Author Topic: Phil Landis & Nemenhah Band, an Oklehueva or ONAC chapter  (Read 91487 times)

Offline educatedindian

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Re: Official Nemenhah Online College of Healing
« Reply #15 on: May 14, 2009, 04:16:10 am »
Tevlin contacted me 4 or 5 days ago. Tevlin mentioned finding in his own searches that Landis was convicted of fraud in Montana, grand theft in Idaho, and "something else" in Utah. He wasn't specific on the last one, but I'll ask him and where we can get online proof to post of this.

Offline matt e

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Re: Official Nemenhah Online College of Healing
« Reply #16 on: May 14, 2009, 10:10:57 am »
I have heard of alternative healing methods working on certain types of cancer, however these methods (including diet changes) in 99% of the cases i personaly have read about over the years were used AFTER other methods had failed, or were used immediately upon diagnosis, administered by liscened proffessionals, and only affected certain types of cancer.

    It was not long ago that a family who refused to get treatment for thier child who died were charged with a crime for not taking appropriate action ( the disease had a cure rate of 99%). The family choose to rely on faith healing instead of medicine. now they are in jail for criminal neglect.

   While i do believe that people have every right to practice their religion, I also believe that failing to make use of any and all available treatments, especially those that have been proven to be effective is a slight against the One who gave us life. I believe that the creator gave us the ability to learn to treat and find cures for diseases.

    having seen my mother, father and sister, as well as a dear family friend go through chemo, yes it does make you very sick.  by the time my parents and friend got the treatment it was too late as the cancer had spread too much. but my sister is still here due to getting it.

   SO in short- I personaly believe that refusing to accept or get treatment for a disease that is mostly curable  for religious reasons is a slight to the one who gave you life, by saying you would rather die than get a treatment that will allow you to live.
feel free to share any post I make as long as you give me credit. I want everyone to know who to send the hate mail to.

Offline Tsu Dho Nimh

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Re: Official Nemenhah Online College of Healing
« Reply #17 on: May 14, 2009, 05:03:42 pm »
This issue is getting a lot of coverage in various science blogs, including one by a surgical oncologist.

http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2009/05/another_child_sacrificing_himself_on_the.php 
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2009/05/daniel_hauser_and_the_rejection_of_chemo.php

There are others, just search scienceblogs.com for the child's name or the word Nemenhah.

They are spreading the belief that shunning medical treatment in favor of the group's selected therapies is the way Native American beliefs work.

Offline Defend the Sacred

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Re: Official Nemenhah Online College of Healing
« Reply #18 on: May 15, 2009, 11:33:28 pm »
Coverage has gone very mainstream now: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ap_on_he_me/us_med_forced_chemo

*** *** ***

Judge rules family can't refuse chemo for boy

By AMY FORLITI, Associated Press Writer Amy Forliti, Associated Press Writer   – 2 hrs 54 mins ago

MINNEAPOLIS – A Minnesota judge ruled Friday that a 13-year-old cancer patient must be evaluated by a doctor to determine if the boy would benefit from restarting chemotherapy over his parents' objections.

In a 58-page ruling, Brown County District Judge John Rodenberg found that Daniel Hauser has been "medically neglected" by his parents, Colleen and Anthony Hauser, and was in need of child protection services.

While he allowed Daniel to stay with his parents, the judge gave the Hausers until Tuesday to get an updated chest X-ray for their son and select an oncologist.

read the rest of the article...

*** *** ***

Sadly, no overt mention of the fact the group are frauds and not representatives of any authentic Native American nation or healing tradition. But there are lines like:
"The Missouri-based religious group believes in natural healing methods advocated by some American Indians."
and
"Landis said he founded the faith after facing his diagnosis of a cancer similar to Daniel Hauser. He said he treated it with diet choices, visits to a sweat lodge and other natural remedies."

