Steve McCullough aka Iktomi Sha & Salt Creek Sundance

[Johnnie]

Folks,

Some things happened here over the last week or so that were very disturbing.  At this time I cannot go into details except to say that someone who spent a lot of time here and was a wellknown member of the Indian community was murdered out west.

Surrounding this wonderful man's death, some people tried to take advantage of the situation to promote themselves.

Several of us who are active in the Indiana Indian community decided to start talking to the larger Indian community, including here, about what is going on.  So, I hope that this is the first in a series of posts about frauds in this area.

Over the last couple of days as I tried to navigate the difficult registration process here I was reading posts about other frauds from around the area and will comment on those as well. 

While I have never met Steve McCullough, I have talked to him on the phone.  According to information we developed he runs the Sundance down in the Hoosier National Forest.  He claims to be Shawnee which is a funny story in itself.  Over in Ohio is a man by the name of Hawk Pope, a sleazy character caught in a number of lies and potentially dangerous situations (for young people, especially young girls).  The point is he has a group called the Remnant Band Shawnee of which McCullough claims affiliation. The people affiliated with the RBS have also claimed affiliation with the Kishpoko Shawnee, and the "East of the River Shawnee" both of which are made up tribes which have caused fits with the three legimate Shawnee Bands in Oklahoma.

The trouble is that local non-Indians do not have a clue as to what federal recognition is, what tribal affilation means, and get all starry eyed when someone shows up with names like Walking Eagle, Crow Dog, or Barking Fox.  Although I will post more on him later, there is apparently some kind of feud between this McCullough and another fraud who claims to be a brother to Leonard Crow Dog, called John Crow Dog, who also holds sweats, yuwipis, and other "traditional Lakota ceremonies" for "donations."

As I said, more on this Crow Dog character in another thread as per the rules.

McCullough has managed to ingratiate himself with the local media and so appeared in a local PBS produced documentary on the Wabash River.  Which leads me to the point.  Filming ceremonies, as these guys tend to allow, is not a good idea.  I am Potawatomi and we would never allow such scenes to be filmed unless there were extenuating circumstances, ie, for teaching purposes or for some kind of posterity or with the permission of the family and so on. 

McCullough claims to be a medicine man of the Shawnee but since he is not federally enrolled he cannot sign off on the application to hold the Sundance in the Hoosier National Forest.  We have been unable to find out who signs off on the federal application for the special use permit, but do know they are people or a person associated with the Leonard Crow Dog followers from Rosebud, which also has led to some bad feelings between John Crow Dog and Steve McCullough.

More later when I post on this Crow Dog character.

Finally, one way to stop these guys is to turn them in for violations of the Migratory Bird Laws which require a federal Indian ID (that is a tribal or BIA card) which these clowns usually do not have much less carry.  If you transport or wear feathers from Eagles or other protected species you have to have that card on your person.

miguitch,

Johnnie

[educatedindian]

Johnnie, there's also an older thread on McCullough in here at http://newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=221.0

It has some information you might find useful, such as that Vernal Cross never trained him like McCullough claims.

[sapa]

I believe you will find Nathan Chasing Horse signs for the permit, at least he did a year a two ago.
It used to be on the net under the state parks page, seemed they required a card carrying indian...
might have a copy somewhere will look and let you know
sapa

[sapa]

I beg your pardon.....I was mistaken. I confused the Salt Cree k Indiana sundance with this subject. Please disregard.
sapa

[Johnnie]

Sapa,

It is the one and the same Sundance.

Johnnie

[Johnnie]

Folks,

Although this thread is about McCullough, the feud between that clown and the other one in Indy is relevant.  Just heard from someone about the guy John Crow Dog.  Although he legally changed his name, his real name is John Wexler, or some have spelled it Wechsler, although I have seen it spelled Wexler only,

According to the story, back in 1985 or so, this Wexler character traveled to Crow Dog's paradise and sundanced.  As many of you know, Leonard has been notorious for allowing non-Indians to dance, get pipes, and be sanctioned as "medicine men."  Within a few years, Wexler changed his name to John Crazy Horse which gave fits to the local Indians here as well as drawing the attention of people from Oglala who demanded through Leonard that Wexler not use the Crazy Horse name.  So, presto-chango, Wexler takes the Crow Dog family name.

I have not seen more than a mention of Wexler/Crow Dog on any of the Fraud websites and this is the first place I have seen mention of McCullough.  Both these guys seem to have slipped below the radar.  Anyway, somehow one of those guys mentioned above (I heard it was Red Cherries) was visiting Wexler and heard about the Salt Creek Sundance and there was talk of busting it up at one point a couple of years ago.

