"Native American Church" Strawberry Plains TN, Jerry Dills AKA Peshewa

[Kevin]

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.

[tachia]

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.

http://www.thesantaclaus.org/FatherC.html

Dr. MaCaki PeSheWa. He's a doctor with a degree in divinity from the Native American University in Mexico.



his real name: jerry neal  dills
http://cita.chattanooga.org/TNNAorgs.html

Native American Church, Inc. (1981-89, 1993- )
PO Box 53, Strawberry Plains TN 37871 . 865/ 933.1456
www.NativeAmericanChurch.com . elders
Jerry Neal Dills aka "Dr. MaCaki PeSheWa" drpeshewa
Darrell Ridenour


there is a lot of info on this guy through google .. .. .. just another mix and match shame-on .. was there a particular reason you brought this up kevin? .. ..

[tachia]

http://www.thesantaclaus.org/FatherC.html

Born in 1941 at Spartanburg, S.C., this Santa knows the pangs of poverty first-hand: "When I was younger, it was a rough world and rough for us. We grew up on the wrong side of the railroad tracks," he says. "We just were poor and didn't have stuff." As an adult, this Santa has held a variety of jobs - including being a teacher. He worked, too, as a zealous fighter for rights due Native Americans like himself. Now, at 57, this Shawnee Santa - who is also part-Blackfoot and part-Sioux - has retired. He pulls income from Social Security. "And my wife works," he says. "So I've got enough money myself." He takes and makes no money at this gift-giving thing. But that's beside the point of why and how he works against the Grinch - his former self, you might say - to ensure happy times on Dec. 25.

This Santa pastors the Native American Church in Strawberry Plains. It's located not too many miles south of the I-81//I-40 interchange. The church's architecture possesses a Southwestern motif. It's built of blocks. Real simple. And outlined this time of year with streams of gold tinsel. Outside, the place looks in need of a good grooming - the roof needs to be finished, part of the lawn needs mowing, there's bits of this, that and trash scattered everywhere. But inside you'll find a terrific toyland - a warehouse probably much like one run by the North Pole Santa. Shelves are stacked high with dolls and toys and games.

[educatedindian]

I think he came up on NAFPS when we were still a yahoo group. He's just a Nuager who managed to get the domain name NativeAmericanChurch.com before anyone else could. Nothing to do with the actual NAC at all.

At the time he wasn't even claiming to be NDN. This is the first I recall seeing him claiming to be such.

[clearwater]

I am a newbie here and this will probably be my only post. I found this thread through google and I have first-hand knowledge and experience with this person, having been an "apprentice" myself and ingested more peyote than I care to think about. This information is accurate through 1990 and comes from my first-hand experience. I was there. It took a few years to grow up and realize what a piece of work this guy really is. I voluntarily left the group after serving Dills for about 8 years.

For the purposes of this public post I do not wish to identify myself. But I can answer any other inquiries or follow-up, if needed, privately through email or by phone. This is real.

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.

Dills has created numerous corporations, and all share the same board members who play musical chairs. These Tennessee-based corporations include Tennessee Indian Council (nonprofit), Native American Indian Media Corp (nonprofit), Systems Theories and Human Development Corp, Native American Church, and several others. All are comprised of the same small core group of people since inception. Take a look Dills' resume (in the name of Macaki Peshewa) and every corporation listed is his. Dills uses theses corporations as mirrors reflecting and referencing themselves, to cast the illusion of an entity larger than the 1/2 dozen (or less) core people it all boils down to. A review of these corporate documents will show the same people running these companies from the same location. It's all bullshit.

Dills engineered the takeover of the Tennessee Indian Council (TIC) board of directors in the mid 1980s in order to take control of the largest bingo game in Tennessee, which was operated in Memphis under the TIC charter. Dills operated that game until bingo was made illegal in TN in the late 1980s. He then moved his bingo operation to Spartanburg, South Carolina where it fizzled out by around 1988.

Also in the late 1980s, Dills and the Tennessee Indian Council was under investigation by a federal grand jury in Nashville, TN at the time, them being among the targets of the investigation, as they were informed at the time by the federal prosecutor. The grand jury was investigating bingo, and Dills was subpoenaed to testify. However, Dills never testified because he had a real good attorney at the time (Lionel Barret of Nashville, TN) who shielded him from appearing. The grand jury also subpoenaed all corporate documents of the Tennessee Indian Council, which was delivered to the prosecutor in Nashville. Nothing came of that investigation. Soon after the TN legislature made bingo illegal, so Dills moved his game to SC, using Native American Indian Media Corp. as the front for that game.

Dills claims to have numerous PhDs, however, they are all from unknown universities. The primary source of his doctorates are from the "Native Americas University" based in Mexico, supposedly. While convenient for Dills at the time because this information was not easily verified, in today's world of internet, there is no internet reference to Native Americas University found. There is no way to verify his stated education, which apparently is entirely bogus. Dills did audit some classes at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, but has no degrees from that school or any school or university in the U.S. Dills was illiterate until his early 20s and reads and writes at about the 6th grade level.

