AIM Santa Barbara has this message partly about him. (Full message in the sweatlodge deaths in Sedona thread.)
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Corine Fairbanks sent a message to the members of American Indian Movement
Santa Barbara.
Good Afternoon-
....We have also gotten reports from Pennsylvania, that there is someone posing a
sweat leader there named Michael Spisak (AKA Hawk Good Fire) and he not only
exploits the white buffalo but at least 5 women have contacted Elders to state
that he uses ceremony to abuse women both sexually and mentally--- Spisak says
he is a medicine man but has been denounced by all his so-called supporters,
Leonard Crow Dog, Mary Johnson, David Swallow and Arvol Looking Horse to name
a few. He is now connected with the woodlands resort in Farmington, Pa. and is
charging $60.00 to see the buffalo as well as conducting ceremony that he has
NO permission to do from any tribe. He has been asked by several Elders and
community leaders to cease and desist, and he has not. (For more details,
contact Graywolf and Erin Browne)
When will it end? When someone dies in his sweats?
It is our responsibility- ALL OF US - to close these fakes down, it is a life
and death situation, and our silence makes it okay, our silence is a slap in
the face to those that died protecting it, and will mark the end our
spirituality.
(But we might be able to buy a really cheap version of it in the future on
some 2am infomercial?.)
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Here's his myspace page, with his rebuttal to what he describes as rumors and lies.
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http://www.myspace.com/sunkawitkoIn fact, I am not a "poser". I am native, Shawnee on my fathers side, Holikachuk on my mothers. To insinuate someone could die is a horrible thing to say, and scaring our Relatives like that, well there is no excuse. This is completely unprofessional of you. Simply because someone says something does not make it true. Understand, neither Graywolf nor Erin Brown know me. Neither have ever met me. Yes, I spoke with Graywolf over the phone. Or tried to. He refused to listen to a word I had to say, and spoke at me, not to me. I went so far as to have Elders call him, who he promptly hung up on. Now then,
1) I do not exploit the buffalo or anything else of my culture. In fact, I am doing the opposite. I work diligently to insure the Sacred is kept Sacred, and no one manipulates or benefits personally from the events that have and continue to take place here.
2) There is not one single woman who has ever been in ceremony here who has ever been treated in any way that was not respectful. No one has been sexually or mentally molested. As a journalist, you should know better than to print something like that without first checking your sources, insuring the affidavits, court documents and police reports are in order. As none of this exists, because it never happened, now you are not reporting fact, you are reporting lies as facts with no proof. There are repercussions for this behavior.
3) I have never called myself a medicine person. Others have insinuated it, but I have consistently denounced that and any other title. All I have ever called myself is a person.
4) I never stated or insinuated that I was, am or will be associated with or part of Chief Crowdog or Chief Looking Horse. Graywolf was told that explicitly, of which I have proof.
5) Mary Johnson does support what I am doing, as do other prominent Leaders. Send me a phone number and I will have them contact you.
6) I walked away from David Swallow. I was not asked to leave. You cant fire someone after they quit.
7) There is not now, never has been, nor ever will be a charge for anything done here. No $60.00 fee. Everything here is free. If you had bothered to ask, you would have been informed of that.
8 ) Not one Elder or community Leader has requested I cease and desist. Actually, quite the opposite. Many know what is happening here, and many support this work.
Everything you have written is false. I am giving you the opportunity now to check your sources, and the self serving reasons for the vile they are spewing. I wont ask for a public apology, but it may be in your best interest. If there is ever any information you need or want, you can contact me at anytime [number deleted]. You are welcome to come here and see the truth for yourself.
With respect,
Hawk Goodfire
Buffalo Messengers
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One of the pages where they made the original inquiry has some comments. Tried to find the most relevant ones that were not simply trading insults. The page is from Autonomous AIM of Chester-Lancaster County, themselves discussed in another thread.