I even heard that the local AIM group out of Richmond, Indiana headed by Albert Running Wolf (?), was trying to get the special use permit pulled for the Sundance.  That is when I also heard that Wexler Crow Dog, and some Lakotas from out in SD were planning the "raid" on the Sundance.  Nothing ever came of it.

How involved McCullough might be now is up in the air.  I heard he is withdrawing, and I also heard he is the Grand Poobah of the dance but cannot sign the application for the SUP.

More as I find it out.

Johnnie

[Johnnie]

Folks,

From the Blomington Herald Times: Indiana (Local Lakota Tribe?)  McCullough claims Remnant Band Shawnee

Sundance week starts Saturday

By J.J. McCorvey
jmccorvey@heraldt.com


Those who think American Indian sundances are all about fun,  feathers, and face paint
should think again.

The local Lakota Tribe?s annual Salt Creek Sundance encourages  personal and spiritual
growth and doesn?t just provide a week-long  getaway. The activities, which begin
Saturday near Sundance Lake in  Hoosier National Forest in Brown County and continue
through July 21,  include prayer, singing, fasting, and a piercing ceremony.

The actual sundance will be held at sunrise on Wednesday. The event  is open to the
public and participants are invited to stay on the  campgrounds for the entire week, but
must provide their own camping  essentials.

According to Sundance Chief Stephen McCullough, a sundance is a ?holy  dance? in which
people can ?concentrate on prayers and get results.?  Dancers will face a sacred tree
that will be cut down and brought in  the preceding Tuesday in a tradition called ?Tree
Day.?

The first Salt Creek Sundance ceremony was in 1992. It originated in  South Dakota, where
the Lakota Tribe culture comes from. The Lakota  Tribe practices the Way of the Pipe,
which teaches how to ?walk in a  good way.?

?It?s not so much of a religion as a way of life,? McCullough said,  adding that people
of all religions and backgrounds have come out to  participate in past sundances.

?We don?t try to change people?s religious faiths or be like us ...  there will nobody
getting up to preach,? he said.

[educatedindian]

Albert is a longtime member of NAFPS, but he hasn't posted here for awhile. I believe he's still over at one of the yahoo groups. I remember him discussing their trying to get the permit for the national park pulled.

Have you thought about writing to these papers to point out the Sundance is not what they'e claiming? Notice that the paper refers to a "local Lakota tribe" in INDIANA. The reporter didn't do the most basic fact checking.

[Johnnie]

EI,

Sent an email to them, and several other Indian people sent one as well.  Mine is posted below.

Mr. McCorvey,

RE: Your Bloomington Herald Times story on the Salt Creek Sundance.

I have a suggestion for a way better story.  Ask the Forest Service why they would allow
a non-Indian named Steve McCullough a special use permit to conduct a "ceremony" that the
Lakota people have tried to shut down for the past five years.  This is not only highly
unusual but illegal since McCullough is a non-Indian about to run a "ceremony" which is
highly dangerous in the hands of someone who does not know what they are doing.

You might also ask Mr. McCullough what tribe he is.  If he says Lakota, he is lying.  If
he says "Remnant Band Shawnee," a little digging will tell you that the RBS are fakes as
well.  You will find that the Remnant Band Shawnee is a non-prifit organization which is
fleecing residents of Ohio and that it is run by a fraud and fake by the name of Hawk
Pope, a brother to another fraud named "Dark Rain Thom," who is the wife of your local
author Alexander Thom.  Pope has been repeatedly accused of sexual misconduct with white
women, making them (even those as young as 12 years old) run around his complex with no
clothes on "cause that is how Indians used to dress."

A much better story for a wonderful reporter like you is how the "local Lakota tribe" was
able to establish themselves here in Indiana, more than six hundred miles from their
original territory.

For more information:

http://newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=1245.0

New Age Frauds and Plastic Shamans has been tracking McCullough for years and not only is
he not who he says he is, he is conducting "ceremonies" for fun and profit.

That is a much more interesting story than the one you printed.

By the way, I am a Potawatomi who teaches Native American Religions at IUPUI and have
been involved in Native American ceremonies and traditions all my life.  Some things you
should know.

1. There is no recognized Lakota tribe in Indiana.  The nearest one is hundreds of miles
away in South Dakota.

2. There is no recognized Shawnee tribe in Indiana or Ohio, and anyone (including Ms.
Thom) who claims to be Shawnee is a fraud as well.

3. This is a highly dangerous and sacred ceremony not for amateurs and it is just a
matter of time before someone is seriously injured or killed as a result of this
fraudulent behaviour.

