Joan Scheer AKA Penny McKelvey AKA "Oh Shinnah Fastwolf"

[Sparks]

https://worldharmonyunlimited.com/2011/10/oh-shinnah-fast-wolf/

The link leads to a video that can also be watched on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asWra16IC5o [Oh Shinnah WorldWaterDay]

This led to other videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1h6Z_MmLKQc

Thanksgiving for Mother Earth — TheWisdomKeepers
Short video about showing gratitude for Mother Earth, taught by Native American warrior woman Oh Shinnah Fast Wolf. Prepared for www.BettinaGordon.com Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHLlJmcHLq0

A Film by Bettina Gordon - All Is Made Beautiful (Introduction)
Get the DVD at Amazon (http://bit.ly/AllIsMadeBeautiful-amazon) or Valley Entertainment (http://tinyurl.com/allismadebeautiful)

All Is Made Beautiful: Native American Traditions with Warrior Woman Oh Shinnah Fast Wolf | A Film by Bettina Gordon
Meet Oh Shinnah Fast Wolf, the internationally renowned Warrior Woman and elder of the Apache People. Long before the Green movement, Native Americans knew how to care for "Mother Earth" and her inhabitants. In this entertaining and educational film, Oh Shinnah demonstrates powerful yet easy-to-follow practices such as smudging, feathering, and food blessing. These ancient rituals will help you to reduce stress and anxiety in your life, center yourself and connect to those around you, take charge and protect this planet for many generations to come.

Oh Shinnah also reveals what she considers her most important work today: The Journey of the Waters, a sacred pilgrimage following the Apache trail of purification and transformation. Once a year, she and her most trusted student, Deep Arrow Woman, take an international group of non-native men and women on this journey through the mystical mountains and healing waters of New Mexico and Colorado. The participants utilize the healing power of nature to transform their lives. This truly is Ancient Wisdom for Modern People. 

The documentary also features Nuclear Scientist and Astrophysicist Dr. Elizabeth Rauscher, who validates multiple Native traditions from the scientific point of view.

Link: https://www.valley-entertainment.com/products/wisdom-keepers-all-is-made-beautiful-dvd

[Sandy S]

She died in 2022.

I don't know who wrote this obituary. As always, remember that obituaries are not fact checked before publication.

Her birth name is not given. Parents not mentioned. No overt heritage claims. Other than "supported by multiple native elders throughout her life". Her husbands are not listed nor are the surnames of her children given.

"her sister Dr. Dolores Krieger" is not a bio sister.

OhShinnah Fast Wolf passed away on January 11th, 2022. She was 88 years old when she died of natural causes in a memory care facility in Columbia Falls, Montana.

She was born in Silverton Colorado in 1934 during the height of the Great Depression. During her life she traveled, adventured, and lived all over the United States. She was an amazing singer and song writer having performed at venues in Chicago, San Francisco, and New York City, amongst other locations. During her life she performed in the same clubs as Muddy Waters, Nick Gravenites and Michael Bloomfield. She was also involved with the Committee Theater in San Francisco and Chicago’s Second City Theatre. She performed at Carnegie Hall, with the artist Sting, and opened for Jerry Garcia on Jacques Cousteau’s ship the Calypso.

Starting in the 1970’s, OhShinnah studied and taught natural medicines, healing, environmental activism, and applied practical spirituality. She was a pioneer in the use of crystals and partnered with her sister Dr. Dolores Krieger to teach students crystal healing in combination with Therapeutic Touch.

OhShinnah was a delegate at to the United Nations conferences on the Human Environment, Spirituality, the Decolonization of Indigenous People, the World Conference of Spiritual Leaders, and as a ceremonialist at World Water Day. She spoke on environmental issues at the invitation of various governments.

OhShinnah was awarded the Nurse's in Transition Humanitarian Award, the Helen Caldecott Humanitarian Award for Women, the Noetic Science Institute Temple Award for Creative Altruism, and her name is inscribed on the Wall of Tolerance in Birmingham, Alabama.

She was exceptionally generous and was supported by multiple native elders throughout her life. Her legacy is carried on by her students worldwide and a memorial is planned near Molas Lake, Colorado, later 2022.