Also, the teaser for this story currently running on Yahoo's main news page reads:
 * 'Medicine man' boy's chemo wishes vetoed

note - all three links are to same article. I have quoted, rather than reprint the article in full, so we don't get into any problems with copyright issues.   
« Last Edit: July 18, 2014, 11:23:06 pm by Kathryn »

Offline Superdog

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Re: Official Nemenhah Online College of Healing
« Reply #19 on: May 16, 2009, 01:28:53 am »
The wheatdogg blog listed above got an interesting comment today from the son of someone defrauded tragically by Landis...

Here's some excerpts...the rest of the letter is there...comment #9

From the wheatdogg blog:
http://www.computernewbie.info/wheatdogg/2009/05/11/a-sad-curious-tale-of-rampant-duplicity-and-stupidity/
------------------------------------------
galigo:
May 15th, 2009 at 4:55 pm

My mother died because she followed his healing advice instead of receiving medical treatment. Here is a copy of an email I sent the chief. cloudpiler@nemenhah.org

Phil Landis (AKA Cloudpiler),

Thanks to all the publicity you’re receiving from this Daniel Hauser case, I finally caught up to you. I’m sure you’ve wanted to know how things ended up with my mother, Richelle, your neighbor at Parks Place, Hideaway Valley, UT.

If your memory needs refreshed, she had uterine cancer, which is 75% to 95% survivable with appropriate (medical) treatment.

However, you advised her to use your alternative healing methods, which she did.

As you were aware, she became sicker and sicker, as she continued to do what you advised her to do. When I came to visit her, you would disappear.

When she became so sick that she needed 24 hour care, my wife and I brought her to our home in Idaho. Here, we cared for her and loved her until she died.

...................................

I wonder how many other people have died because of what you do.

Does it bother you?

Here’s something you should know: My wife and my dad both had cancer at the same time as my mother. Weird, huh. The thing is, my wife and my dad are still here. Cured by surgery. Perfectly healthy now.

I miss my mom, and every time I think of her slow, painful, rotting, stinking death my heart breaks all over again.

You are not only a fraud, chief, you’re a killer.

------------------------------------------
end of quoted material


Heartbreaking and a clear example of how these guys do more harm than just steal money.....
Superdog

Offline NanticokePiney

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Re: Official Nemenhah Online College of Healing
« Reply #20 on: May 16, 2009, 09:57:19 pm »
The wheatdogg blog listed above got an interesting comment today from the son of someone defrauded tragically by Landis...

Here's some excerpts...the rest of the letter is there...comment #9

From the wheatdogg blog:
http://www.computernewbie.info/wheatdogg/2009/05/11/a-sad-curious-tale-of-rampant-duplicity-and-stupidity/
------------------------------------------
galigo:
May 15th, 2009 at 4:55 pm

My mother died because she followed his healing advice instead of receiving medical treatment. Here is a copy of an email I sent the chief. cloudpiler@nemenhah.org

Phil Landis (AKA Cloudpiler),

Thanks to all the publicity you’re receiving from this Daniel Hauser case, I finally caught up to you. I’m sure you’ve wanted to know how things ended up with my mother, Richelle, your neighbor at Parks Place, Hideaway Valley, UT.

If your memory needs refreshed, she had uterine cancer, which is 75% to 95% survivable with appropriate (medical) treatment.

However, you advised her to use your alternative healing methods, which she did.

As you were aware, she became sicker and sicker, as she continued to do what you advised her to do. When I came to visit her, you would disappear.

When she became so sick that she needed 24 hour care, my wife and I brought her to our home in Idaho. Here, we cared for her and loved her until she died.

...................................

I wonder how many other people have died because of what you do.

Does it bother you?

Here’s something you should know: My wife and my dad both had cancer at the same time as my mother. Weird, huh. The thing is, my wife and my dad are still here. Cured by surgery. Perfectly healthy now.

I miss my mom, and every time I think of her slow, painful, rotting, stinking death my heart breaks all over again.

You are not only a fraud, chief, you’re a killer.

------------------------------------------
end of quoted material


Heartbreaking and a clear example of how these guys do more harm than just steal money.....
Superdog

 This crap should be enough to put Landis in jail for a long time! But it's not, and that's the saddest part of it.........

