Suzanne Dupree, aka Looking Back Woman

[earthw7]

I am sorry but this dupree woman is cracked.
The pipe was brought out a couple of weeks ago again.
It is still in Green Grass.
This woman who parades around in photo with this pipe
should know that this is wrong. Even if it is not the
White buffalo calf pipe it should be treated with respect.
What is wrong with these people.

[debbieredbear]

It's so obvious this woman is nuts, and yet LeKay went off and stsrted his attacks on Al over this woman. Oh, I was told that when she lived in Seattle, she used to claim she was WHite Buffalo Calf Woman.

[frederica]

Remember, LeKay state she came to him. That's one question, Why? Is this just her ego trip, I can't figure why she wants to be so disruptive?    frederica

[earthw7]

Here on Standing Rock Right next to Cheyenne River Reservation
We don't acknowledge her. I called the Tribal Council at Cheyenne River
and they don't acknowledge her.
I passed our her shameful picture with this pipe around here and people
were really upset. No respect for the pipe and respect for herself.

[frederica]

I didn't think people would pay much attention to her aside from being annoyed. I think maybe she is not too crazy, but manupalative, self-serving, and a user. Interesting the people she uses like Manatanka and LeKay. But there is a flaw there somewhere.  frederica

[Peacewalker]

My name is Sheila Simpson born in Northern Ireland.I came to Canada in 1980
Coming from a culture that was decimated by war and genocide  I felt fortunate to meet with a medicine person who showed me the ceremonial way of first nations and in particular the Lakota nation.  Whitecloud's message carried the belief that the native perspective is part of a pattern that mankind must find and develop for a true healing and an everlasting peace.

The medicine that came my way was very strong. I knew and believed that if I took my time I would understand more about spirit and the gifts that spirit had for me.

Prayer was always part of my christian life and the ceremony of the sweat lodge made complete sense. In fact  it made even more sense than the God created that divided everyone into different faiths.

My first sweat was powerful I thought I was seeing things but now I realize I was seeing my animal totems

When I wrote to emissary of light and told them about a vision it was only to share what I thought was a message for the rainbow walkers.
The indigenous nations hold the fabric of earth together and the rainbow people travel between them.

Can you imagine how shocked I was to see my name on your site as a
Fraud New Age Plastic Shaman

I do not know what criteria you apply when you  judge others.

I have sundanced five years. I carry a pipe from Irish Stone.

I am 100% Gael.  If the Lakota Elders had not wanted us to learn the ways then they would not have opened up the ceremony.

Chief Fools Crow knew this. We are all trying to find our way home,after all are we not spirit having human experience.

For the people who exploit ceremony they will pay with their lives.

I am not out there doing any of these things. I just happen to share a very powerful vision. Would you criticize me for being a "wise man" in biblical times as you do for being a oracle in current times

Please remove my name from you slander list . I am real. I am not a fraud.

Sheila Simpson
Canada

[Defend the Sacred]

Go raibh maith agat, a Shíle. I think you've singlehandedly demonstrated why the actual Lakota elders have chosen to no longer welcome outsiders into ceremonies.

[educatedindian]

JUst to give everyone the full story. Simpson calls herself "Moves Fire Woman" and claims to be a Native medicine woman intitiated and trained by Dupree. She sent essentially the same post to the forum email account. I thought she was merely naive and tried explaining to her what our objections were, hoping to get through to her.

She responded with a series of threats, foul abusive language, and general obnoxiousness, not to mention more of her bizarre cluelessness, including delusions of having President Grant as an ancestor, claiming Fools Crow and Looking Horse both follow her guidance, and then blaming the Lakota themselves for the Black Hills being stolen.

And to top it off, she now is spreading joining Dupree is spreading an incredible and outrageous slander that outdoes even Dupree in its ridiculousness. She is claiming Looking Horse is involved in the murder of Anna Mae Aquash and that is why AIM and others are "out to get" Dupree.

It's informative to know Dupree's followers and people trained by her are even lower in their character than her. Below is her foul slanderous email, followed by my earlier email to her.

-----------------------------

On Thu, 9/18/08, peacewalker <peacewalker@cogeco.ca> wrote:

----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, September 18, 2008 12:15 AMSubject: Re: sheila simpson northern ireland
I believe she has a standing and I would humbly ask on what authority you speak?   

