Got his schedule, and he IS lecturing at a university and also for small schoolchildren. There's four other places where he's doing workshops where we probably can't stop him. But I think we can get thru to teachers and get them to not give him public money. At least I hope so.
I urge everyone to write letters to these two schools, and repost your letters here and any responses you get. My letter is below, feel free to quote from it or use it as a model.
Here's contact info for the schools.
Raippaluoto. Day with the kids in village school.
Contact Ann-Louise Wekcström + 358 505751515 mikael.weckström@studiofotocenter.fi
Helsinki. Helsingin Yliopisto/ Forum Humanum luento
Yhteyshenkilö Mauri Lehtovirta 050 5720845 mauri.lehtovirta@hel.fi
Tu 27th at 9th Lecture in Helsinki University/Forum Humanum. Contact Mauri Lehtovirta + 358 505720845 mauri.lehtovirta@hel.fi
My letter:
Hello,
My name is Dr. Al Carroll. I'm a historian who teaches Native history, as well as American Indian myself (Mescalero Apache). I also am part of an activist group called New Age Frauds Plastic Shamans (NAFPS). We put out warnings to the general public about imposters who pose as Native medicine people or elders.
These charlatans do this for money, power, and often to abuse vulnerable women sexually. This is a huge problem, with hundreds of frauds out there, and most of them come to Europe. They also do enormous damage by spreading misconceptions and racist stereotypes about Native people. What they do is also considered deeply offensive by Native people since they charge money for ceremonies, which is very much against actual Native spiritual traditions.
Unfortunately you have booked one of those very imposters to come to your schools in Finland. Roland Williston poses as a "Seventh Fire Peace Shield" elder named "Rainbow Eagle."
To begin with, Williston is NOT an elder or medicine person recognized by ANY Native tribe.
He is a former social worker until he began defrauding the public by falsely claiming to be a Native elder.
His "Indian name" is NOT Indian at all. It is a New Age imitation of Native names, and very stereotypical. Most Native people find his name either silly or offensive, or both.
Williston is Choctaw, but he falsely claims to be teaching Anishnaabe ways. The Choctaw and Anishaabe are entirely different tribes living over a thousand miles apart, with entirely different beliefs, traditions, and practices.
Both Choctaw and Anishnaabe people denounce him as a fraud. What he does is considered spiritual exploitation, taking advantage of gullible non-Natives. His workshops, seminars, speeches, and false versions of ceremonies are regularly protested by Native activists.
For these very reason, he lives far away from both tribes, and not among either his own Choctaw tribe, or the Anishnaabe tribe he falsely claims to be a respected elder of.
I realize it is difficult to find accurate sources of information in Finland on American Indians. That is one reason why we developed sets of guidelines to aid people who, like yourselves, likely don't know any better, to help them avoid being cheated and defrauded and fed false information.
http://newagefraud.org/http://users.pandora.be/gohiyuhi/nafps/articles/art34.htm More on the falsehoods spread by Williston.
http://users.pandora.be/gohiyuhi/frauds/frd0001.htm As institutions of education, surely you have obligations to present only the truth to your students, especially ones so young?
Surely you would consider it unethical to teach falsehoods about another people?
Surely you teach your students to respect people of other cultures, not do things they consider deeply offensive to their spiritual and cultural traditions?
Surely you would not knowingly push upon them someone like Williston who falsely presents himself as what he is not?
I hope that now that you have been presented with the facts on Williston, you will reconsider letting him lecture to your students and tell them lies for money.
I urge you in the strongest possible terms to cancel his lectures.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Thank you,
Dr. Al Carroll
Social & Behavioral Sciences Dept.
St. Phillip's College
San Antonio, TX
USA
