Eric Spinney AKA Eric or Erik standing bear

[Counting coup]

  "In our life we must one day choose.
  To either live in the world that man has created 
Or to live and be part of the world that was   created"
    * Ya-Teh Welcome
    * Professional Speaking
    * Corporate Workshops ?
          o Strategy and Achievement
          o Leadership Program
          o Team Building Program
          o Balance Stress & Success
    * Workshops ?
          o The Way Of Earth
          o The Journey to Self
          o Healing & Teaching Circle
          o Signposts & Teachers
          o Life, Universe & Everything
          o To Heal your Family
          o Great Wheel of Life
          o Practitioners Workshop
          o E-Book Workshop
    * Retreats ?
          o Drum Making
          o Healing & Teaching Retreat
          o Way of Earth~Spirit Retreat
    * Student Lectures
    * Courses ?
          o Course Level One
          o Course Level Two
    * Personal Healing / Reading ?
          o Readings
          o Healing/ Intuitive Counselling
    * About Me
standing bear
 Ya-teh my name is Standing Bear

but most people simply call
me Bear
Welcome to my website, contained within the links and pages are many of the services and classes that I am able to offer individuals, groups and organizations
For over 15 years I have been working with people to help them learn how to heal and create the life they deserve. All that I have learned from my own healing journey as well as from the many people that I have shared my healing journey is what I use to guide and help people like you to learn how to heal yourself and learn new skills that will help you in the pursuit of your goals and dreams.
 I am a firm believer that
you cannot heal anything until you first understand what created it.
Being an adoptee of mixed ancestry created many questions that needed to be answered. Even though my adoptive parents tried their best to fulfill the role of mum and dad there was always something missing. This missing connection and the choices I made created many issues within my life. Most I have worked through and some I am still working on in my life as my search for my birth parents continues. When I finally understood why I felt the way I did growing up it taught me how to lessen the level of influence the learned negative aspects of myself had over me. It wasn't easy but in time I learned how to continue to move forward and to allow myself to become part of people's lives. I learned the value of identity and the need to belong.

You too, like all of us, when we have a hurt from our past it is very surprising the level at which it can effect our lives and the lives of those we care about. It is only through having the courage to see the importance of exploring who you are and what has shaped you in your life will you ever be able to fully heal. By understanding the life choices you have made that don't support you and understand why you made them you can learn to make wiser ones in the future. Some of the choices we have made in the past don't fully show their influence until many years later. This is why it is very important to learn how the many lessons in our life influence the choices we make.

 The main way I approach helping or teaching people how to heal is by first working on building a foundation within themselves. The very first step is to work out what it is you actually believe in. Not what you have been told to or feel you should, but what it actually is. This becomes the foundation and the means that can help you through all the unknown aspects of your journey. It also is the starting point that can lead you to learn about who you are. Within the exploration of what we believe in we start to ask ourselves questions. These questions come from the very essence of who we are and in the journey of answering them we start to see the many aspects of our life in a new way. We start to feel closer to those we care about and also see the issues that are hurting ourselves and our relationships with everyone who is a part of our life.

 The next stage is to learn different skills that will enable you to move forward in your chosen direction in life. Some of these tools are:
·         Discovering your natural way of being
·         explore what your life has taught you
·         How to see the negative experiences as positive lessons
·         Understanding your relationship with the natural world around you
·         How to feel connected
·         Becoming a part of something greater than yourself
·         Develop your intuitive nature
·         Becoming a healer within your own life or to help others
·         How you can help society by helping yourself
·         Bring balance back to your life
·         Nurture and heal your relationships with partner and family
·         Learning how to be you

I have worked with many people from all walks of life. What I endeavour to teach people and how I approach the way I teach is to always ensure that everything relates to the persons life and their chosen journey. This way you will always learn what you need for your life and journey not just a bunch of information that you find difficult to relate to.