I will find you and I am from northern ireland and guess what we do not tolerate bullshit

You have no right to judge another person. I think your site is disgusting and I intend to report it

Please do not reply to this email. I am 100% Gael . If you were intelligent you would know that we had the same ceremonial tools as the Lakota.

I have done my work I have walked the red road and I am not about to bow down to  yourself.  I am a medicine woman I carry the medicine of many geat women healers. My ancestor was US Grant. I believe he tried to give back the Black Hills to the Sioux but there was a corrupt bunch in Washington pulling strings and instead of good things happening bad stuff did and Lakota did it to themselves.

If the Lakota did not want their ceremonies shared then the elders would not have opened up the path. If Grandpa Fools Crow was around he would tell you people off. Critising others who are doing the work. It's site like yours that only confuse and I think that is the purpose.

So good luck to you and yours keep my name there I relly do not care but I will be seeking some legal advice and sending you some medicne.

Moves Fire Woman

---------------------------------------

My email to her. Sometimes trying to be helpful only gets you foulmouthed nastiness from Nuage twinkie assholes.

---------------------------------------

You are either extremely naive or you choose to be willifully blind in order to believe that Dupree is any kind of medicine woman or has any respect or standing among her people that she abandoned long ago.

Dupree is a hairdresser, and one of the worst liars I have ever seen, who has led a campaign to smear and defame the actual medicine people and traditional leaders among the Lakota. There are barely any words in her fanciful stories that are anything close to being true, and only an outsider with little understanding of Lakota or Native traditions or peoples would think otherwise.

In one sense Dupree is a pawn, much as you are allowing yourself to be used as a pawn also. A racist New Age promoter, John Lekay or Heyoka Magazine, is seeking to gain power and control over Lakota people and religion and hopes to do so using Dupree. Lekay in turn has worked with white supremacists seeking to undermine NAFPS and its work.

While your willingness to help protest wrongs against Native people is admirable, you commit very similar wrongs yourself when you promote a liar and exploiter like Dupree.

To a large extent you are simply very confused, as your online discussion of your vision shows. A vision is not something you display for everyone to see like an antique curio you are proud of finding in a shop, and your discussion of its meaning publicly would strike most Native people as vain, showy, and an act of personal ego. Your interpretation of its meaning shows a lot of grasping at straws, at many different belief systems that are unrelated.

You are not listed as a fraud at NAFPS, only as a very naive and confused supporter of a New Age fraud, Suzanne Dupree. So the listing stays since it is accurate.

I hope you reconsider your public support of an abusive, liar, and exploiter of Lakota tradiitons, Suzanne Dupree. Take down your webpage claiming she is a medicine person, it harms Native people.

As I said before, your support of Native causes is admirable, and I hope you see the contradiction in your previous help before, and supporting someone only out to cause harm like Dupree and Lekay.

We always welcome open discussion at NAFPS, and you can discuss this more there if you wish.

[Superdog]

Well....Sheila's own words are a PRIME example of the evils that come from plastic shamanism.  The sense of entitlement to a culture that's not hers is EXTREME in her case.  Even using threats of violence.  Shameful.....definitely not following a road of wisdom....she's still caught up in emotion.  It seems she uses Lakota spirituality to escape like a junkie on drugs.  Her anger even follows the behavior pattern of an addict. 

Sheila....look inside.  Take the empty threats somewhere else.  You are not entitled to any of it.  You are an outsider looking in and you should carry yourself as such.  5 years of Sundance does not make you an authority on anything.  You're just a baby in that regard.  If you do try and follow this path then you should know that if you throw bad medicine at others...it's gonna come back on YOU.  You're the one who has to balance that out with your life.  Do you really want to risk that with anger and a lack of humility before creation.  You're just a human being...humble and pitiful before creation.  Hopefully somebody else has echoed these words to you in your travels.

Maybe you can learn something from this.

Superdog

[ska]

Dear Peacewalker/Sheila,

I'd like to know more about your chief, "White Cloud" who started up a Sun Dance on Vancouver Island, as well as one in New Zealand.