Offline educatedindian

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Re: Official Nemenhah Online College of Healing
« Reply #21 on: May 26, 2009, 06:39:10 am »
It's gotten quite a lot of attention. CNN, NPR, and the AP all asked me for comment, along with some anti cult groups. And this article got on an academic listserv. I bolded a couple points.

-----------------
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MO_FORCED_CHEMO_CHURCH_MOOL-?SITE=MOMAR&SECTION=STATE&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
May 22, 5:19 PM EDT


Nemenhah leader defends group

By MARIA SUDEKUM FISHER
Associated Press Writer

STOCKTON, Mo. (AP) -- Phillip "Cloudpiler" Landis was raised Mormon in western Washington and didn't think too much about what he considers his American Indian heritage until he went to prison.

"What better place to have to sit and reflect upon what motivates you," he says.

Landis now leads the Nemenhah Band, an Internet-base group recently thrown into the spotlight when one of its far-flung members fled with her cancer-stricken son to avoid chemotherapy.

Landis, 47, has never met Colleen Hauser or 13-year-old Daniel, and urges them to return home. But he supports the Hausers' decision to defy the recommendations of doctors, who "may be the high priests of the medical religion, but who are spiritually bankrupt."

The attention garnered for Landis has some in the field of alternative and complementary medicine concerned. American Indian groups also have expressed misgivings about Landis.

"A lot of people are attaching themselves to the alternative medicine field," said Lorenzo Cohen, director of the Integrative Medicine Program at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. "It does give quote-unquote alternative medicine a bad name."

Cohen said most people seeking alternative therapies usually use them in combination with conventional therapies, like chemotherapy, and that the Hauser case "was particularly tragic" because Daniel has a "very curable pediatric cancer."

Steven Moore, senior attorney for the Native American Rights Fund in Boulder, Colo., was critical of Landis and his group.

"There are a lot of sham artists around like these guys, and they ultimately disrespect Indian people and Indian nations and Indian organizations like the Native American Church," Moore said.


Landis said his group is a healing-based religion open to people from "all walks of life, and all tribes, nations, kindreds and tongues ... who set their foot on the healing path."

Colleen Hauser joined the Nemenhah a few months ago, presumably paying the $250 suggested fee as her son dealt with cancer, which is "not inconsistent with how a lot of our members join," Landis said.

"They're thrown into a medical situation, the medical hierarchy hasn't too many real answers for them, and they begin to search."

On its Web site, the group suggests paying the initial fee, then $100 a year, plus "regular, monthly offerings." The Web site does not appear to espouse any particular type of alternative therapy.

Its rituals include sweat lodges, sacred breaths and baptism, Landis said, but he does not advocate the use of peyote, something that is used by the Native American Church of North America. He said the Nemenhah Band is an affiliate of another group called the Native American Church, and Moore said that Landis does not have "any affiliation with a legitimate, valid, Native American Church chapter or organization anywhere in the United States."

The Nemenhah Band came together about 10 years ago in central Utah by a group of women who felt they had a calling, Landis said. He was elected "principle medicine chief" in part because of his claim to be related to Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce, he said.

But Julie Kane, managing attorney for the Nez Perce in Idaho, said Landis is not Nez Perce and the tribe asked him to stop using references to the Nez Perce a few years ago.

"He is not at all Nez Perce. He is not even a descendant," Kane said.


Colleen Hauser left Minnesota on Monday with Daniel, who has Hodgkins' lymphoma, a highly curable cancer when treated with chemotherapy and radiation. The Hausers preferred alternative remedies, and Daniel and his mother fled a day before a court hearing that could have resulted in a judge ordering chemotherapy.

The Hausers, who are not American Indian, were seen in Southern California on Tuesday, and were thought to be in Mexico. Authorities said Friday that Interpol had joined in the search.

While Hauser leads authorities on an international search, Landis has been left answering questions about the Nemenhah.

"We can support her desire to seek alternative medicine," he said. "But we cannot support her committing a felony."

He speaks freely about his past and his decision to move from Utah last year to southern Missouri when his probation ended after serving several months in prison on fraud charges.

"Trees brought us here," he said, throwing his arms open wide. "We are not a desert family."