His claim to education in Mexico is dubious, as he also claims to have been a member of Carlos Casteneda's party (Teachings of Don Juan). Sounded good at the time. His PhD's are in "Systems and Theories" and another in "Human Development." That's what's on his resume.

Dills primarily uses the NAC as a personal tax haven, claiming to be grandfathered as a church. However, he has probably delluded himself with his own bullshit. Dills (aka Peshewa) has at various times claimed to be the reincarnation of Jesus Christ, as well as the "chosen one" and adopted the name Neishte as another alias in order to cloak himself in prophetic trappings. He claims special spiritual knowledge and seeks followers, so in his mind he is real.

With the advent of the internet, Dills grabbed numerous domain names, including www.NativeAmericanChurch.com, www.indianreader.com, www.thesantaclaus.org, www.neishtekiva.com, www.beyondprophecy.com, among them. As with his corporations, Dills uses these websites to reflect and reference themselves, but it remains the same small core of people. The names on those websites are the same folks who run the corporations, the church, and all that was true through 1990.

None of the materials on these sites is current. For example, the Indian Reader website is relying on a few issues of a newsletter which was published in the mid 1980s, and all the materials on that website are from published print materials dated 1986 or before. Dills stretches everything he can to the max in terms of self-adulation, and this is a good example of reusing old stuff to cast the illusion of actually doing something or being something.

It's unfortunate that he has the domain name NativeAmericanChurch.com as this ensures he hits high in internet google searches. A review of the guestbooks on these sites reveals the sad truth that many of the legitimate members of the church think this is the official site. Go and read some of those guestbook entries and you'll see responses from all over the world. This is really sad and an unfortunate consequence of Dills grabbing this domain first.

The Native American Church of Strawberry Plains, TN is questionable at best, fraudulent at worst, and relies on a borrowed peyote permit to administer ceremonies to which Dills is ill-suited to perform. To call Jerry Neal Dills (a/k/a Dr. Macaki Peshewa a/k/a Neishte) a charlatan would be too kind. Other than peyote ceremonies, Dills does not administer any other ceremonies, at all. It is of note that no "real" skins hang out with Dills for very long. No wonder.

As stated, this information is accurate through 1990 and and is based on my personal, first-hand experience. Some of the information I present here is from observation and conversation and cannot be verified. But much of the information can be verified, for example, the peyote use, which requires a signature on the DEA form when UPS delivers the stuff, as well as the bingo information. The corporate structures. Things like that can be verified. It's quite possible some of the conditions may have changed. However, since Dills has ongoing, active live websites as of today promoting peyote use, as well as his personal and corporate agenda, it is doubtful much has changed at all. Probably just more of the same.

[clearwater]

"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 really is a riot, and is a perfect example of Dills' self promotion based on bullshit.

Dills' "sacred ground" is a 7 acre plot on I-40 with a cinder block building. The totems were mostly carved by Cherokee artist Roger Crowe (deceased) who was driven out of the church by Dills when they had a disagreement. The place looks like a run down trailer park.

You can visit Dills' "sacred ground" yourself. You can see it off I-40 near Knoxville, at about the 400 mile marker. To visit the grounds, from Knoxville take exit 398, turn left onto Strawberry Plains Pike (turn right if you're going into Knoxville), go less than 1 mile past all the gas stations and food joints. Turn right onto Wooddale Church Road. You will soon see and be driving beside I-40. Turn right onto McMillan Road, which goes back over the interstate. The entrance to the "sacred site" is to the left, a few hundred feet once you've gone over the interstate. Take a good look and see how it compares to the hyped bullshit from Dills' descriptions.

Here is google map imagery of the site:

Google Map of NAC "sacred ground"


Here are some really great arial views of the "sacred grounds" right on I-40:

Sacred Grounds View 1    Sacred Grounds View 2    Sacred Grounds View 3    Sacred Grounds View 4

It's kind of hard to see where "a community center, complete with restaurant, an art gallery, a gift shop" might be located on this property... I suppose you don't need any parking when you're running this type of operation.

Dills lives about 1/2 mile from the "sacred site." Dills and the "sacred site" are actually located in Knoxville, TN. His mailing address and phone are in Strawberry Plains but he physically is in Knox County.

[clearwater]

Wow... this just gets better and better.

It appears that the Native Americas University and the Neishte Kiva (also Dills) are one in the same. Take a look at this:

http://www.nativeamericanchurch.com/Research.html

Kind of figures. And take a look at this. Here is an example of both very outdated materials, and self-promotion at the same time. This list of folks being "thanked" by the Native American Church, are a list of folks from the mid 1980s, evidenced by the fact that several of the senators and congressmen being thanked are no longer in office for many years. In fact, several folks on the thank you list have been deceased for many over a decade (Fritz Niggler, Congressman John Duncan Sr., and Sen Strom Thurmond are dead. Others on the list may be dead too, the list is that old). And, scroll down to the bottom of this "thank you" list, and you will see Dills thanking his own corporations:

http://www.nativeamericanchurch.com/thanks.html

Good grief. I've said enough. Maybe these posts will be read by someone who understands the high level of bullshit in play here.