 When working with people I have two basic rules that I follow:
1.    You do not help someone until they ask and are willing to help themselves
2.    No one has the right to change another persons path

To me these two rules are very important as they define respect for myself and those around me. One of the greatest things we need to respect is personal space. You never go into someone's personal space without being invited. By not helping someone until they ask we are showing them respect by allowing them to first try to find their own answers or way forward. Even if we don't agree with the way they are approaching aspects in their life we must always respect their choices and allow them to achieve things their own way. In the same way those around us must also respect our personal space and not interfere in our lives until we choose to ask
These two simple rules if chosen to be followed I feel will help humanity realize how much we disrespect ourselves and those around us. Our families, our communities, our nations and the human race at large are only in the state it is in because of the need to indoctrinate and disrespect the sacredness of personal space, personal beliefs and the sacredness of all life. We as human beings are all here to learn how to honor the sacredness of all life. We cannot even begin that journey until we first learn how to honor and respect the sacredness of ourselves. It is through understanding this we learn to allow ourselves to feel safe enough to be connected to the world we live in and to give ourselves the time to explore how that connection relates to our journey and our well being.
We can all learn from the natural world around us. The nature doesn't try to deceive itself; it flows along following the natural law of all beings. The nature understands that everything is connected to everything else. We can look at this in a spiritual context as in every beating heart is sacred and also connected to every beating heart. That is the awareness that everything we do will affect the next seven generations that follow us as the seven generation that came before us have affected our lives. Or we can look at it in a more scientific way. We are a part of an eco-system, that eco-system not only supports us it can, if we change it too much, affect the life and well being of every individual. Our societies have been shaped from the society we have come from. Our ancestor's choices created the platform our society today is built on. It is through this we can learn how all of us can make wiser choices from the not so wise choices we all have made. We can also learn that we are a part of something greater than ourselves and together we can help the human spirit evolve in a better way by first healing ourselves and honouring the sacredness of the path we now walk.
There are many aspects to what I teach and how I do my best to help people learn how to help themselves. I hope you enjoy the exploration of this website and please feel free to email me with any questions you wish to ask. The website is always growing with new workshops; books and classes so please check it out regularly.
Thank you Bear
 © Standing Bear

[Counting coup]

Gohiyuhi (Respect) Part 2 FRAUDS Section
Gohiyuhi (Respect) Part 2 FRAUDS Section
Mar 23, 2006

Plastic Medicine People Index
Finally getting around to getting this up though it's been in the works for a while. Here is where all links, documentation on, and letters with people I think are Cultural Thieves will now be housed. The Index may be hard to navigate at first, but I'm working on that. To find out about the people listed and why they are listed, just click on their name. Also, I would like to note that some of the people listed may indeed be of native lineage - but that does not mean that they aren't exploiters.

Let me state this clearly for anyone who has missed it before:

   1. This is not a hate site. I hate these persons actions, not themselves.
   2. It is a list of people I and others SUSPECT of being frauds.
   3. I do not advocate violence against these people.
   4. Everything here, not quoted from another source, is MY OPINION, that includes the 'Listed Because' Entries and anything not a quote in the 'Comments' section.
   5. Those listed with their name in red, are known to be sexual predators.
   6. It is IMPOSSIBLE to list all the fakes that are out there. So please use your common sense. Instead of running to a list like this to see if someone is a fake, stop and look at what they are doing. Are they charging for ceremony? Do they speak the language of the people they claim? And the number one clue - do they go and perform these ceremonies for the people they claim to be from?

