Latest is Nuwaubians trying to recruit in Dinetah.
----------
http://www.nativesunnews.today/news/2017-08-30/Top_News/A_Sundance_in_Navajoland.htmlA Sundance in Navajoland? People unite to stop Sundance on reservation
By Alaina Adakai Native Sun News Today
A poster advertises the proposed Aug. 15-19 sundance. Photo by Alaina Adakai
DILKON, AZ. –– The Arizona community of Dilkon has recently gained national attention as its residents united to stop a Sundance that was planned to take place from August 15th to the 21st. Historically, sundances are not a traditional Navajo ceremony; however, through intertribal marriages the sundance was introduced and adopted by some Navajo families.
Dilkon is located in the southwestern part of the Navajo reservation. A 35-minute drive south will take you to Interstate 40 and Winslow, AZ, a small town made famous in the song, “Take It Easy”, by The Eagles.
This particular Sundance was controversial because of its ties to Dwight D. York, a convicted pedophile and Black supremacist cult leader. In 2003, York pled guilty to over 100 counts of child molestation and sexual trafficking of minors. He is currently serving a 135-year sentence.
In 2007, author Bill Osinski published a booked titled, “Ungodly: A True Story of Unprecedented Evil”. In the book Osinski chronicles the rise of York’s black supremacist cult and subsequent criminal actions.
"When he (York) was finally indicted,
state prosecutors literally had to cut back the number of counts listed- from well beyond a thousand to slightly more than 200 — because they feared a jury simply wouldn’t believe the magnitude of York's evil.… [It] is believed to be the nation's largest child molestation prosecution ever directed at a single person, in terms of number of victims and number of alleged criminal acts,” wrote Osinski.
Dwight D. York is an African American man who has used countless aliases. He is most known as Dr. Malachi Z. York, the founder of United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors.
“The Nuwaubian Nation,” as it is currently called, is a religious group who believe that African Americans are the first and “true” Native Americans. They believe that their ancestors were living on the American continents long before the American Indian. The Nuwaubian Nation members claim that different tribes such as the Olmec, Creek, Seminole, Anasazi, and ancient Mound Builders are their African American ancestors.
Nuwaubian Nation doctrine also teaches that African Americans built the great cities and pyramids in South and Central America. Along with architecture, they believe that their ancestors taught American Indians science, medicine, farming, hunting, and religious practices such as the sundance.
Their religious beliefs are an eclectic mixture of ancient Egyptian god worship, Islamic doctrine, Judaism, and belief in extra-terrestrial life and UFO’s. Further complexing their religious doctrine, the Nuwaubians also intertwine and practice some Hopi, Navajo, and Lakota ceremonies.
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has categorized the Nuwaubian Nation as a black separatist hate group. According to the SPLC website, “Hate groups have beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, typically for their immutable characteristics.”
Just how did a black supremacist cult arrive on Navajo land with the intent to perform a sacred sundance ceremony?
They were invited by
Rivka Thomas, a Navajo woman from Dilkon, AZ. Thomas is half Navajo, half African American. She calls herself Qmamti Bnu and is member of the Nuwaubian Nation. It is Thomas who planned the sundance.
In a section on the Freedom Sundance website,
Thomas’ bio, states “I am Bnu. Doctor of Indigenous Ceremonies. I am Qmamti and Doctor of Ceremonies, therefore, I take Responsibility, and do ALL things in the spirit of Prophecy, as foretold by the Old Ones, for the Freedom of Dr. Malachi Z. York.”
The ceremony has been called the “Freedom Sundance,” and has been publicized to Nuwaubian Nation members.
In videos posted on YouTube, Thomas speaks about the purpose of the group’s sundance- the Nuwaubian Nation believes that its founder, Dwight Z. York, is innocent of all child molestation charges. Not only do they believe that the sundance will set York free from incarceration, they also believe that York is a prophesized chief called “Chief Black Eagle.”
The prophecy the Nuwaubians believe is called “The Eagle and Condor Prophecy”. In a video posted on YouTube, Thomas is asked to explain the prophecy.
“I’m not too learned in that prophecy but I have heard of it. I can’t really supply any specifics on that,” said Thomas.
This prophecy is the basis of the “Freedom Sundance” that Thomas planned, yet she is unable to explain this fundamental Nuwaubian belief.
Posts on Thomas’ Facebook profile reflect the complex mixture of the Nuwaubian religious beliefs- Thomas writes about the Lakota sundance, Navajo teachings, Egyptian deities, and Hopi prophecies.
In various pictures, she describes herself as “Blue Star Kachina” and has a photo shopped picture of herself surrounded by a blue aura and stars.
