting the findings of my research. This is the position I take here and I will let others make these calls on these matters.
are they documented as a historic sight, by historians or state or native groups
When it comes to cults, there's an old joke among religious scholars: A cult is a cult is a cult -- unless it's my religious group.
That jest highlights the tendency many people have to treat the identification of cults almost like the pinpointing of pornography. The don't have a good definition of what makes a cult, but they're sure they'll know one when they see it.
Name: INDIAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF THE AMERICAS, INC.
Old Name:
Business Type:
Status: Inactive - Dissolved (Administrative) Initial Filing: 06/27/1985
Formed in: Shelby County Delayed Effective Date:
Fiscal Year Close: June AR Due Date: 10/01/1990
Term of Duration: Perpetual Inactive Date: 03/15/1991
Principal Office: 1018 OSCAR ARMSTRONG RD
KNOXVILLE, TN 379140000 USA
Annual Report
Mailing Address: 1018 OSCAR ARMSTRONG RD
KNOXVILLE, TN 379140000 USA
AR Exempt: No
Public Benefit Corporation: Yes
Registered Agent: LANE, HUNTER
Butcher link might sink Indian games
By Chuck Cook
and Shirley Downing
Operators of an Indian bingo game in Memphis are central figures in a federal fraud investigation involving Knoxville financier C.H. Butcher Jr.
Federal investigators allege Butcher, after he was forced into bankruptcy in 1983, concealed assets through an Indian bingo game at the Pascua Yaqui Reservation game in Arizona operated by the same people who run the Indian game in Memphis.
They also claim he provided money to purchase rights to the Arizona game near Tucson, Ariz., with money drawn on a secret Cayman Island bank account.
The Arizona Indian bingo game was closed last November by tribal officials amid allegations of profit skimming and rigging of games by employees of its Tennessee-based operators, Val/Del Inc.
Val/Del is a corporation formed by operators of Memphis Indian Bingo at 806 East Brooks Road, apparently for the purpose of operating bingo games on Indian reservations.
Although Butcher's name does not appear on Val/Del's incorporation papers, he has solicited business for the firm and he has allegedly admitted to Arizona Indians that he financed the operation.
Nationally, Indian bingo has become a lucrative business for professional management companies such as Val/Del.
Indian bingo first surfaced in the mid-1970s on a Seminole Indian reservation in Florida. The games, unregulated by the federal government and out of reach of state laws, permit jackpots of up to $250,000 compared to $5,000 limits on regulated games.
Today, almost 60 tribes sponsor bingo games. Some, such as the Pascua Yaquis in Arizona, report unfavorable experiences with the management companies they hire to run their games.
Memphis' Indian Bingo game, operated under the auspices of the Tennessee Indian Council, opened in June 1983 with its proceeds supposedly to be used for job training and educational assistance for Tennessee Indians.
William S. Harris, Jr. of Knoxville, who had worked with the Seminole Indians in Florida, helped open the Memphis operation, said Dr. Mackaki PeSheWa, Indian council chairman.
The drive to get an Indian bingo game in Memphis began in 1981 when Harris approached the Tennessee Indian Council and its director, Fritz Niggler of Old Hickory, Tenn., with a proposal to sponsor a bingo game.
Harris was accompanied by the former Seminole chieftan Howard Tommie, who has been connected with Indian bingo games in Florida, Arizona, North Carolina, California, Minnesota, Nebraska and Washington State.
Police in Florida allege Tommie's partners in a bingo management partnership were former business associates of the late organized crime leader Meyer Lansky.
Tommie and his business partners signed a contract with the Tennessee Indian Council to start the bingo operation in Memphis.
But PeSheWa -- formerly known as Jerry N. Dills -- said the Indian Council decided to run the games without Tommie's assistance.
In March 1983, after the Secretary of State's Office granted a bingo permit to the Indian Council, PeSheWa led a surprise takeover of the Indian Council's board of directors.
Niggler then became president of the Memphis Indian Bingo operation and Harris its manager.
The game, housed in a former skating rink in Whitehaven, opened its doors in June that year.
Meanwhile, Pan American Management, Inc. which was formed to manage Seminole Bingo while Tommie was chief of that tribe, had secured the contract on the Pascua Yaqui game near Tucson. The tribe, however, had grown disillusioned with Pan American.
In January 1984 the principals in the Memphis game -- by then incorporated under the name of Val/Del Inc. -- bought out this contract from Pan American for $550,000.
Harris, Niggler and PeSheWa, along with Knoxville motel operator Gary Long, are the principals of Val/Del Inc., a Delaware corporation.