Landis, his wife and four children started in Weaubleau, population about 500. The family has since moved about 30 miles away to land north of Stockton, a southwest Missouri town of about 2,000 where Landis says he is building a "lodge" for his family and for the Nemenhah Band, which he claims has about 4,000 members. He doesn't say where that land is exactly, and meets reporters at picnic tables in a park in the center of Stockton.

He said western medicine has its place, telling about a time when his daughter knelt on a nail that went under her kneecap. The nail came out, Landis said, but there was no way to see what, if any, damage had been done. Landis did what many parents would do: He took his child to the hospital and had her knee X-rayed. Also, she had a tetanus shot.

"Our main tenet is: `First, do no harm,' not, `First do nothing,'" he said.

Landis said he lost faith in most traditional medicine after a bout with bubonic plague, a broken back and cancer, which he said disappeared thanks to a tea-like concoction made from a mushroom. He still drinks the mushroom tea daily, he said, 15 years after his diagnosis.

He refers to Daniel Hauser as a youth minister and says he wants the Hausers to return.

"The fear was so great that she broke," Landis said of Colleen Hauser. "But it pales in comparison to what she and her family will go through if she goes to jail. I've been there; I know what she'd go through."
 

Offline educatedindian

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Re: Official Nemenhah Online College of Healing
« Reply #22 on: May 26, 2009, 06:51:28 am »
This is Landis's criminal record, including for "theft by confidence game" and "deceptive practices." His record is extremely recent. The guy was still on parole in 2007 while he was leading Nemenhah.

Repost widely pls.

------------------------

Idaho Department of Corrections:
              Name: PHILLIP REID LANDIS
              Aliases: PHILLIP REID LANDIS, PHILLIP LANDIS
              State of Origin: Idaho
              DOC Number: 66996
              Party Status: RELEASED
              DOB: xx/xx/1961
              Race: WHITE
              Sex: Male
              Eyes: BLUE
              Height: 6' 01"
              Weight: 208

              Offenses:
                     Case Number: CR-00-2440       
                     Offense: GRAND THEFT       Sentence Date: 11/6/2002       

                     Case Number: CR00-2440       
                     Offense: GRAND THEFT       Sentence Date: 7/2/2002       

              Parole/Probations:
                     Start Date: 12/4/2002       Actual End Date: 12/13/2007       
                     Status: INACTIVE       

              Prison Inmate Records:
                     Latest Admission Date: 7/2/2002       
                     Status: INACTIVE       


       Montana Department of Corrections:
              Name: PHILLIP REID LANDIS
              SSN: xxx-xx-xxxx
              Aliases: PHILLIP REID LANDIS
              State of Origin: Montana
              DOC Number: 45958
              Party Status: INTERSTATE COMPACT
              DOB: xx/xx/1961
              Race: WHITE
              Sex: Male
              Height: 6' 01"
              Weight: 195

              Offenses:
                     Offense Date: 8/1/1997       Convicted County: LINCOLN
                     Offense: THEFT       Sentence Date: 1/24/2000       

                     Offense Date: 8/1/1997       Convicted County: LINCOLN
                     Offense: DECEPTIVE PRACTICES       Sentence Date: 1/24/2000       

              Parole/Probations:
                     [None Found]

              Prison Inmate Records:
                     Status: ACTIVE_INMATE       


       Utah Department of Corrections:
              Name: PHILLIP RIED LANDIS
              SSN: xxx-xx-xxxx
              Aliases: PHILLIP RIED LANDIS
              State of Origin: Utah
              DOC Number: 139065
              DOB: xx/xx/1961
              Race: CAUCASIAN
              Sex: Male
              Eyes: BLUE
              Height: 6' 01"
              Weight: 195

              Offenses:
                     Case Number: CR-00-2440       
                     Offense: THEFT BY CONFIDENCE GAME       Sentence Date: 1/24/2000       

                     Case Number: DC-99-25       
                     Offense: THEFT       

                     Case Number: DC-99-25       
                     Offense: DECEPTIVE BUSINESS PRAC       

                     Case Number: DC99-24       
                     Offense: THEFT       Sentence Date: 1/23/2001       