She was preceded in death by her Daughter Fawn, survived by her children James, Heather, and Kaiwie, grandchildren Sky Bear, Calico, Jamie, James, Autumn, Numa, and 11 great grandchildren.

https://www.buffalohillfh.com/obituaries/ohshinnah-fastwolf

As mentioned earlier in this thread there is a possibility that her birth first name is some variation of Johanna. Here is more:

When she was born, her father was asked what he wanted to call her. Oh Shinnah was not allowed by the government, so she was named “Johanna” (Jeanne) and then the government employee asked what the last name was, but in the Native American tradition of the time, there was none. Her father’s name was “Fast Wolf. So she was called Johanna Fastwolf. But everyone called her, and continues to call her, ‘Oh Shinnah.

https://aiglebleu.net/en/honouring-oh-shinnah-fastwolf/
https://web.archive.org/web/20250420181058/https://aiglebleu.net/en/honouring-oh-shinnah-fastwolf/

I don't think any of that story is true other than the probability of her first name being Johanna.

[Sandy S]

A longtime acquaintance, Calvin Fast Wolf who is an Oglala Lakota, said he knew her 25 years ago as Penny McKelvey.
Mr. Fast Wolf is an adjunct professor who teaches Lakota language at San Francisco state University. He first came across Penny McKelvey at an Indian Arts and Craft show in Chicago in 1964 or 65. "She was 100 percent Scotch-Irish when I first met her and proud of it, because that was when Kennedy was president."

Visions of an enduring people : a reader in Native American studies
Publication date 2000
Publisher Dubuque, Iowa : Kendall/Hunt Pub. Co.
Watts, John G; Fleming, Walter C

[Sparks]

I found a similar mention at this page:

https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Be+Warned+-+Trespassing+on+First+Nations%27+Spirituality.-a087868571

Who is a genuine American Indian? Does it matter, if he does no harm? Calvin Fast Wolf, an Oglala Lakota living in San Francisco, objects to a woman he met years ago as Penny McKelvey, now using the name Oh Shinnah Fast Wolf to sell a "spiritual community of healers." McKelvey charges nine hundred dollars for a week in Glacier National Park. Fast Wolf is an old and honored name among Oglala, says Calvin Fast Wolf, and he considers his family insulted by her business.

[Sandy S]

Our fraud and George McKelvey had two children, one who died in 1995.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/122415907/fawn-mckelvey

In the U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, accessed through ancestry.com, Fawn McKelvey is listed as white.

Fawn Lee McKelvey
[Fawn L McKelvey]
[Fawn McKelvey]
Gender   Female
Race   White
Birth Date   26 Sep 1957
Birth Place   Dover, Delaware
Death Date   2 May 1995
SSN   522314419
Citizenship or Alien Status   U.S. citizen.
Type of Claim   Birth record established before age of 5.
Notes   01 Jun 1981: Name listed as FAWN LEE MCKELVEY; 14 Feb 1986: Name listed as FAWN L MCKELVEY; 11 May 1995: Name listed as FAWN F MCKELVEY

That final name change of "Fawn F. McKelvey" I assume is to add "Fast Wolf".

Photo attached here is of George McKelvey, his daughters Heather and Fawn. Along with whoever Ohshinnah Fastwolf is. She was JoAnn Blanche Scheer in marriage record, previously married and divorced.

So we don't know if Scheer is her birth name or her prior married name.

[Sandy S]

In the extensive article "Oh Shinnah/Bridging academia and culture", by Cate Tellwilliger Gazette Telegraph, Sunday June 30, 1991 - her two "accomplices" are Lindsey Redhawk and Darlene Golas.

Darlene Golas is still an active follower and promoter.

Other active followers include:

Betty deMaye-Caruth
Sally Rothacker - Peyton

https://www.twocronesandamicrophone.com/about

Betty deMaye-Caruth and Sally Rothacker - Peyton are active in promoting Oh Shinnah through https://www.twocronesandamicrophone.com/oh-shinnah-fast-wolf . They have recently interviewed Darlene Golas.

[Sandy S]

This fraud's name is Joan B. Scheer.

One of her granddaughter's states this is the name. Scheer's first two marriages used this name. It can also be seen in obits and society news in Silverton, CO.

Marriages:

James L. Drobnick
George Samuel McKelvey
Larry Ford Cripe
Jesse James Allen Jr.

So along with shifting her first name to a pretendian one, her surnames changed through marriages and her heinous use of "Fast Wolf".

She also performed as a singer as "Penny Drobnick" and "Penny McKelvey".

This fraud claimed that her father was "full blood Apache". He was not. These Scheers are from Germany.

Diana and I are working hard on this case. We've both put in a lot of research hours and are still at it.

She spent her early years in Silverton, San Juan, Colorado. The San Juan Historical Society newspaper archives have been especially helpful: https://sjchs.advantage-preservation.com/

[Sandy S]

One of her followers has photos posted publicly.

Joan Scheer was blonde as a child.