Val/Del Inc. originally listed a Knoxville address that was the same Executive Park Drive location used for several of C.H. Butcher Jr.'s businesses.
Long's name has surfaced in the federal investigation of both banker Jake Butcher and C.H. Butcher Jr. Records show Long had more than $7 million in loans from financial institutions associated with Jake Butcher.
Pascua Yaqui attorney Jack Lansdale said C.H. Butcher Jr. funded the $550,000 purchase by moving the money through a trust fund for his son, a Texas ranching operations and Swiss and Cayman Island banks.
U.S. Bankruptcy Court exhibits filed March 22 in Knoxville show at least $1.5 million went through accounts controlled by the son, C.H. 'Butch' Butcher III, to a Swiss bank in the Cayman Islands.
C.H. Butcher Jr. was forced by creditors into bankruptcy in July 1983, six months before he allegedly fronted $550,000 for the Pascua Yaqui bingo rights.
The purchase of the Arizona bingo rights is the subject of a continuing Knoxville federal grand jury bankruptcy fraud investigation.
When Val/Del began operating the Arizona games, Harris retained his post as manager of the Memphis Indian Bingo and also became president of the Pascua Yaqui game. Niggler became the Arizona bingo operation's manager, remaining as president of the Tennessee Indian Council.
Niggler said he was to be a liaison between Val/Del and the Indians.
The relationship between the Arizona Indians and Val/Del soon soured.
The Indians has hired accountant Karen Maddox to oversee bingo. Within 45 days Ms. Maddox wrote a detailed memo to Pascua Yaqui chief and medicine man Anselmo Valencia complaining Val/Del was not adhering to normal accounting procedures.
Ms. Maddox said she later sent another detailed memo to tribal officials documenting what she thought was skimming by Val/Del employees.
Harris, Niggler and Long seemed to control Val/Del, but Valencia said he learned differently on a trip to New York.
In May 1984, Val/Del flew Valencia to Buffalo, N.Y., where they were trying to form a bingo partnership with the Tonowanda Indians.
Valencia said he was supposed to meet with Long there, but instead met with C.H. Butcher Jr.
Valencia said he was upset about continuing problems with Val/Del and wanted to speak to the man in charge.
"I asked Butcher, 'Who is putting up the cash" Is it Long or it is you?'" Valencia said. "Butcher said, "I am. It's my money.'"
Niggler said Butcher also visited the Arizona operations on several occasions.
The effort to open bingo at the Tonowanda reservations is one of several attempts Val/Del officials made to secure additional Indian games.
They also unsuccessfully tried to form bingo partnerships with the Potawatomi and Shawnee Indians in Oklahoma and the Chitimacha Indians in Louisiana.
In Oklahoma, their business partner was cowboy actor Dale Robertson, who starred in The Tales of Wells Fargo TV series.
But while they were trying to expand to other states, the problems with the Pascua Yaquis continued.
In May, the Indians fired Val/Del and locked them out of the bingo hall.
Val/Del went to court in July 1984 and won a brief reinstatement.
After Val/Del resumed management, the Indians allege they were locked out of the bingo hall's counting room.
The Pascua Yaquis would not accept this arrangement and last November they closed the bingo hall.
Maddox and Lansdale claim Val/Del officials took all the money from the bank accounts and left owing the tribe more than $120,000.
Maddox and Valencia gave the FBI three cases of allegedly rigged pull tabs from the bingo hall.
Pull tabs are sold to bingo players at the start of each session. Players pay 50 cents for each of the circular pull tabs and can instantly win from $1 to $250 in legitimately run games.
Maddox and Valencia said the pull tabs supplied by Bonus Games of Knoxville and shipped through Memphis were rigged so operators could dictate winners.
Bonus Games is owned by John Lovell, father of Anne Lovell, who was employed by Val/Del as bingo manager in Arizona.
John Lovell said in a recent interview he had no knowledge of the rigged cards.
Through the grand jury investigation, Harris has continued to run the Memphis Indian Bingo game and Niggler has remained president of the Indian Council, PeSheWa said.
PeSheWa claims the two draw no salary from the local operation.
And he said the Tennessee Indian Council will not ask them to disassociate themselves with the Memphis bingo game.
"These men are my friends," PeSheWa said. "I'm not going to divorce my friends just because of something that happened in Arizona."
Council takeover of bingo halls stirs bad blood
Full-blooded Indians angered by ouster from board[/b]
By Chuck Cook
and Shirley Downing
The Tennessee Indian Council once conducted programs for Tennessee's scattered Indians.
But soon after the secretary of state gave the council a bingo permit in 1983, most full-blooded Native Americans were ousted from its governing board.