              Parole/Probations:
                     Start Date: 4/12/2000       Actual End Date: 11/14/2000       
                     Status: DISCHARGED       County: PROVO A P & P

                     Start Date: 1/23/2001       Actual End Date: 7/8/2002       
                     Status: DISCHARGED       County: RICHFIELD AP&P

                     Start Date: 1/27/2003       Actual End Date: 11/19/2007       
                     Status: DISCHARGED       County: RICHFIELD AP&P

              Prison Inmate Records:
                     [None Found]


Offline debbieredbear

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Re: Official Nemenhah Online College of Healing
« Reply #24 on: June 18, 2009, 12:44:42 am »
I noticed that many news casts and newspapers are  now saying  "Native American inspired." That is good. I know I protested when I heard someone say it was native.

Offline sunka nunpa

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Re: Official Nemenhah Online College of Healing
« Reply #25 on: July 18, 2009, 10:49:15 pm »
I have heard of alternative healing methods working on certain types of cancer, however these methods (including diet changes) in 99% of the cases i personaly have read about over the years were used AFTER other methods had failed, or were used immediately upon diagnosis, administered by liscened proffessionals, and only affected certain types of cancer.
And have a low cure rate. Insulin resistance is pretty much the only "diet and cancer" thing I genuinely believe in; unfortunately, most of the health foods you see on the market, especially the juices and fortified cereals, are just as bad as the junk food that doesn't pretend to be anything else.

Still, produce seems to prevent cancer. But not send it into remission all on its own.

Offline littlefeatherspiri

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Nemenhah Band Missouri
« Reply #26 on: September 09, 2009, 12:09:42 am »
 I can't find what I'm looking for on the net but I can find what I'm not...lol

http://www.nemenhah.org/index.html

"Membership is only by Spiritual Adoption. It is also the only way the Nemenhah Seminary can accept you into the program and designate you a Medicine Man or Medicine Woman. As a Nemenhah Medicine Man or Woman you will be able to practice your Healing Ministry under the full weight and protection of the Native American Free Exercise of Religion Act 1993 (NAFERA) and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act 1993 (RFRA)."



"If you have already been spiritually adopted and you already made your initial $250.00 offering, please remember to support the program by making additional offerings for the Course Modules on a regular basis. All offerings are strictly voluntary and non-refundable."


Offline wolfhawaii

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Re: Nemenhah Band Missouri
« Reply #27 on: September 09, 2009, 12:42:19 am »
Gahhhhh! This stuff gives me a FITT!

Offline educatedindian

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Re: Official Nemenhah Online College of Healing
« Reply #28 on: September 09, 2009, 02:28:00 pm »
Oh hell. Looks like "Cloudpiler" Landis has been driven out of Minneapolis and relocated to Missouri. All the bad publicity from nearly causing that kid's death, no doubt.

I think the local Missouri media need to be contacted before he does any more harm.

Offline Defend the Sacred

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Re: Official Nemenhah Online College of Healing
« Reply #29 on: September 09, 2009, 05:27:50 pm »
Have there been any updates on that kid and his family?

ETA: Looks like the kid is doing pretty well:

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/09/04/daniel-hauser-done-with-chemo/
Quote
Minneapolis — A cancer-stricken Minnesota teenager who once fled the state with his mother to avoid chemotherapy has finished the treatments he so despised and likely will begin radiation in October.

Daniel Hauser, 13, went through his final chemotherapy treatment Thursday at Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota in Minneapolis, his family said.


This is the only mention of anything "American Indian":
Quote
He and his family opted instead for alternative treatments inspired by American Indian traditions. The issue ended up in court because doctors say Daniel's type of cancer is highly curable with chemotherapy.


No mention of Landis or Nemenhah. That's a problem. What almost killed this kid had nothing to do with American Indian traditions. It was about a con man preying on desperate people. The only connection to anything Indian is that there's still enough ignorance about Indians and Indian traditions that he was able to use the mystique of the "exotic" to con a dying child.
« Last Edit: July 18, 2014, 11:24:07 pm by Kathryn »