To the Hopi and Pueblo people of the Southwest, Kachinas are sacred and supernatural spiritual beings who help guide daily and religious life. The Hopi have prophesized that the Blue Star Kachina is a spiritual being who will reveal itself in the form of a star or comet, marking the Day of Purification.
This Kachina is sacred to the Hopi and Puebloan tribes, yet Thomas freely projects herself as this supernatural being.
Handwritten posters had been posted throughout the small community of Dilkon, promoting the “Freedom Sundance”. The posters were colorful with drawings of flowers, hearts, and stick figures. The poster seem to have been drawn by children.
Most alarming to Dilkon residents was that the posters explicitly stated that children were welcome to attend the sundance. Knowing of the reason for the sundance and the Nuwaubian Nation ties to pedophilia, Dilkon residents held an emergency meeting on August 15th.
Over 70 people attended the meeting and included relatives of Thomas, elected officials, concerned parents, and elders. Also in attendance was The Dine Medicine Men’s Association, the Navajo Nation’s organization of spiritual leaders.
Some parents reported that their children were approached by Thomas and Pittman asked to participate in the sundance. Parents expressed fears about the couple’s active recruitment of Navajo children.
Dilkon Chapter officials asked parents to file affidavits of each incident when the couple approached their children.
Henry Goldtooth tearfully recalled the day Thomas and Pittman forced him out his home, leaving him and his children homeless in their time of grief and mourning. Goldtooth had been married to Thomas’ aunt, with whom he had four children. Goldtooth’s wife had passed away just three weeks before.
Goldtooth told those in attendance that Thomas yelled, “Your wife is dead, now get out. This is my home!”
Relatives of Thomas explicitly stated that Thomas and Pittman had not obtained their permission to use their family land for the sundance ceremony.
The land were Thomas and Pittman planned to have the sundance is a cornfield.
Elders and Navajo holy men were outraged that the sundance would take place on a cornfield. To the Navajo, self-mutilation and self-harm go against traditional Navajo beliefs.
Corn is sacred to the Navajo and cornfields are sacred ground. For the Navajo, shedding human on a sacred cornfield is sacrilegious, and would condemn the cornfield.
The community meeting lasted hours, and ended with a traditional Navajo prayer ceremony.
During the ceremony, Thomas and Pittman entered the building and began yelling expletives at those present.
According to witnesses, Thomas and Pittman called Navajos “racists” and threatened to sue the tribe for religious discrimination.
Navajo elders were shocked at the cussing and aggressive outburst; the elders later expressed feeling violated and threatened.
A resolution was passed requesting that the Navajo Nation president and Department of Justice banish Thomas and Pittman.
On Thursday, August 17th, law enforcement officials evicted Thomas and Pittman from the home of Henry Goldtooth.The Navajo Nation Deputy Attorney General, Rodgerick Begay, issued a letter on August 18th, stating, “It is the Department Of Justice’s position that individuals involved have no authority to conduct a Sundance in Mr. Willie’s permitted area. Furthermore, land use permits are strictly for farming purposes. Therefore, a Sundance cannot be performed in a cornfield.”
On Monday, August 21st, law enforcement authorities issued an order for Thomas and Pittman to vacate the cornfield where they began to camp after being evicted from Goldtooth’s home.
Leon Red Dog is a Lakota wicasa wakan (holy man), naca (leader), and Kit Fox Society leader from the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation. A respected spiritual leader, Red Dog performs an annual sundance at his residence in Green Grass, SD.
“The sundance is a healing for people. Traditionally, every person who puts on a sundance has to have a vision or go on a vision quest. That is how you put your whole sundance circle together,” said Red Dog.
”There are certain protocols that you have to follow. You can’t just go around saying that you’re going to start a sundance. In order to have my sundance, I had to talk to Arvol (Looking Horse) and get it Ok’d with him. I talked with him and spoke with him about my dream,” said Red Dog.
Chief Arvol Looking Horse is The Keeper of the Sacred Pipe and a prominent spiritual leader of the Great Sioux Nation.
Asked what would happen if the Nuwaubian Nation tried to do a sundance on Sioux lands, “We’d ask Arvol Looking Horse and every sundance leader to talk to them, to find out what they are trying to do,” he said.
“I wouldn’t even listen to this woman. In our way, it has to be a man who runs the sundance ceremony. It’s good that the Navajo people are not allowing it. I wouldn’t allow it if they tried to do it here,” said Red Dog.
Although the sundance was stopped by the Navajo people, Thomas’ Facebook profile exclaims to Nuwaubian Nation followers that the sundance was successful.
The Navajo Nation has yet to issue an official banishment of the couple. The current whereabouts of Thomas and Pittman are unknown.