Now the nonprofit agency's only function is running a bingo game in Memphis.
Full-blooded Indians such as Freeman Robinson, a Choctaw from Ripley, and Ray Emanuel, a Lumbee from Franklin, claim the takeover was a slap in the face for Tennessee Indians.
"Every time we turn around we get hurt," Emanuel said. "It wouldn't be so bad if they just wouldn't use the Indian Bingo name."
The game in Memphis is not a true Indian bingo operation such as reservation bingo where prizes are unlimited and games are basically unregulated.
Instead the Memphis game must meet the same requirements as other nonprofit games in Tennessee and limit its daily prizes to $5,000.
The takeover of the Indian council has resulted in a simmering two-year blood feud between current and former board members.
Former members claim the takeover was illegal and only full-blooded Indians understand the needs of other Native Americans.
But Fritz Niggler, present council president, and Mackaki PeSheWa, board chairman, say they have "enough Indian blood for it to count," and claim they have brought better management to the council.
PeSheWa, who is also known as Jerry N. Dills, acknowledges some members of the council are not Indians. But he said the council is trying to get new federal grants to restart job training programs for Native Americans.
The Tennessee Indian Council was formed in 1975 and was the only organization in Tennessee dedicated solely to helping the state's Native Americans.
The legislature last year approved formation of the Tennessee Indian Commission, but that agency is not yet operating.
The Indian Council's board was originally made up of Indians from several tribes -- Truman Bell, a Choctaw; Charles Hill, an Osage; Sylvester Stoney, a Chippewa; Emanuel and Robinson.
They hired Niggler, who formerly worked with the Choctaws in Mississippi, as executive director to administer their programs.
The Tennessee council sponsored job training programs funded through federal Indian programs until 1981 when the Department of Labor discontinued the grants because of alleged misappropriation of funds.
Emanuel said the loss of funds resulted from Niggler's mishandling of grant money. Niggler said the Indian council's board members were at fault.
Niggler then introduced William S. Harris to the council. Harris, who had worked with the Seminole Indians in Florida, sold them on the idea of funding their job programs by running a bingo game.
Through 1982 the council, along with Harris and Niggler, worked to obtain a state bingo permit.
Early in 1983 the secretary of state granted that permit.
In February of that year, PeSheWa paid dues for 15 associates from Strawberry Plains. In the next meeting, those new members supported a complete takeover by board members backed by PeSheWa.
Emanuel said in one night the board went from "control of Indians to control of a bunch of hippie-looking people in beads and sandals."
PeSheWa said the takeover was necessary. "We were tired of the way things were being run and we had the votes," he said.
Since the takeover, the Tennessee Indian Council has moved from Nashville to 806 East Brooks Road in Memphis, the location of the Indian bingo game.
PeSheWa said the proceeds for the game go to scholarship and charitable causes. "We provided food baskets for some church group and we provided scholarships for five students," he said.
Robinson said "when they took over their main purpose was bingo."
"That's all the Indian council is for now," he said. "It's just for bingo and who knows where the money goes."
Emanuel said that Indians who have tried to challenge the authority of the bingo hall operators have been threatened.
Always ,Remember, Dills And All the East of the Mississippi River Shawnee ARE split offs of Jerry Popes group ( U.R.B.) . Said group LOST its Federal Legal case to being Indian / Indigenous ( Interiors Arts and Crafts board ). they Refuse Any other type of Recognition ( As a WHITEMAN I Say I AM A INDIAN -White makes right ). Their " Famed / Framed " Resolution from Ohio ( Pope Was born, raised in Indiana ) STATES they ARE desendents (AT best , fore THEY STATE their leadership at that time WAS Mosty Wannabees ) . AT the time of the resolution They went to Ohio's BLACK leadership - Ohio's M.L.K. and ranted how they were abused Indians , yet this rant took two years to get any result - desendancy status to 1/16 . Ten-skey
...When I met Doc at Indian Bingo in Spartanburg, SC I was in very bad shape. I think I sound overly dramatic if I say I was near death. So I'll just stick with "in bad shape" for now. Although the dramatic is closer to the truth. This meeting was the beginning of an incredible period in my life and I still treasure it in many ways. I compartmentalize to be able to... because it ended being such a disappointment. And I was made to feel that I was the disappointment.