Michael Harner   
8-18-2002
   
Rainbow Eagle/Roland Willston   
3--10-2005

White Crystal Feather
2-4-2003

Robert 'White Wolf' Smith
8-14-2002

Mary Helen Laughing Waters
14-8-2002
   
Walking Stick Foundation
14-8-2002

David Carson
14-8-2002

Wolf Moondance
6-6-2004

Morgan Eaglebear
30-10-2003

Brooke 'Medicine Eagle'
22-8-2002

Harley 'Swift Deer' Reagan
6-3-2005

Roy 'Little Sun' Steevenz   
3-6-2005

'Shama'
15-8-2002
   
Mary Thunder
1-1-2006

Shaunasay and Randy Tate
30-10-2005

Carrol 'Medicine Crow' Hollaway   
30-10-2003

Neeshanha / Kat Lonergan
2-6-2003

Brooke 'Medicine Eagle' Schiavi   
20-8-2002

Dhyani Ywahoo
8-9-2005
   
'Ven. Running Wolf   
30-10-2003

'Earth Thunder'
30-10-2005

Manny 'Two Feathers'   
30-10-2003

Robert 'Ghostwolf' Franzone   
28-12-2005

Manataka, 'Standing Bear' Moore
31-10-2005

'Don'Miguel/Sixth Sun
29-1-2003
   
Mark Hardin   
29-1-2003

Carlos Castenada
25-1-2003
   
Marrion Dwayne "Threehawks"   
25-1-2003

David 'Two Wolves' Smith   
25-1-2003

Pa Ris Ha/White Buffalo Society   
3-6-2005

Alan 'Spotted Wolf' Champney
15-8-2004

Marlo Morgan   
4-5-2004

Terra Mater/John Twobirds
11-6-2003

   
Chief 'Rainbow Fox'/Ray Paine/Rev. Paine   
3-5-2004

Nathan 'Windwalker' Cagle   
2-6-2003

   
Chief "Dancing Thunder"/Chief "Running Wolf"   
30-10-2005

Christine "White Raven" Olinger   
12-12-2005
   
David "Medicine Eagle" Rendon   
6-3-2005

Selma Palmer/Ocali Intertribal   
4-14-2003

Tony Dreamwalker
"Thunder Warriors"
15-8-2004

Adam "Yellowbird"
3-5-2004

   
Steven Yellowhand   
3-6-2005

Bernyce Barlow
5-22-2003

Clifford Alford   
10-30-2003

Don "Two Eagles" Waterhawk   
10-30-2003

   
"Chief Soft Shell Turtle"/ Tom Netz
7-9-2004

Carl "Bigheart"   
20-9-2005

"Hyemeyohsts" Storm   
11-13-2003

Arthur "Medicine Eagle" Sonier
17-8-2004

Jamie Sams   
16-8-2004

Carmen "Sun Rising" Pope
10-31-2003

Penny "O'Shinnah Fastwolf" McKelvey   
11-6-2003

Paul "White Eagle"   
1-1-2006
   
Catherine Cheshire, Touch the Earth   
3-5-2004

William "Two Feathers"   
14-9-2005

"Southern Cherokee Nation"
3-5-2004

Tanis Halliwel/ International Institute for Transformation
8-9-2005

   
Mother Earth Adventures
3-22-2004

Buck Ghost Horse and family   
3-22-2004

   
Carole "Eagleheart"   
4-2-2004

Roy Wilson/Medicine Wheel Tribe   
4-2-2004

Northern Cherokee Nation of the Old Louisiana Territory
4-21-2004

Scott Anderson/Blue Otter/prophecy keepers
1-11-2005

   
Darrel "Whitewolf" Smith   
7-8-2004

Wind Wolf Woman/Mahinto   
6-6-2004

Harold Mearon   
6-6-2004

Lynda Yraceburu and Maria Naylin/Yraceburu
6-6-2004

Malachi York/Nuwabians etc.   
1-1-2006

Bobby Runningfox   
9-6-2004
   
Dorothy Deagle/"The Original Nighthawk Keetowah Society"   
9-9-2005

Red Elk   
6-3-2005

   
Londuv
15-8-2004

Eagle Cruz, Naropa Institute
15-8-2004

Russel "Two Wolfs"   
16-8-2004

Mary Summer Rain   
16-8-2004

Bo Glasschild aka Many Knives   
5-10-2004

Sandy "Little Lizard"   
16-8-2004

"Princess Pale Moon"   
2-2-2005

Stephen Paul McCullough
20-9-2005

   
Eric "Standing Bear" Spiney   
3-6-2005

Francis "Medicine Story" Talbot / Manitonquat   
8-9-2005
   
Sue "Spotted Wolf Woman" Curtis   
8-9-2005

Rob Roy Two Feathers   
14-9-2005

Ka-Nee-Ka-Neet/Lawrence Agecoutay   
18-9-2005

BSY Group   
18-9-2005

   
Sings Alone Duncan/Free Cherokee   
18-9-2005

Lost Cherokee Nation   
23-9-2005

   Lynn Andrews   
30-10-2005

Cherokees of Kentucky Chickamauga
8-12-2005

Southern Cherokee   
8-13-2005

Ted "Kills in the Fog" Hogan   
1-1-2006


Twylah Nitche/Nitch/Nitsch