Where did you get the idea that he is Lakota?  What Lakota community does he come from? 

ska

[Peacewalker]

Pat was born in 1942 on the Grand Portage Ojibway Indian reserve located at Thunder Bay, Ontario. He was the youngest sibling, with four brothers and three sisters. As a native child of that time, Pat was very fortunate to have been born into this particular family. His father held a very high ranking in the reserve hierarchy, and was fairly steadily employed in the lumber industry. His mother's family, from across the line at the White Earth reserve, Minnesota, was equally ranked with many members active in reserve politics. For Pat, born a dual citizen, the international boundary did not exist, and for most of his childhood and adolescence, travel back and forth between the two reserves was the norm. To this day he recognizes no borders and this attitude is always a source of aggravation for customs agents when he travels.

Alcoholism and poverty reigned supreme on the Ontario reserve, and the Hendrickson family was not unaffected. Pat's father was a severe alcoholic and eventually succumbed to the disease early on in the sixties. His mother passed away in 1991 of natural causes which Pat says were aggravated by a lifetime of drinking, poverty and hardship. Her final years were spent sober, but the damage to her health remained. Most of the siblings have settled in the Los Angeles area and two have since passed on. A brother was murdered in L.A. and a sister was killed in a car crash.

Due to his family status, Pat was accepted to receive his education from the Roman Catholic parochial schools near both reserves. Most of his primary schooling was done in Ontario and the secondary grades were completed at a similar school in Minnesota. Pat enjoyed school and did very well. He felt that if he could master Mathematics and English the rest would be a "snap" and this philosophy served him well. The Catholics were brutal disciplinarians and Pat's comment on that was, " The education was great, but man they were harsh!!!". The good memories center around chapel, jelly sandwiches, and one particular weaving course where he wove "the rug of many colors".

Already we see events which set this individual outside of the statistical norm. First his birth and early childhood took place during and shortly after World War II. Although he was culturally sheltered by reserve life, the tribal politics must have been somewhat affected by the national attitudes of the time. Second, the harshness of reserve life "hardened" him and brought off-time events such as the death of family members. Third, his dual citizenship offered him an international perspective that few share, and lastly his education by the Catholics was a truly exquisite experience, marked by severe discipline and topped off with a liberal helping of verbal, physical and sexual abuse.

Six months or so following his graduation from high school, Pat set out for university. He began this six year academic pursuit at University of California-Berkley with majors in Chemistry, Psychology and Abnormal Psychology. His interest in chemistry involved a desire to understand molecular structure and be able to relate a deeper understanding to the natural world. The Psychology major represented his fascination with the workings of the human mind, an interest that he follows to this day. After two and a half years at Berkeley he lost interest in chemistry and moved on to Uof C-Long Beach, then to UCLA, then back to U of C Berkley where he graduated.

During his adolescence and young adulthood, and between periods of schooling, Pat found ample time for adventure. At some point early on in this stage, it was determined that he could use some mentoring to balance a burgeoning rebellious streak. It was arranged that Pat would spend time with " The Old Man" ( as he is referred to in the tapes). The Old Man was a Lakota Medicine Man from Pine Ridge in neighboring South Dakota. Pat became one of his regular helpers, and for seven years they traveled all over the states, bringing the old ceremonies, songs, and traditional healing to tribes and reservations that had all but lost their culture. Unknown to anyone at the time, the old man would later become recognized as one of the most powerful and respected of the modern native Medicine Men. His name was Frank Fools Crow, and he has been credited as single-handedly bringing back the sacred Sundance to the people. He was also respected by the federal government, and treated as spiritual grandfather by the membership of the American Indian Movement.

[Peacewalker]

Whitecloud was a native from North America; a member of the Anishnabe tribe. He lived much of his life on a reserve (White Earth Reserve) where he learned from a diverse perspective of a native growing up in a changing world for the native people. His guidance and experience in a ceremonial life, as well as a strong instruction of the native philosophy of land and life helped him stay within his culture and survive. This would be of great help to him in later years. Whitecloud was a Sundancer; Pipe Carrier; and a practioner of many healing ceremonies taught to him by his elders and colleagues over a 50-year span. Whitecloud also facilitated Sundances in Canada and New Zealand (Aotearoa) along with all the related ceremonies, Purification Lodges, Vision Quest, and one to one sessions.

Whitecloud for the last 35 years of his life travelled the world and offered his knowledge and experience to people. With a commitment to a healing process for land and life, he offered ceremony and ritual from a life that had experienced and balanced the many challenges of living in an ever-changing world.

Whitecloud's message also carried the belief that the Native perspective is part of the pattern that mankind must find and develop for a true healing and a everlasting peace.