I'm disappointed in myself in a lot of ways because the esoteric knowledge I believed I'd received from Doc the shaman Doc the priest should have set me free and kept me free from the trap of this dominant culture that is slowly killing me thru sapping me of life. I was so exhausted when I got off work today I thought I'd never be able to write anything coherent (a Doc word there). And I feel very defensive. I imagine the possible derision and even attacks I might have coming. Or simply an inquiry to explain myself and what is meant by "knowledge". Or even a psyche-profile of how deluded I must be, etc. These states of mind are a part of me and they are exhausting. So you see how bad it is (some of it). And yet I can now hold a job where I couldn't before and have a relationship where I couldn't before. So you see how good it is (some of it). I think I'm trying to say, "How do you measure a healing?"
.. Many years later I had the good fortune to meet Bobby. He is considered to be a genuine psychic by many and lives in East Tennessee. He is an amazing person, and he and Doc are like light and dark, day and night...
Theft from Knox burial grounds called 'sacrilege'
In describing religious artifacts stolen from a nearby Native American burial ground, Macaki "Doc" PeSheWa, priest at the Native American Church in Strawberry Plains, says remaining calm is a challenge.
"I'm not going to tell you that there isn't any ill feelings, because there is," PeSheWa said.
PeSheWa says a 14-foot Native American totem pole, two symbolic eagles, a cow skull and a horse head were stolen from burial grounds located at 7865 E. McMillian Road in East Knox County between Nov. 2 and Nov. 4.
According to a Knox County Sheriff's Office report, the suspects used a full-size pickup truck to steal the religious artifacts and symbols, which the report states are valued at $10,000.
KCSO spokeswoman Martha Dooley said the sheriff's office is looking into the theft.
To PeSheWa, not the value of the artifacts, but their meaning is what is important. He said the artifacts as well as the ground in which many Native Americans are buried serve as a way for relatives of those lost to "release" their spirits.
"There have been many a tear shed here at these grounds," he said. "Stealing the totem is a direct violation of burial ceremonies. This is sacrilege to us."
PeSheWa said the theft is not the first instance of trespassing, which he said began about three years ago.
"I don't know what we are going to do," he said. "The only thing I can think of now is to get another 18- to 20-foot cedar log and carve another one."
The theft has caused PeSheWa to close off the burial grounds, which he wishes he did not have to do.
"This is a place where people can learn about Native American culture and even worship how they see fit," he said, "but we can't take another lick like that."
The Native American priest said the totem that was stolen commemorates a time when Native Americans from various tribes translated "The Great Law" - the guiding principles Native Americans use to govern themselves - into English. He said "The Great Law" not only holds great value to his people, but also should be held in high regard by any citizen of the United States. America's Founding Fathers used "Great Law" principles to shape portions of the U.S. Constitution.
Symbolism aside, PeSheWa said all that he wants is the totem's return.
"This is a federal offense," he said. "We just want everything brought back and for these thefts to quit. I'm serious about the return of the totem and the capture of those who continue stealing."
Nash Armstrong may be reached at 865-342-6336.
© 2010, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
PESHEWA, DR. MACAKI - known to most everyone as "Doc," continued on his journey through eternity early Wednesday morning, February 9, 2011, as he passed from this life to the next. During his life he brought happiness to many and no one who met him was unaffected by his presence. Doc was a force for good throughout his life. A Veteran of the Air Force, he also co-founded the Tennessee Indian Council, founded the Indian Historical Society, Native American Indian Media, The Systems Theory and Human Development Corporation, published The Indian Reader, and established the Native American Church of Strawberry Plains of which he was the priest. He was also well known as Santa for the past 37 years. He could often be seen passing out candy and gifts during the holiday season and throughout the year. He felt like "Everyday should be like Christmas." Continuing on their journey through life are Doc's wives, Marion and Melanie; his children Shanti, Shakra and husband Adam, Shamir and partner Scott, Shaman and husband Daniel, Shakti and Shasti; his brother Tom and Sandra; his cousins, Doug Dills and Lil Virginia Thompson; his God-children, Brandon Stormer, Paige and Joey Wilkinson; his special friends, Moe, Seham and Christina Gurgis, Seva and family, Chief Hawk Pope, Bill and Patsy McKee, Ayapia, Steve Lohrey, Steve Stormer, Dr. Williem Kelley, Dr. Craig Laman, Earl Nash, Bruce Torbett, Jody Torbett, and Katja Kaye. A releasing ceremony for Doc will be held on Sunday, February 13, 2011 at 4:00pm at the Native American Church located at 7862 McMillan Road, Strawberry Plains, TN. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Native American Church P.O. Box 53, Strawberry Plains, TN 37871. A celebration in honor of Doc will be held at Doc's house following the ceremony. Arrangements by Cremation Options, Inc. (865) 6WE-CARE (693-2273) www.cremationoptionsinc.com.
Published in Knoxville News Sentinel from February 11 to February 12, 2011