    I have had numerous requests from people that I add 'Grandmother Twylah' to this index. This appears to be another sad case of an sick and elderly person being taken advantage of by a horde of nuagers. People like Tom Netz (Chief Soft Shell Turtle) among others run around with certificates they say came from Twylah verifying that they are members of her clan, and chiefs, or peace elders, or holy people. Anyone and everyone it seems is using Twylah's name. As to whether her own people approve of all these new Senneca, well - all I can say is if you think your Twylah issued certificate means anything, show up in the Senneca (or any other Nations') community with it and see how far it gets you. Probably about as far as a group of large men could toss you. As to whether Twylah is actively issuing this certificates herself- I have heard from people who have seen it first hand that she is doing so, after charging a hefty sum. Twylah is native. But whether any of her followers are actually Elders, Holy People, Medicine Men, Chiefs, or really considered members of her clan, is highly unlikely. Watch out for them.

Wallace Black Elk Cow
    Wallace Black Elk Cow has passed away. I hope that his family finds peace, and that those who used him while alive let him find peace now. The Thunder People
    There are alot of people out there claiming to be Thunder People. Some, such as 'Earth Thunder' and 'Running Wolf' I have listed here on the index. The Pope family has been swamped with these men and women claiming to be the spiritual decendents of John Rolling Thunder Pope. They do things that the Pope family says John would never have approved of. Essentially they are leeches. They live off the reputation of a man who, in life, wouldnt have tolerated their foolishness. They live off the spiritual needs of other people. They should be ashamed of themselves.

    To read a letter from Mala Pope about his grandfather, click here. To read another letter from the Pope family regarding the Thunder People and Carmen "Sun Rising" Pope, click here.

    Unreliable Resources
    I hate to say it, but at the moment, the most unreliable source for information out there is the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian's own bookshop.

    Among the books being sold there are:

    "The gospel of the red man: An Indian bible," by Ernest Thompson Seton (Founder of the Boy Scouts, who have been mocking Native people for years in their "Order of the Arrow.")

    Books by Ed "Eagle Man" McGaa. "Mother Earth Spirituality: Native American Paths to Healing Ourselves and Our World," "Nature's Way"

    The Coyote series by Lewis Mehl-Madrona. Pseudo-Native, new-age rubbish.

    More Nuage (rhymes with sewage) books:

    "Totems: The Transformative power of your personal animal totem" by Brad Steiger
    "Native Healing: Four Sacred paths to Health" by Wayne F. Peate
    "The Book of Ceremonies: A Native Way of Honoring and Living the Sacred" by Gabriel Horn
    "American Indian Healing Arts : Herbs, Rituals, and Remedies for Every Season of Life" by E. Barrie Kavasch
    "The way is my mother: Life and teachings of a Native American Shaman," by Bear Heart

    And among the worst:
    "How to trace your Native American Heritage (be enrolled in 90 days.)"  Riche-Heape Films
    This sort of book is a prime example of why people who weren't raised in any kind of Native environment, whether urban or on the rez, are held in such low esteem by those who were. Enrollment is citizenship. It's not something you do on a whim after seeing a book in a museum store. Nor should it be done for monetary gain, as so many are doing. It's just disgusting.

    People go into the Museum and it's book shop expecting to find genuine and reliable sources on Native culture and history. Instead it seems that what they are often getting are just more white fantasies. There needs to be more books by Native people and more books that actually have to do with Native people. By selling these books, the museum is (no matter what they may claim to the contrary) endorsing them as credible. They need to take responsibility for what is being sold in the store and clean things up.

