Mike Chirobokow

[AnnOminous]

Well, I've never heard of this guy as being in any way, shape or form associated or  connected with either Blackfoot or Cree people.  Here's some more of what he claims:

http://www.3oflife.dk/hvemervi_mike.asp

Mike Chirobokow
Mike Chirobokow indian name is Na' To' Win' Niso, which is a Blackfoot word which translates into Sacred Warrior Coming Down. This name was given to me by a Blackfoot elder on the Blood Indian Reservation in Alberta, Canada.

I have over 20 years experience working and living amongst the Indian people of Canada. During that time I have spent studying and learning from elders, the Indian culture, spirituality, rituals and ceremonies primarily of the Blackfoot and Cree Indians. I have been adopted into a Cree family, sundanced with the Blackfoot and later becoming a sundance leader, holding that position for six years.

With over 25 years in community development, I have offered and shared my knowledge and skills working to make better, healthier communities.

"The world is changing, and as it changes there are new tools emerging, which we can use to help our families, our workplaces, others and ourselves".

The sweat lodge is one of those tools, old yet new, supporting change within our surroundings and ourselves. Bringing all elements of our being together, body, mind, emotions and spirit into what we believe will be a profound experience, promoting cleansing, personal development, team building, stress management and revitalization.

There's just so much wrong with this.  There is no Blackfoot word like what he claims his name is.  But then again there are no "reservations" in Canada--we call them reserves.  And Indians are those who come from India--in Canada one identifies as being First Nations, Aboriginal, indigenous or native.  The "Blood Indian Reservation" would be referred to as Kainai First Nations if he had a clue what he was talking about.

He has certainly not been a Sundance leader in Blackfoot Country.

It is interesting to me to note that while he claims involvement in Blackfoot ceremony, he claims adoption by a Cree family.  Perhaps he was unaware when he was pulling names out of a hat that the Blackfoot and Cree are ancestral enemies and that even today there is a mistrust and dislike that often keeps these Nations from being involved much with one another as people.  Just makes no sense.

Of course, his claim that new age = nude sweats and that that's the only thing that denotes nuagism makes me laugh, when I can stop wanting to throw up.  Ugh.  How many ways can you spell idiot.

[lenasvn]

I am unsure about this individual; Mike Chirobokow- Na’ To’ Win’ Niso (Sacred Warrior Coming Down). A link to his site: http://windspirit.co.uk/sweatlodge/sweatlodge.htm.
He lives in the UK but have held sweats in Denmark and possibly other nearby countries.

Here is part of what he says: Sweat Lodge Leader: Mike Chirobokow- Na’ To’ Win’ Niso (Sacred Warrior Coming Down) is invited over to the  UK to run the sweatlodges; he  is a pipe carrier and for over 20 years has lived, studied and learned amongst various North American Indian tribes primarily the Cree and the Blackfoot Indians. Connecting and working with the Blackfoot tribe, he became the first non-native to become a Sundance leader.

Here is an older link (?) http://www.ammolite.de/ammolitegb.htm

I have emailed him with the following questions:
May I ask who provided you with permission and direction to run the sweatlodge? The same question goes for the pipe. You mention being the first non- native to run a Sundance, please let me know which Blackfoot tribe this is? I would like to contact them in regards to a book I am working on! I hope my questions are ok?

 His reply:
Hello
May we ask who you are and a little bit more about yourself?
Warm blessings

Tilly Chirobokow

 My reply:
My name is Lena, I spent 11 yrs in the U.S. I spent some years among the Northern Cheyenne and different Sioux families. My relations are spread out though,, Lipan Apache, Ute, Ojibwe. I am collecting material for a book about Native American spirituality and non-natives interest in it. I currently live in Sweden.

He would never reply to this.

Maybe someone here knows something?
 

[educatedindian]

Chirobokow was exposed at length in Spirits for Sale. He's a white guy claiming to have been taught by Native elders. The sweats he runs are textbook examples of everything wrong anyone could do:

Pay to pray.
Done for nonNatives outside of the community.
Badly planned and executed. (See Spirit for Sale, where they have trouble getting a fire started, stumble over the songs, and have to have everything done mutiple times.
No respect for the intent of the ceremony. For example, the ceremony in Spirits for Sale took place near an electricity generating station with with chainsaws to cut the firewood. Both disrupted any calm the ceremony was supposed to bring.
Done by someone with no right to do the ceremony.

[Sparks]

[ETA-Merged tthreads.]

There are two older separate threads about Mike Chirobokow in this forum:

http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=327
http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=397

I will post some updates here, as this is the newest thread.

Thanks for your greetings everyone!

I am so encouraged to find this site!  I am currently going round and round with the self titled (non-native)elder and medicine woman - Tilly Chirobokow, Eagle Medicine Woman (www.windspirit.co.uk) running sweats for a mere £40 per head....lol... grrr
 

Ahaaa...Mike´s wife? They are both stars in our film. In case you missed it
www.spiritsforsale.com  (The film is on the internet, check YouTube)

All the bios and events listed on the first link are gone by now, there is just one page left:

Wind Spirit
Home
Wind Spirit represents a connection to Spirit, to the Universe, to Creation, all that is love, whole, and healthy. Even as the wind blows and no one knows from whence it came or where it goes, so is Spirit, the great force of the Universe that fills all and gives life.

Decades, centuries and millennia have come and gone, bringing with each turn of time, information and understanding. We come to this time, the present, through all the changes, the turmoil, the conflict, the discovery and knowledge, side by side.

There is a growing understanding, a realisation, of our place under the Sun, of our relationship to the Earth and all upon it, an evolving realisation of our ancestors who, in their simplicity, knew and were connected.

As we slowly see this place, remembering, we understand that all things come from Spirit, this ancestral knowledge,no matter which culture, given to all, to assist us on our path in this life and our journey from the Earth to the Sky.

If you would like more information about Wind Spirit and our activities please see us at

FB: Mike Chirobokow
FB: Wind Spirit Heart Space
FB: Elders
FB: Friends of Rum Village

Those four Facebook links are:
https://www.facebook.com/mike.chirobokow
https://www.facebook.com/www.windspirit.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/eldersforpeace/
https://www.facebook.com/friendsofrumvillage/

Mike Chirobokow also directs this FB page:
https://www.facebook.com/desertcontacts/

The site www.spiritsforsale.com has been replaced by http://www.folkejohansson.se/folkejohansson.se/SPIRITS_FOR_SALE.html

[Sparks]

[ETA-Merged tthreads.]

There are two older separate threads about Mike Chirobokow in this forum:

http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=327
http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=397

The latter has been incorporated in the former.