[Sandy S]

Eventually she went full pretendian. In this photo it appears that she is wearing a yarn wig. She claimed her father was "full blood Apache". He was not.

[educatedindian]

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7631374/?ref_=rt_t_6
All is Made Beautiful: Native American Traditions with Warrior Woman Oh Shinnah Fast Wolf
Original title: All Is Made Beautiful: Native American Traditions with Warrior Woman Oh Shinnah Fast Wolf
TV Movie 2007 1h 5m

Featured review 1/10 A German Named Joan Scheer
"Oh Shinnah Fastwolf" was born Joan Scheer. A German American woman who made her career out of posing as Native. Later she used the stage name Penny McKelvey before stealing the Fastwolf name.

From Native Net: "Another "phony" by the name of Oh Shinnah Fastwolf, who claimed to be a Cherokee Grandmother, who did healings with Crystals. Couple of years earlier, she was a "folkie" in the Chicago area, according to C. Fastwolf who doesn't appreciate his name being used by some fraud. Ms. McKelvey stole the Fastwolf name from an actual Native American (Lakota) family in order to giver herself some credibility with her crystal healing scams.

McKelvey charges nine hundred dollars for a week in Glacier National Park. Fast Wolf is an old and honored name among Oglala, says Calvin Fast Wolf, and he considers his family insulted by her business."

She also posed as Apache, Cheyenne, and Mohawk. Pretend Buddhism along with pretend Native ceremonies for lots of cash. A shameless con artist. Pray for those harmed by her.

---------------
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001B187EI/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001B187EI&linkCode=as2&tag=valleyente083-20&linkId=AALQ25EJVCECHX2J
All Is Made Beautiful
Meet Oh Shinnah Fast Wolf, the internationally renowned Warrior Woman and elder of the Apache People....
Oh Shinnah also reveals what she considers her most important work today: The Journey of the Waters, a sacred
pilgrimage following the Apache trail of purification and transformation. Once a year, she and her most trusted
student, Deep Arrow Woman, take an international group of non-native men and women on this journey through the
mystical mountains and healing waters of New Mexico and Colorado.

Ashley
1.0 out of 5 stars Not THAT Authentic Native American Spirituality
Reviewed in the United States on December 8, 2010
Verified Purchase
I was disappointed in this purchase as I was looking for an authentic Native American product. I lead a women's Bible study and spirituality group and we had been doing a study on world faiths. Of course, we wanted to look at the spiritual paths of the First Nations, so I went looking for multi-media resources specifically about storytelling. THIS was NOT a good choice for us.

If you are looking for a funky, new age experience with a bunch of women who seem to be from Germanic countries, this is for you. Something about it lacks sincerity and honesty.

Other than it being borderline offensive to Native peoples, it is an annoying production with eery music and a creepy overdubbed narration. Ms. Fast Wolf is undoubtedly a beautiful, grandmotherly woman with quite a strong presence, but I wonder what her clan (if she is truly of one) really feels about her practices.

Save your money and look for more authentic Native American resources.
11 people found this helpful

antaeaventura
2.0 out of 5 stars The native heart is missing for me
Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2014
Verified Purchase
I purchased this DVD with an open mind as I am always open to learning about native american teachings. First, Ms Fastwolf does not look native american to me at all. She is whiter than I am and I come from Scandinavian peoples. After looking her up on google come to find out that she is really Penny McKelvey and apparently no native american group will claim her. I have no problem if she is white and passing on some native american processes for edification, but the fact that she isn't what she claims to be contaminates her message for me. Another wise woman, Evelyn Eaton (I Send A Voice) is white and has no pretensions to be otherwise. She is someone I can learn from when I heard her speak a number of years ago. Watching the DVD I didn't get that 'heart sense' that comes from being around genuine native americans. It felt flat and trivial, teachings that could have been gleaned from anywhere. If you are a sincere seeker of native american ways I can't recommend this video. The two stars are for the reminder to pray over my food.
8 people found this helpful

Grays
1.0 out of 5 stars Fraud
Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2025
She is not Native American.

She was born Joan Scheer in 8 Jan 1934, Silverton, San Juan County, Colorado.

Parents Joseph Kendall and Marjorie/Margadell "Mickey" Dell McIntyre (who later married Lyle Estes).

Her married surnames include Drobnick, McKelvey, Cripe, Allen.

She performed as a singer both as "Penny Drobnick," and "Penny McKelvey".

The Scheer family just a few generations back are from Germany.

All family members are white in census and other records.

In her false persona she often said she "prefers to be known as one without a personal history". But her history and genealogy can indeed be researched.

Buyer beware. She is a performer who performed pretendian fraud.