Ryvre S. (272)    Tuesday April 4, 2006, 9:31 pm
Excellent Blog Sis!
send green star

Betty Overrocker (0)    Thursday November 2, 2006, 9:19 pm
It was a pleasure finding Allen Spotte Wolf on your fraud list He will be stopped by the Mohawks we are not stupid
send green star

Sarika Bentley (0)    Friday December 1, 2006, 3:42 pm
Glad to see this:) I remember a website that was similar to this and so sadden when I couldn't find it. I hope this is by the same person and I very much support the intentions here. Congrats to you!
send green star

Althea Garcia (0)    Tuesday January 1, 2008, 1:55 pm
just curious...where did you get your info on carmen sunrising pope? thanks m
send green star

Althea Garcia (0)    Tuesday January 1, 2008, 1:56 pm
just curious...where did you get your info on carmen sunrising pope? thanks m
send green star

Marty C. (0)    Tuesday August 11, 2009, 10:31 pm
can anyone give me information on steve yellowhand I saw him on your list and know he has a sundance here in southwest MO
send green star

Anna Mae Pictou
(2 comments  |  discussions )
Osiyo, I am writing this here today...because of a great woman .....a warrior for the people who gave her all to the people.....this great woman gave up everything....just to make things right.....she truly had a heart of gold....many say she was su...
Mar 24

[Counting coup]

http://www.beartales.net/index.htm

[educatedindian]

Hello, I'm not sure your purpose here. You started three threads on yourself. Two of them seem to be basically ads for your services, seminars, workshops, healing, etc.

The third was yourself being listed as a fraud on the old Gohiyuhi website.

If you want to advertise yourself to make money, we won't allow that. If you want to simply spam, which you imagine to be "counting coup", I doubt you'll impress anyone. If you're asking what we think of what you're doing, you may be surprised.

A couple things stand out about you. You were adopted far away from where you could learn about your heritage. Yet you also say you've spent 15 years learning your people's ways.

Has no one in all that time taught you the right way to do things? "Hanging out a shingle" to do alleged healing is unethical and seen as a sure sign of an exploiter or fraud.

Some of the other things you say you do, counseling, suicide prevention, etc, are quite admirable and I wonder why you don't focus on them instead.

I also wonder why you don't, as far as I can tell, say who your people are and where you learned. Unless you can do that, what you teach will likely be taken by most Native people as yet another generic pan-Indian collection of imitations of Native traditions.

[Mahekun]

Came across this one; seems rather suspicious.

http://beartales.net/index.htm

If you go to "online shop" it lists charges for a myriad of services. 'Skype readings & consultations' are only $60 a pop!

Check out the About Me for a novel that will make your head swim. He states that he does not claim to be a member of any native nation or tribe, and also says that he does not sell traditional teachings. However, his getup and the services for sale in his shop suggest otherwise.

[educatedindian]

Got a request about him from an organization in Australia. I'm posting my response to that request.

---------
Hello, sorry for the late reply.

You don't need to be a member to see the thread on Spinney or anyone else. Threads are public.

The thread was started by Spinney. He was reporting himself as a fraud in a very juvenile way after getting criticized by a member of NAFPS.

Unfortunately there's not much more to report on Spinney. He used to have a website where he sold teachings, retreats, counseling, etc he falsely claimed were indigenous. Most of it was incredibly vague, taken from New Age misconceptions. The site has been down since 2014, I suspect because he wasn't having much success.

Spinney's claims on that old site, his ebooks, and elsewhere remain very general. He says he's adopted, claims to be American Indian, but no tribe or people ever named. From his appearance, if he does have any ancestry it's obviously mixed. How he wound up in Australia is unclear, but that's where he sold his earlier notions.

His claim to not know who his alleged ancestors are is not credible. Perhaps a fourth of Natives in the US of that generation were adopted. I've never heard of one not able to find out the tribe.

What he sold earlier was pan Indian generalities not specific to any people. If he's quit the New Age sales pitches, that's good news.

I hope you insist on more information from him before you let him join your group. Please pass along anything you find out.