4. Someone needs to find out why the National Park Service is allowing this kind of
conduct in the Hoosier National Forest in violation of its own regulations, in violation
of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, and against the wishes of the legitimate
Lakota Nations who have vigorously protested these kinds of rips offs.

5. Why did you not take the time to do a little research and ask the Potawatomi (Pokagon
Band) or the Miami of Indiana about this "ceremony." The sad fact is that most residents
of Indiana would not question this behavior or how a "local Lakota Tribe" as your article
asserts, was able to establish themselves right here in Indiana without a word of it
appearing in the history books or without notice to the other legitimate tribes here in
Indiana.

Good luck and good hunting Mr.McCorvey.  On behalf of Indian people I thank you in
advance for the next installment of this story.

[sapa]

Just stumbled across a relatively new website for the SCS complete with forum (however if you ask any semi hard questions the topic gets locked) and paypal to help defray cost.

Two other sundances eveyone is invited to are
One: In California run by Durwin WhiteLightening ( if the sundance is not enough for you there are also 2 peyote ceremonies available for open participation)
Two: The World Council of Elders is sponsoring an International traveling sundance the first in Montana and then around the world..
It is amazing to me that they all say this is the most sacred of lakota ceremonies and should be treated with the utmost respect but ................it simply isnt worth the time and effort required to travel to Indian Country, meet a reputable family, learn the ways and then maybe you will be invited to attend. It seems to me that far to many have forgotten that the leaders of old welcomed non natives to participate if they DID as the L/N/D ie live as one of the people........
Please excuse me, I guess I just woke up to how wide spread the abuses are.....
I apologise for the sarcasm
sapa

[Cetan]

I remember before Steve McCullough decided he was indian, his father was a preacher on Rosebud so he spent some of his youth there. He was not trained by Vernal Cross as he claims, I am a good friend of the cross family and shortly after Vern's funeral his widow Darlene and her sister Emma were invited to the McCulloughs for ceremonies - Emma caught McCulloghs kids making "spirit rattles" that he claimed come in during his ceremonies and the supposed spirit lights moved im perfect circles of same intenity like laser flaslights do. Darlene was treated with disrespect and one of Vern's brothers found black tobacco ties intended to do harm all around where Darlene had to camp, she was not even given the respect of a bed in their house. Then while McCullough and his supporters promised to pay for a gravestone for Vern they reneged - I know this for a fact because I arranged for someone I know to donate one and my relatives brought it out to SD and I drove Verns son & nephew over to Rosebud to pick it up

[Charlie Two Shirts]

I believe you will find Nathan Chasing Horse signs for the permit, at least he did a year a two ago.
It used to be on the net under the state parks page, seemed they required a card carrying indian...
might have a copy somewhere will look and let you know
sapa

Did you ever find this? What's going on with this guy now? Is he still alive and well?  Is that sundance still going on?

[tahcha_sapa]

Steve is NOT a native. He used to fondly proclaim that he was the "only white guy" jailed from the Wounded Knee II situation. His wife, Gwen, or his kids may level with you about Steve's true non-native heritage. Or they may love him too much and not wish to destroy this myth about himself that he has, for his own reasons, decided to create. He has claimed to be Shawnee but he's been unable to prove this. His most recent claims to be part Lakota are appalling. He knows it isn't true. His family knows that this isn't true. Ask his family. He's caught up in something else. Maybe he's been seduced by some kind of intense self-aggrandizing grandiose need for attention. Maybe he believes that he can heal the world by becoming part of the disease that he claims he can or wants or needs to cure.
He was a nice guy. He's become something else. What he has become is delusional.

[Charlie Two Shirts]

Wopila.

I have been doing some looking around and found this earl this morning. It doesn't have his picture but it says he is "Rosebud Sioux".

http://www.mantlerock.org/aboutus.htm

[tahcha_sapa]

Steve McCullough has associated with enrolled members of the Rosebud Sioux tribe. Most notably, he associated with Norbert Running, an 85-87 year old medicineman. Norbert is the father of Norman Running. Norman Running was the subject of a scandalous series of claims by a Florida resident that surfaced several years ago. The victim had been taken for over $30,000, I believe, although there may be a thread on this matter somewhere on the net.
Steve McCullough may believe that he may be able to retreat to some kind of claim to being an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux tribe but, unfortunately for him, their enrollment system is guarded very well. Any claim to being "adopted" by a member of any tribe doesn't mean a thing. He's still not a member of any federally recognized tribe and if he possesses any parts of any endangered species of birds protected by the U.S federal wildlife system, he is in violation of the law. Enrolled members of federally recognized tribes have gone to prison for unauthorized use of these same parts. The law will come down harder, it seems, upon others clearly unauthorized to possess them for any purpose.