Chief Patrick "White Cloud" Hendrickson is an Anishinabe ( Ojibway) hereditary chief, respected Elder, and Sun dance intercessor. The following information was drawn from a taped, three hour discussion that was held on Sun. May 21st, 2000, at this writer's home in Courtenay B.C.

Pat was born in 1942 on the Grand Portage Ojibway Indian reserve located at Thunder Bay, Ontario. He was the youngest sibling, with four brothers and three sisters. As a native child of that time, Pat was very fortunate to have been born into this particular family. His father held a very high ranking in the reserve hierarchy, and was fairly steadily employed in the lumber industry. His mother's family, from across the line at the White Earth reserve, Minnesota, was equally ranked with many members active in reserve politics. For Pat, born a dual citizen, the international boundary did not exist, and for most of his childhood and adolescence, travel back and forth between the two reserves was the norm. To this day he recognizes no borders and this attitude is always a source of aggravation for customs agents when he travels.

Alcoholism and poverty reigned supreme on the Ontario reserve, and the Hendrickson family was not unaffected. Pat's father was a severe alcoholic and eventually succumbed to the disease early on in the sixties. His mother passed away in 1991 of natural causes which Pat says were aggravated by a lifetime of drinking, poverty and hardship. Her final years were spent sober, but the damage to her health remained. Most of the siblings have settled in the Los Angeles area and two have since passed on. A brother was murdered in L.A. and a sister was killed in a car crash.

Due to his family status, Pat was accepted to receive his education from the Roman Catholic parochial schools near both reserves. Most of his primary schooling was done in Ontario and the secondary grades were completed at a similar school in Minnesota. Pat enjoyed school and did very well. He felt that if he could master Mathematics and English the rest would be a "snap" and this philosophy served him well. The Catholics were brutal disciplinarians and Pat's comment on that was, " The education was great, but man they were harsh!!!". The good memories center around chapel, jelly sandwiches, and one particular weaving course where he wove "the rug of many colors".

Already we see events which set this individual outside of the statistical norm. First his birth and early childhood took place during and shortly after World War II. Although he was culturally sheltered by reserve life, the tribal politics must have been somewhat affected by the national attitudes of the time. Second, the harshness of reserve life "hardened" him and brought off-time events such as the death of family members. Third, his dual citizenship offered him an international perspective that few share, and lastly his education by the Catholics was a truly exquisite experience, marked by severe discipline and topped off with a liberal helping of verbal, physical and sexual abuse.

Six months or so following his graduation from high school, Pat set out for university. He began this six year academic pursuit at University of California-Berkley with majors in Chemistry, Psychology and Abnormal Psychology. His interest in chemistry involved a desire to understand molecular structure and be able to relate a deeper understanding to the natural world. The Psychology major represented his fascination with the workings of the human mind, an interest that he follows to this day. After two and a half years at Berkeley he lost interest in chemistry and moved on to Uof C-Long Beach, then to UCLA, then back to U of C Berkley where he graduated.

During his adolescence and young adulthood, and between periods of schooling, Pat found ample time for adventure. At some point early on in this stage, it was determined that he could use some mentoring to balance a burgeoning rebellious streak. It was arranged that Pat would spend time with " The Old Man" ( as he is referred to in the tapes). The Old Man was a Lakota Medicine Man from Pine Ridge in neighboring South Dakota. Pat became one of his regular helpers, and for seven years they traveled all over the states, bringing the old ceremonies, songs, and traditional healing to tribes and reservations that had all but lost their culture. Unknown to anyone at the time, the old man would later become recognized as one of the most powerful and respected of the modern native Medicine Men. His name was Frank Fools Crow, and he has been credited as single-handedly bringing back the sacred Sundance to the people. He was also respected by the federal government, and treated as spiritual grandfather by the membership of the American Indian Movement.

During his young adulthood, Pat spent some time in Minneapolis and events that began at that time were about to change the world, and him forever. Pat and his native friends in the area bore witness to many acts of severe racist abuse and violence by the local police. Fed up with oppression and fueled by the civil rights movement, they picked up a police scanner, and every time they heard that a native was being arrested they would show up on the scene and monitor (sometimes confrontationally) the situation. This was the birth of the American Indian Movement or A.I.M. as it became known. Under the leadership of people like Dennis Banks, Russell Means and Leonard Crow Dog (people met during travels with Fools Crow), A.I.M. became a powerful voice for the native people. The movement spread west to California, and in 1969 supported the Indian occupation of Alcatrez, and many other causes and protests across the country. The most visible protest of A.I.M. was the standoff at Wounded Knee in 1973. This was a volatile time for Pat as he was involved in all these things, plus trying to make a living and go to university. When he graduated Uof C Berkeley there was more than a cap and gown on his back- there was also a monkey.