[Sandy S]

Her grotesque lies were endless.

She claimed she did an Apache initiation involving emerging from kivas, running with water in her mouth, spitting the water into natural earth depressions. She said both boys and girls had to do this. And that girls had to do this twice.

She claimed that for 15 years she went to her elders, three times each year, to ask that she be finally allowed to share secrets with white people. She said the elders wore masks each time.

She faked and lied her way through at least 60 years.

This devotee in 2002 said he had gone to her workshops for 19 years: https://www.wweek.com/portland/article-1048-swimming-to-astoria.html

Swain has been a pupil of an Apache wise woman named Oh Shinnah Fast Wolf, whom he met as a teenager at a New Age conference he and his mom attended

He is an athlete and he does the practices she taught him.

This woman follower is active in the fraud game: https://chamanisme.eu/minthe-english/

Medicine woman, water missionary, from Walloon origin, Minthe has been adopted as her daughter by Grandmother Oh Shinnah Fast Wolf, and received from her the « Woman Warrior Initiation ».

As such, she is now part of the Apache Nation, where she is called « Hatch Oh Neh » (Standing Strong Woman).

We have mention of Minthe here: http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=3516.msg29986#msg29986

[Sandy S]

Joan Scheer "Oh Shinnah Fastwolf" was an arrogant, condescending, abusive liar. Hopefully her devotees will eventually understand this.

Scheer delighted in telling stories about being unstable and abusive.

She says that when a doctor told her medical news she did not like, she physically slapped him hard. And then walked out, slamming the door so hard that the glass in it broke.

https://www.merliannews.com/new_podcast_interview_with_oh_shinnah_fast_wolf_917/

[Sandy S]

She was preceded in death by her Daughter Fawn, survived by her children James, Heather, and Kaiwie

From obit https://www.buffalohillfh.com/obituaries/ohshinnah-fastwolf

"Kaiwie Fastwolf" is not a bio daughter.

[educatedindian]

Her grotesque lies were endless.

She claimed she did an Apache initiation involving emerging from kivas, running with water in her mouth, spitting the water into natural earth depressions. She said both boys and girls had to do this. And that girls had to do this twice....

This woman follower is active in the fraud game: https://chamanisme.eu/minthe-english/

Medicine woman, water missionary, from Walloon origin, Minthe has been adopted as her daughter by Grandmother Oh Shinnah Fast Wolf, and received from her the « Woman Warrior Initiation ».

As such, she is now part of the Apache Nation, where she is called « Hatch Oh Neh » (Standing Strong Woman).

We have mention of Minthe here: http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=3516.msg29986#msg29986

Where to begin...kinaalda ceremony is not secret, is not anything like that, and doesn't involve kivas. Kivas are Pueblo and Hopi. Kinaalda is for girls becoming women. The male equivalent really isn't practiced anymore, but it wasn't anything at all like the female ceremony, and nothing like Scheer's phony version.

"Hatch oh neh" doesn't mean that name at all, and that name is more like Plains tribes. It's an obvious Nuage knockoff of Lakota style names. "Hatch oh neh" sounds like what it is, a white imposter taking a reference she found in a book to Apaches in general and mangling it to mean something completely different, knowing her gullible desperate-for-meaning white followers wouldn't bother to check. I'm far from fluent, but none of that means woman or standing or strong in any Apachean dialect.

It's also pretty obvious they don't even know there are multiple Apachean dialects and Apache peoples. But what can you expect from people believing in a pale as a Klansman's sheet German woman wearing a yarn wig and imitation Plains tribal regalia?

[Sandy S]

In the Santa Rosa CA newspaper The Press Democrat, "Kaiwie Fastwolf" a "Native American bead worker" was highlighted in articles published in 1988 and 1995.

She said she was adopted by "Oh shinnah Fastwolf" when she was 12 years old. That Fastwolf gave her a traditional upbringing. She also claimed maternal Mohawk heritage for herself.

None of this is true.

"Kaiwie Fastwolf" is not her birth name. Her actual genealogy can be found. Paternal side is recent Austrian. As for maternal, this is a very well researched line available through ancestry.com - all white folks.

Obviously Joan Scheer/ Oshinnah Fastwolf (spellings of the fraud name vary) could not provide anyone with a traditional indigenous upbringing.

Kaiwie continues to use the name Fastwolf even though Joan Scheer was asked to stop doing so.

She is listed as one of Joan Scheer/Oshinnah Fastwolf's children in obit. 

She appears to still hold herself out as a Native American expert on beading and other material culture. I don't see signs of her currently doing gallery showings or selling her work. In the past she did so, for profit. That was unethical and against the law.