NAFPS Forum

https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-common-tactics-used-by-people-who-fabricate-Native-identities-to-appear-legitimate-and-how-do-they-maintain-their-deception/answer/Al-Carroll-17
What are some common tactics used by people who fabricate Native identities to appear legitimate, and how do they maintain their deception?

At NAFPS we have found they do not care about maintaining their deception. Many will still follow them anyway, even if they admit to being phony. This is a tactic con artists call letting the mark in on the con.

One of the most common ways any cult uses is isolating its members. Cutting off family ties. Giving them a new name or identity to feel special. Phony Indian names are common, usually high sounding but unintentionally comical. Names often include European myths mixed in, like Dragon Who Chases His Tail. Or they have Moon in their phony Indian name, unaware that moon is a common term in many Native languages for menstrual cycle.

Many are heavily armed, to intimidate outsiders, give their members a sense of power, and promote an us against them mentality. Harley Reagan and his Deer Tribe had their own phony dojo and shooting range to prepare for race war against Latinos.

Many take part in crimes together. Some of these phony tribes are militias and sovereign citizen groups engaged in paper terrorism, the use of phony liens, court papers, identity cards, checks, and stock certificates. The Washitaws together with the phony Republic of Texas militia tried to steal $1.5 Billion (yes with a B) using phony liens and cashiers checks, even walking away with seven Lexuses.

Many abuse their members sexually and encourage their followers to take part in abusing other members, knowing this will create a sick bond but also mean they have to stay silent and side with the cult leader to avoid punishment. Nuwaubian leader Dwight York abused hundreds of children.

And as you can tell from the above, most imposters are right wing politically, usually extreme right wing. Some leaders were actual KKK leaders, like Paul Mattern AKA Buck Ghosthorse. Should it surprise anyone hardcore racists have no problem doing cultural appropriation?

https://www.quora.com/Why-does-it-seem-like-some-Native-Americans-are-reluctant-to-share-their-culture-with-other-Americans/answer/Al-Carroll-17
Why does it seem like some Native Americans are reluctant to share their culture with other Americans?

There are hundreds of examples of why at NAFPS. Hundreds of examples of frauds, abusers, exploiters, imposters, commercial hustlers, con artists, crackpots, cults, militias, phony tribes, white supremacists and Black supremacists, all falsely claiming to teach Native spiritual traditions.

It is not unusual for whites claiming to be genuine spiritual seekers to spend years trying to get close to Native spiritual leaders, only to then turn around and falsely claim to be anointed as the Next Big Thing, the One You Should All Listen To...for the right price of course.

It is not unusual for such wannabe white saviors to marry a Native and then divorce them in a year or two, and again falsely claim to be anointed as the Next Big Thing, the One You Should All Listen To...for the right price of course.

It is not unusual to falsely claim to be adopted into a tribe, and then falsely claim to be anointed as the Next Big Thing, the One You Should All Listen To...for the right price of course.

This red haired Irishman spent over 30 years posing as a Cherokee and Mayan CIA agent/Special Forces in Vietnam/Olympic contestant/Mormon exorcism survivor/martial arts master who time traveled with his crystal skull named Max and prepared his heavily armed militia for a race war against Latinos. Over 3000 fell for it, his Deer Tribe. Frankly, most knew it was all phony from the start and just did not care.

And you wonder why Natives do not want to share...because Natives know share is a coded way of saying steal and then mangle it beyond recognition for profit and to build a cult of fellow wannabes.

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-linguistic-genetic-and-archaeological-evidence-that-the-American-Indians-descended-from-the-Hebrews-as-The-Book-of-Mormon-claims/answer/Al-Carroll-17
What is the linguistic, genetic, and archaeological evidence that the American Indians descended from the Hebrews as The Book of Mormon claims?

It is all so absurd and easily debunked. Has anyone ever looked at Woody Allen and thought: He is Native of course. Or Einstein. Or virtually anyone Jewish you can name.

The Book of Mormon is part of a long pattern of Europeans using pseudo science and poorly thought out faux mystical Christian Creationist claims about Natives. The best known similar example is the Bering Strait Theory and it has the same utter lack of evidence as the Book of Mormon.

First Westerners claimed Natives were: 1) Separately created by God 2) From Noah's son Japheth 3) Lost Tribes of Israel 4) Welsh Tribes 5) Northern Europeans 6) From Canaan the grandson of Noah 7) From Ophir the son of Noah's son Shem 8)Then the Bering Strait Theory (BST).

But these theories all fell apart fast, which is why one came after another in quick succession. For example, both Hamon L'Estrange and Rabbi Menasseh ben Israel published works refuting the supposed linguistic evidence way back in the 1650s.

Joseph Smith was not even being creative in his theft of Christian Creationism. It has that same utter lack of evidence, being driven by misplaced faith alone. Really, have you ever heard a Jewish comedian say Sitting Bull looks just like my family?

