Edward Lee Merrifield AKA Heyoka Merrifield and the Painted Earth Temple

[justandreamer86]

seems hokey book to me, but if it is legitimate story about the white buffalo woman. or not. I doubt it .but you never know, bc there are native writers out there, just very few.

can anyone tell me anything about this??

[educatedindian]

Actuallyn there are quite a few Native authors.

The books are not accurate. Looking at Merrifield's bio makes me very dubious he would know what he's talking about. He's basically a sculptor who presents himself as selling sacred arts. Claims Native heritage repeatedly and how sacred his work is, but one has to search find out just what he's claiming.

He claims some Cherokee heritage, that a great grandmother was on the Trail of Tears. Not very likely. I know a Cherokee law professor, Steve Russell, whose great-great-great grandmother went on the Trail. Keep in mind the Trail was over 180 years ago, in 1838. A great grandmother probably wouldn't have been born til 1880 or so.

Then Merrifield went to "the northwest" to find his roots and learned with an unnamed tribe. Why not go to Cherokee people?

After a lot of searching, one can find the name of the tribe. He claims to be trained by the Crow, and to be an actual Crow medicine man. Pretty unlikely. Like we've seen with Brooke Edwards, they are very reluctant to even speak with outsiders. The idea of them making an outsider their medicine man? Please...

And then Merrifield wrote a fairly silly trilogy about White Buffalo Calf Woman, based on what he claims to know about Lakota belief. So try and follow this- a man with dubious claims of distant Cherokee heritage who went to the Crow and claims to be their medicine man  is now setting himself up as an expert on Lakota traditions. ::)

Even his name should set off alarm bells. Heyokas are sacred figures, clowns and contraries who do everything backwards. Him calling himself that as a first name strikes me as something most Natives from the Plains tribes would find disrespectful. I recall there were some in here angry at a Nuage magazine calling itself Heyoka.

Just looking at the summaries of his books make it obvious he doesn't know much. He claims White Buffalo Calf Woman (whom he calls simply White Buffalo Woman) appeared to the Hopi. And he also claims White Buffalo Calf Woman came from Europe. Obviously this is done to appeal to white Nuagers and sell more books.  

[milehighsalute]

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://api.ning.com/files/dRGzO*iY7B9GYAl7bvlnayzjE5oWaiq9hhLSHK54chVO1Aq5KFbBZEnyGYccqIeyQ3ZzCwH4Rs4L20yqN3zu7i6wXqf6ovO9/HeyokaMerrifield.jpg&imgrefurl=http://ctrhotspot.com/xn/detail/5664573:Event:46202%3Fxg_source%3Dactivity&usg=__aY9deY70FdarG_6BaV2NO0u9Fy8=&h=278&w=185&sz=13&hl=en&start=231&zoom=1&tbnid=bwmoaCthnRJwEM:&tbnh=114&tbnw=76&ei=zKEeUaK7EPHUyQGx9oGoBg&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dheyoka%2Bjpg%26start%3D220%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26sa%3DN%26gbv%3D2%26rlz%3D1R2RNLC_enUS513%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&sa=X&ved=0CD4QrQMwCjjcAQ

[Epiphany]

He's using the name Heyoka Merrifield for some public records, but this can also be found: Heyoka (Ed) Merrifield in Stevensville, Montana. Same location as what is given on his Facebook page.
--

Edward Merrifield's new name, "Heyoka" came to him in response to a self-awareness which emerged through Indian Ceremonial Rituals. "heyoka" is the Native American term for the creative clowns of the tribe who would act out possible scenarios of new laws to help council decide its merits and flaws. Edward Merrifield saw himself as a modern day Heyoka in American Society, bringing us a new vision through his magnificent talent.

http://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Art-Earth-Heyoka-Merrifield/dp/0945122012/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1360969266&sr=1-2

[Epiphany]

Plot Summary for
Sundancing with the Muse (2009)

We discover the importance of the sacred in art, the sacred in the earth and a ceremonial life that makes them one. Artist and shaman Heyoka Merrifield, exposes his personal and creative journey that reveals the source of creativity and the roots of imagination. In looking at the medicine wheel of his story and his grasp of the interplay between our world and the world of spirits, a path is illuminated and we realize we each have a gift to give away to the circle of life, making our walk on earth a sacred journey.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1539070/plotsummary?ref_=tt_ov_pl

Student:

Summer, 2005. Kelly apprentices to Cherokee shaman and silversmith Heyoka Merrifield in southern Montana, where she learns his unique blend of Art Nouveau and Native American-inspired jewelry.

http://www.kellymorgen.com/ProfessionalBio.html

"Heyoka Merrifield is a medicine man, a priest, a guardian of doorways and a powerful conduit to the understanding of the complex intricacies between our world and the world of the spirits and ancestors. This position at the threshold between worlds underscores the exquisiteness of the art coming out of his hands." Malidoma Some, PhD: Of the Dagara tribe in West Africa, author of Ritual and also Of Water and the Spirit.

http://www.tlaq.com/event/detail/id/188

Although he was born with Cherokee blood, he is now a medicine man in the Crow tribe.

http://www.awarenessmag.com/julaug07/ja07_heyoka.htm

[Epiphany]

He is Edward Lee Merrifield, born 1940 California. https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VGFQ-B7B

Obituary of his father Glen M Merrifield http://www.obitcentral.com/obitsearch/obits/ca/ca-santabarbara9.htm

He is survived by ... a son: Heyoka Merrifield of Stevensville, Montana.

EARTH & SKY CIRCLE corporation, Montana, Registered Agent: EDWARD L (HEYOKA) MERRIFIELD

https://app.mt.gov/cgi-bin/bes/besCertificate.cgi?action=detail&bessearch=D109597&trans_id=besa1308901320011d901

As stated earlier in thread his heritage claims can't be right, the generations and dates are off. There is no evidence of a great grandmother who was a "Cherokee nation member".

This is all Nuage Pretendian b.s. http://sundancingwiththemuse.com/sundancingwiththemuse/Movie_Clips.html

[earthw7]

i just watch these videos this man has misrepresented my people
nothing he says is true let alone why does he have eagle feather
he should be arrested






[Just changed title-Al]

[Epiphany]

Merrifield says he moved from California to a "remote Northwest Indian reservation". Actually, he had land in Inchelium, eastern Washington state. This shown in several public records, including foundation addresses and construction of a well on his land.

Colville Indian Reservation area. But his land was not on the reservation.