In 1972 Pat entered a L.A. residential treatment program as a client, the following year he became the executive director. Laughing while relating this, Pat says, "Either I was very brilliant or they were very hard up, a bit of both I think.". Working his way from Councilor 1 up to Councilor 3 in short order, he also wrote proposals and accepted outside contracts in other facilities. He stayed on managing the program for seven years. When asked about other jobs, his response was "You name it!", and went on to describe cooking, roofing, laborer, auto mechanics etc.. when asked to narrow it down to those he felt were significant, he described ten years of involvement with Corrections, both in Canada and the U.S.. Stateside, Pat accepted contracts to various prisons, negotiating parole terms, facilitating ceremonies and acting as spiritual advisor on behalf of native inmates. In Canada, he served on full-time staff at Matsqui correctional facility for five years as spiritual elder to the disproportionately large native inmate population. At this time he says he is on an extended hiatus from that career.

During 1977 another event occurred that began an enormous change in Pat's life. Throughout his life, to this point, Pat had been acutely aware of the atrocities brought upon the native people by the white man. He had been the victim of countless acts of racism, and always struggled against discriminatory policy. This viewpoint had left him with a bitter resentment - even hatred, toward white people. He would not go into a sweatlodge with whites nor would he pray with them in any ceremony. While living in L.A. Pat was invited to accompany a local elder to a symposium of aboriginal elders held near Vancouver at Simon Fraser University. While there, he had the opportunity to hear the words and wisdom of many different tribal elders from all parts of the world. It was determined as a consensus at the conference that indeed the whole planet was suffering, and it was incumbent on the native peoples, in their role as keepers of the land to do what they could to avert disaster and that the spiritual traditions and wisdom of the original people should be awakened and shared with all the peoples of the world. The speech of one particular Hopi Medicine Man moved something deep inside. Although the content of that was not revealed in the interview, the resulting change in Pat's attitude is clearly visible today. Much of the Medicine work that he does in the community is with and for white people, that they might awaken their spirits and begin to live for the land and the life upon it.

At this point in his life, Pat is working as a full time Medicine man. He spends about half his time traveling back and forth to wherever people need him, during the last year he has facilitated ceremonies in Japan, Greece, California, Arizona, Oregon and all over B.C. as well as a lot of work right here in the Comox Valley. He councils people in need, performs marriages, runs Sweatlodges, Vision Quests and Yuipi healings. He sits at talking circles, runs pipe ceremonies and drum workshops, mediates disputes, does radio talk shows, officiates at pow wows, and sits as honored guest at Potlatches. Last, but most importantly, he intercesses the Vancouver Island Sundance - his most powerful vision. Beginning in 1999 as a small "family" dance with 10 dancers in the arbor, it has expanded this year to at least 25 dancers, some from Japan, Arizona and California. His vision supports hundreds of dancers eventually, representing all continents and skin colors.

When asked about marriage, Pat explained that he had been married three times, so perhaps he was not the one to give advise on that. He did talk a bit about his last marriage which lasted quite a while and produced two children that are a source of great love and attachment. Bobby, his son (20) and Christina his daughter (22) are young adults now in their own right, and live in Arizona near their mother. Christina has a son, now 2yrs old who Pat says is already a computer geek Pat is in continual contact with them and spends time with them while Stateside. Their mother, Suzy, and Pat got together when they lived in L.A.. She is a Hopi native from Flagstaff, Arizona. It is a Hopi tradition that when one marries a Hopi, they become Hopi and are adopted into the tribe. After they were married they made Flagstaff their home and Pat was made welcome by the tribal Elders, who shared their teachings, prophesies and ceremonies with him. Pat spent a lot of time on the road, what with his affairs in L.A. and continuing Medicine work, and this took its toll on the marriage, which eventually collapsed under the strain. Currently, when not traveling, Pat lives with Mary, his girlfriend of four years. Mary is of Cree descent, a Sundancer, and a single mother of one son, Chris. When speaking to the success of their relationship, Pat credits the fact that they both share the same spiritual path and beliefs.