There is an entire subset of the New Age movement that feeds on these claims to prey upon Jewish people, sometimes led by Jewish imposters, including fake would be tribes.

Central Band of Cherokee claimed Jews were Cherokees and vice versa.
Central Band of Cherokee
http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=2418.0

Donald Yates peddles misinterpretation of DNA.
Donald Panther Yates
http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=506.0

Walking Stick mangles together faux Native with supposed Jewish shamanism.
Walking Stick Foundation--Jewish Shamanism????
http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=2527.0

https://www.quora.com/How-do-members-of-the-Native-American-community-respond-to-and-deal-with-Pretendians-within-their-own-spaces/answer/Al-Carroll-17
How do members of the Native American community respond to and deal with "Pretendians" within their own spaces?

NAFPS approach has always been the most you can do is warn people, give them the evidence and cut down the number of people fooled, abused (including sexually), defrauded and exploited. Honestly, most New Age frauds avoid Natives except as needed to carry out their abuse.

Those who commit crimes need to be prosecuted. Imposters who use the pose of medicine people to become rapists and child molesters deserve prison. But prosecution is even more difficult than more typical rapists. Dwight York is thankfully in prison until he dies for abusing hundreds of children. Paul Denton of the Rainbow Tribe went to prison for serial rape and threats. But Charles Storm AKA Hyemyohosts was only charged once, for his first rape, despite a long history of assaults going back that first one in the 1950s.

Militia and sovereign citizen groups posing as tribes are actually a lot more likely to be charged. The law protects property more than people esp. if whites or the govt are the ones being cheated.

Violations of Indian arts and crafts laws are timid and with low penalties. You would think a phony posing as a medicine man would get charged the same as someone who posed as a Catholic priest to rip off the poor box.

No. Even for white psychiatrist Kymberlee Ruff who claimed to be both a Hopi messiah AND a Tibetan one, the state psychiatry board refused to even investigate. You bet they would if one of their shrinks went around claiming to be the Pope.

Instead she lost her license for abusing a patient, having sex with him while under her care, then spreading lies, including to police, he was a rapist and child abuser. Losing her license did not stop her from practicing without it. She still does almost a decade later.

When Harley Reagan relocated his Deer Tribe to Phoenix he faced constant Native protests. He took to carrying a sidearm and hid his phony dojo and shooting range from the public. He only advertised their phony ceremonies in the back page ads of local porn mags. Seriously. Myself and some others showed up to hand out flyers to those naive enough to be taken in. Old Harley sent his German bodyguards (I am not kidding) to hustle people inside and claim we were terrorists. One German even tried to force his way into a car with a Native woman.

But as most of the examples above make clear, mostly frauds rely on keeping their distance from actual Natives. Ruff went to the Hopi rez and found an elderly man, Titus, and sponged off him, winning him over by helping bring in his crops. Titus family and every other Hopi avoided Ruff.

York and Reagan also avoided Natives and backed it up by their cults being heavily armed. Denton and other frauds tried to attach themselves to the NoDAPL movement and got told to back off. Storm had a long history of preying on Cheyenne and Crow communities, including plenty of accounts of his assaulting girls. He also stole a medicine bundle. His interaction with Natives literally was cruising rural areas looking for someone to take advantage of, something he did even when he was a young man. The result is what you expect, his name and person being notorious

https://www.hcn.org/articles/protect-sandia-mountain-our-church/

QuoteProtect Sandia Mountain, our church
The Pueblo of Sandia urges lawmakers to transfer lands within the T'uf Shur Bien Preservation Area.
Stuart Paisano and Donald Avila — August 21, 2026

FOR CENTURIES UPON CENTURIES, the people of the Pueblo of Sandia have lived in relationship with Sandia Mountain and the Rio Grande in what is now known as New Mexico. Even when our lives were at risk during incursions by Spanish, Mexican, and American governments, we cared for the lands and the waters. And we prayed for the health of our communities and the world around us all.

Sacred to our community since time immemorial, Sandia Mountain is our church, our protector and our source of well-being. It is also home to wildlife and important ecosystems, and a source of beauty and recreation for hundreds of thousands of people who live in and visit the Middle Rio Grande Valley.

Today, we ask lawmakers and members of the public to respect our culture, traditional knowledge and sovereignty — and to support our efforts to further protect Sandia Mountain, especially in today's rapidly changing and unpredictable world.

"We ask lawmakers and members of the public to respect our culture, traditional knowledge and sovereignty."

Congress should transfer land within the T'uf Shur Bien Preservation Area from the U.S. Forest Service, within the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, within the Department of the Interior.

We appreciate the work of local Forest Service employees who have done their best to protect this special area through changing political administrations. Yet we have all seen the litter and graffiti, deferred maintenance, broken fence lines, illegal trails, violations of occupancy rules and degradation by disrespectful people who care neither for the sacredness nor beauty of Sandia Mountain.