[E.P. Grondine]

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".

[clearwater]

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".

I am relaying what Dills told me as best I can remember after 20-30 years. Dills did not have his own permit, I do know that for sure. It was my understanding that Hawk Pope (or someone associated with Pope) had a permit which is what Dills used, whether by permission or not. It's possible that someone else associated with the United Remnant Band of Shawnee had a permit. For sure the permit was somehow tied to that group as I recall. It is my memory that it was Pope who carried the permit but I never met Pope, only heard about him from Dills, who was a member of Pope's group. It is also my understanding, according to Dills, that Pope also administered peyote in ceremonies. I do not know if that is true; I do know that is what Dills told me.

Peyote was delivered to Dills' home on numerous occasions over the years via UPS and he was required to sign some federal papers to receive. I was standing at the UPS truck several times this happened and saw Dills sign the papers to receive the peyote. It's possible Dills signed someone else's name to the papers. He often did that. As I recall, the peyote came from Texas.

Of course peyote permits cannot be lent. That's just common sense. But they are lent. You would think this would be a violation of federal law, yes? Who checks this stuff? Who controls it? I am accurately conveying here that Dills received and administered peyote without having his own permit and did so for many years. The medicine bag he wears contains peyote. Given that his websites currently promote peyote (he has a lot of information posted on his site about peyote and its use) it's not a stretch to think he is still doing this.

For clarity, I am not Indian. I am white. I met Dills when I was 18 and pretty stupid, and moved into his house about a year or so later. I voluntarily departed Dills' group about 8+ years later. I'm now 49. I can also state that, with the exception of Roger Crowe, that no other Indians ever participated in the ceremonies I was part of, unless you consider Dills to be Indian. All the participants were white.

Dills actively promotes peyote and solicits followers. It would be easy for someone to show up at his doorstep and find out for themselves. Go take a look. Don't take my word for it. Go to Knoxville and visit Dills. I can provide the address of his house. See for yourself. Form your own conclusions.

And as I originally stated in my first post, I will make myself available by phone (preferred) or email to anyone who wishes to contact me (but only if you identify yourself). Otherwise, I have made my statement and I stand by it, and have nothing further to add. It is possible to pick apart anything. Have at it. Enjoy yourself. This does not diminish the matters I have shared here. Go find out. It's there to be found out.

[ten-skey]

MORE coverage of Jerry " Hawk " / "Tukemas" Pope's United Remant Band SHAWNEE GROUPS Can be found on Woodlandindians .org forum column " tribe " wants Ohio mound protected from wind farm.   Ten-skey

[clearwater]

I have received this private communication regarding this matter from a new member named "silver star"

Private message received from "silver star"
Topic "i know something's"

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

To silver star: I would prefer not to communicate with you privately. If you have information to share regarding this topic, I would prefer you share it with the entire forum, in full view.

You indicated whether you could trust me or not, wondering if I was in fact, Jerry Dills. If you have read my posts and can wonder something like that, then there is no point in having private communications with you because you make no sense.

clearwater

[dabosijigwokush]

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

[silver star]

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.

[clearwater]

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 is a "bonified [sic] sacred sight" ? Please explain.

If you zoom out on any of the view you will find all the stuff you can read about in many books.

Jerry Dills acquired this property with the intent of lobbying the State of Tennessee to build an exit ramp at McMillan Road, which he did and was not successful. That would have dropped travelers right at his "sacred grounds." Is it possible to purchase property and deem it to be "sacred?" Perhaps my understanding of "sacred" is different than yours. Do sacred grounds also include gift shops, restaurants, an art gallery, and so forth? What is a "1000-foot red path" anyway?

When one worships the almighty dollar this makes sense, then. In that light, then these grounds are indeed sacred. In my humble opinion, of course.

But I would definitely be interested in learning more about what bonafide sacred grounds are. I am no longer a member of the Native American Church so if I am doing a dis-service to NAC here, my apologies.

[clearwater]

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.

Thanks you silver star for your understanding. Rather than try to validate my story for yourself, why not just share your own story here and let it speak for itself?

I am fully aware that by making my postings I have placed my personal safety in jeopardy. I have no illusions about this. But when I stumbled across this forum and this thread months ago, I waited a long long time and prayed (if that's what you wish to call it) about this. Having read EducatedIndian's post about basically this issue having been dismissed already, I could not in good conscious let this go, knowing what I know about this fraud and the psychic damage Dills has inflicted on many dozens of people.

As you probably know, I blocked any further private messages from you. It does not matter who I am. You can tell your story here and maintain a degree of protection, I believe, if you simply tell the truths you know. Why not share your story here, in this forum? You already know my story as best as I can tell it. Let me hear yours. In full view.

I have already privately revealed my identity and contact information to the moderators of this forum, just so that they know I am trying to remain transparent, while at the same time trying to protect myself. I do understand the balancing act there and understand fully.

I would love to hear your story. Tell it in your own words as best as you can. Pray for clarity on this and do what you need to do. That's what I have done.

clearwater