When asked about his life and work today, and if there was anything that he would change, he responded that he was very satisfied with what he did, that he loved to watch the Medicine work in people, that it helped to satisfy his craving to learn. He loves the healing in whatever form it takes, and observing the interactional dynamics between people. He maintains a life of no judgment and no attachment, and comes as close to achieving that ideal as is possible in this society. If there was anything he could change it would be around the lack of payment for his work. It seems ironic to this writer that people will pay $100/hr to a psychologist for months of therapy that proves ineffective, yet when four days of native Medicine helps them, they cant seem to pay anything. A double irony is the fact that this particular Medicine Man has all the professional qualifications of most psychologists, works just as hard or harder, yet lives in abject poverty.

A great difficulty lies in trying to relate this unique individual's life to the current stage theories or even non-stage theories described in Helen Bee's text mentioned earlier. Against Erikson's stage model Pat would seem to measure up to the highest stage of Ego integrity, yet the age stipulation does not match, and many of the preceding stages seem to have been skipped or missed altogether. In Loevinger's Model we see a better match without the age barriers, but again we have the problem of previous stages. Pat has been granted Elder status by every tribal group he has worked with since he was in his mid thirties. With Levinson's Seasons of Adulthood theory, we can see a rough correlation to the mentor relationship, but again off-time within a younger age category. Valliant's Defense Mechanism theory would see Pat at the higher levels, having moved through the more immature responses much earlier in life. According to Perun and Bielby's Timing Model every aspect of Pats life is asynchronous yet he has no experience of stress. Even the physical effects of aging seem to miss him. Pat enjoys excellent health, and most times he could be mistaken for a man in his late thirties or early forties. From a psychological perspective, this subject seems to pose as an enigma to be sure.

* Author's Perspective *

Having known this man on a personal level for five years, I can say that this story represents only a very small part of the life experience of Chief White Cloud. He is an extremely intelligent, very observant man. He is a gifted orator with an expansive vocabulary. He possesses unbounded compassion, generosity, and altruism. In ceremony he is unmatched in ability. It is said that the great chief Fools Crow died without passing on his sacred knowledge or bundle,(Mails1991) but it is this writer's belief that the Old Man's spirit is still alive and well through the works of men like Patrick "White Cloud" Hendrickson.

Above all that has been said about this man it should be added here that he is very, very human and a man that I am proud to call: my friend.

[educatedindian]

So Henderson is not Lakota at all but Ojibwe (you claim) and supposedly trained by Fools Crow(you claim).

Like many Nuage people you're fond of that quote of Fools Crow, taken out of context, that supposedly claims these ceremonies or medicine are for all people. What he actually meant pretty clearly was that the healing was meant for everyone. Fools Crow signed declarations written by AIM, along with many other medicine people, that clearly come out against exploiters and plastic shamans. He knew the ceremonies must be done only by those within the culture, traditionally trained.

It's also worth noting that Simpson originally posted an angry hysterical message against NicDana filled with "how dare you!" and "you hurt my feelings" etc. If she deleted it I take it as a hopeful sign. Perhaps she can be reached. 

[Defend the Sacred]

It's also worth noting that Simpson originally posted an angry hysterical message against NicDana filled with "how dare you!" and "you hurt my feelings" etc. If she deleted it I take it as a hopeful sign. Perhaps she can be reached. 

Did she post and then delete something public? If so, I didn't see it. You may be thinking of the private screed she sent me with that content, among other choice bon mots, which I forwarded to you and the other mods. And no, she has made no retraction or apology for it.

[ska]

Peacewalker,

Thanks for the information.  If you don't mind, I have a few more questions:

1) Why do you speak of Mr. Hendrickson in the present tense, since he has passed away?

2) I've been told the Vancouver Island Sun Dance started more than 15 years ago, but you suggest it started more recently.  Can you clear this up for me?

3)  How many people are currently dancing at this Sun Dance and how many are Indian/Native?

4) Who is conducting the Sun Dance now, and what nation are they connected to?

5) What Lakota communities/elders does your Sun Dance answer to?

6) How many of the people who engage in this sacred ceremony speak Lakota, particularly among the ones who conduct the ceremony and those doing the singing?

7) When did the Sun Dance in New Zealand start and how many participate over there?

8) Do you have any web links where we can find more information about these sun dances?

Thanks, ska