We have also witnessed the destruction of cultural sites and encroachment into sensitive areas. These are places the federal government agreed to protect when Congress passed the T'uf Shur Bien Preservation Trust Area Act in 2022.

That law was the result of decades of court cases and agreements based around attempts by the Pueblo to regain access to lands originally granted to the Pueblo by the King of Spain in 1748. It was later confirmed by the U.S. Congress in 1858 under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo when the Spanish grant, as confirmed by Congress, called for the eastern boundary of the Pueblo's land to be set at the "main ridge" of the mountain. The 1859 survey – performed in only four days – arbitrarily meandered the foothills near the Pueblo rather than the main ridge of the Sandia Mountain area, a loss of approximately 10,000 acres from the Pueblo's land grant.

The T'uf Shur Bien Act was an attempt to rectify the loss of about 10,000 acres from the Pueblo of Sandia's original land grant which had extended to the ridgeline of Sandia Mountain. It allows tribal members "free and unrestricted access to the Area for traditional and cultural uses," protects private landowners living within the claim area, defends in perpetuity the wilderness character of the area, and prevents logging, mining, and other development.

In requesting the transfer of lands from the USDA to the Interior Department, the Pueblo of Sandia held more than 75 meetings with lawmakers, neighbors, businesses, community members and others to explain why this move is important to the Pueblo.

As a sovereign nation, we have broken neither promises nor agreements. Yet, disinformation persists in the media and within some communities.

The Pueblo of Sandia is not denying access to landowners or responsible, respectful recreational users. When the land is transferred, all authorized existing uses or activities and existing public rights of way for roads and utility corridors will remain. Visitors can still enjoy the area. And the lands, waters and wildlife of Sandia Mountain will still be protected — today and for future generations.

By managing the T'uf Shur Bien Preservation Area, the Pueblo will be able to better protect its culture, traditions and way of life. 

The Pueblo will also be able to better protect the mountain from future development, further degradation and even catastrophic wildfire. By offering local solutions, resources and strategies tailored to the unique cultural and physical landscape of this area, the Pueblo of Sandia can facilitate intergovernmental coordination efforts for emergency responses, public safety and law enforcement.

To retain its religious and traditional meaning to the Pueblo, Sandia Mountain must be preserved. Sandia Mountain must also be conserved and protected for the health of the Middle Rio Grande Valley and future generations. here is no one with a longer record of love and care for the mountain than those of us who have been here longest.

More information about The Pueblo of Sandia:

https://www.sandiapueblo.nsn.us/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandia_Pueblo

He attended an Indigenous Peoples' Day event in Detroit, Michigan.

Uploaded here is photo of him at the event, with his staff.

In response to this post and photo (which included photo of the older woman with him) he wrote "what a beautiful day spending time with great aunties".

Another woman posted on Facebook:

QuoteVekesohvoKomaestse Thomas Whitefeather
Special Thanks from Delta Team Red Tiger Assam
For Turtle Island SEAL seer and Native Turtle Island spiritual support and natural and Skies and
Honors

She now tags him in frequently to praise and thank him. I did not include all the emojis she used. Thomas and followers use emojis heavily.

From what I can see on Facebook, he goes after older women. Heads up, Detroit.

Quote from: tecpaocelotl on March 08, 2011, 01:25:54 AMhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2olg_Zk2V8
Anyone know anything on this? It's a recent video from National Geographic.

Pretty will explained on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mardi_Gras_Indians

A question, several photos and many replies here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/157030671571580/permalink/845384016069572

There is another, more informative topic here, with the same name:

http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=4237.0 [Mardi Gras Indians?]

The book is mentioned here, together with seven other related books:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/best-books-about-cults_l_65e697d3e4b0d2a2475a7efb

Related articles at the same source:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cult-leaders-personality-traits-common_l_65c17191e4b0dbc806adcdba

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bad-relationship-can-be-like-being-in-a-cult_l_6ab413f7e4b0dab46c25bda6

Quote from: debbieredbear on July 19, 2023, 10:05:07 PMMight be worth a read to some to learn about how cults use language.  The book is Cultish by Amanda Montell.

Interesting U.S. book. It has it's own Wikipedia article, as has the author, too:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultish
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Montell

I don't really know what these sites are, (pirate copies? Please beware!), but the whole book can be read or downloaded here:

https://files.addictbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Cultish-The-Language-of-Fanaticism.pdf
https://dn760102.eu.archive.org/0/items/cultish-the-language-of-fanaticism-epub/Cultish_the_Language_of_Fanaticism_EPUB.pdf

The book at Publishing Houses:
https://www.harpercollins.com/products/cultish-amanda-montell
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/amanda-montell-interview-on-cultish/ [Interview with the author.]

About the book here: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/55338982-cultish

And of course at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Cultish-Language-Fanaticism-Amanda-Montell/dp/0062993151

And at the author's own website: https://amandamontell.com/cultish/