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http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=498258675&blogId=513682670Dearest Brother,
It saddens my heart that you are permitting yourself to be used by the evil one in an attempt to sabatoge this Sacred blessing given for the healing of all nations. I am a woman and I can vouch for the integrity of Mr. Spisak as a highly respected brother and humble servant of our Creator and His People. I have attended Sacred ceremony with him on multiple occasions and know him professionally as well as a friend and as a brother who walks the Red Road in a good way. In the words of Chief Frank Fool's Crow, (whose altar, by the way, is the altar that Mr. Spisak was asked to serve ) the two worst enemies of Indian Country is not the White man, the government or the BIA but jealousy and alcoholism. It is the pitiful spirit of jealousy that is contaminating this beautiful opportunity for the People. It will be a joyful day in the Creator's eyes when His Native children can come together and enjoy His many blessings instead of stabbing each other in the back and watching the blood flow without remorse. What has happened to the heart of the Red Man ? Are his eyes so blurred with deception , discord and division that he no longer see to identify the Sacred ? Whoever is feeding you information is greivously in error. Strict Lakota protocol is honored in ceremony in accordance with the teachings of Chief Frank Fool's Crow and under the guidance of Mary Johnson who is Chief Fool's Crow's grand daughter. No money is requested or taken under any circumstance, women and men are clearly separated to honor the Lakota traditions of modesty and purity. I hate to disappoint you that your pitiful allegations are rooted in lies ... I believe in the in the White Man's world of justice the poison that you are spewing from your heart is called slander. Be aware brother of the consequences of dishonoring the Sacred. I pray that the Creator give you ears to hear the truth that yes Mr. Spisak is a sun dancer, yes he has been asked by the elders to pour water , yes he carries the Sacred eagle staff , yes he is endorsed by a varity of prominent elders and yes he is working for the Creator and the good of the People. I pray that in the future you pray and fast on such significant issues to prevent your further reactions rooted in folly. Mitakuye Oyasin
Posted by Susan on October 12, 2009 - Monday - 3:59 PM
Did you also happen to mention that you send a person to the hosptial for 4 days because of one of your sweat lodges.......and waited for almost two hours before you even called an ambulance for help ...............the person was unconscious in the sweat lodge and after being pulled out they where unresponsive........THEN YOU DID NOT EVEN GO WITH THEM TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM........you stayed home cowardly covered under a blanket while me and another person went with them ....Yes this very same person is still coming up to your lodges and yes they may be okay ...
BUT YOU STILL SEND A PERSON TO THE HOSPTIAL FOR 4 DAYS........AND YOU HAVE HURT OTHERS.....beside they would not keep someone for 4 days in a hosptial if there was nothing wrong in fact they had to send them to another hosptial because of their condition....although no one could go and see them you should have went to the emergency room if you had any respect and honor.......
Oh they will say they are okay But the point is YOU Have HURT PEOPLE....and if they are reading this Just think about this.how come the other people who pour water at the same lodge never have injuries during their lodges?
? Makes a person wonder and some may want to start re-thinking things.
And to all those who think they know Micheal Spisak....well they do say you never know a person till you live with them....and I do know that many will say that me and the other lady are exs and that we are bitter and so on. But I speake the truth and it is not because I am bitter.........Micheal Spisak hurts people PHYSICALLY MENTALLY AND SPIRITUALLY.....just start asking questions and you will see how quick he turns on you....Have another Tradtional Native American who knows who they are come around and stay for a few months and then you will truly see what kind of man he is....phone calls, visits and internet meetings are another thing.....HAVE A TRUE TRADITIONAL NATIVE AMERICAN come and stay for a few months you will see the real deal.....
Now I was told yesterday by this whizbang that I was never never ever to come up there
#1 I have no desire to be around you and your kind....I do not need you to know who I am I have walked this life for 45 years and I know who my people are................
#2 I do not need your permisson for anything.you are nobody and anything you can and will say will not hurt me because I do not care...
#3 I want no part of anyone or thing that hurts people PHYSICALLY , SPIRITUALLY and MENTALLY.............
Now I am done with this I really do not care if MICHEAL SPISAK continues what he is doing......
I have a life I live in the real world ...
Oh and Micheal Spisak when you said that you hate to see what the spirits have in store for me and that I was DARK......
WELL i HAVE TO LAUGH BECAUSE AFTER ALL THAT IS WHAT THE WHITE PEOPLE SAID ABOUT MY PEOPLE UNPON FIRST CONTACT THAT WE WHERE INTO DARK THINGS BECAUSE OF OUR CEROMOINES AND OUR LIFE WAYS......AND AFTER BEING IN YOUR CAMP WELL THAT WAS ENOUGH PUNISHMENT TO LAST 7 PEOPLE A LIFETIME.....YOU ARE TWO FUNNY WHAT A BOZO
AT LEAST YOU ARE NOT CRYING AND WHINNING ABOUT MONEY NOW...........AND YES PEOPLE GO UP TO THE RESORT AND ASK TO SEE THE WHITE BUFFALO.....ASK TO SEE THEM WITHOUT GOING THREW MICHEAL SPISAK.........OR THEY GOING TO LET YOU IN FOR FREE OR DO YOU NEED A CERTAIN PERSONS PERMISSION TO GO.......AND JUST WHAT ARE YOUR QUIALTCATIONS TO TEACH ANYBODY ANYTHING......UNLESS ITS YOUR PEOPLES WAYS YOU ARE TEACHING AND NOT THE LAKOTA PEOPLES WAYS (BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT LAKOTA )
Posted by SheWhoWalksWithPride on October 14, 2009 - Wednesday - 9:36 AM
I was wondering what type of evidence that you have about the statements made about Mike Spiszak AKA Hawk Goodfire. I have had dealings with him and he seems on the up and up.
He introduced me to Spiritual Elder Wallace Black Elks daughter Marilyn Black Elk who was staying with him at the Woodlands Zoo where the white and black buffalo lived. I also met other elders there that were legitimate first nations representatives.
I doubt very seriously that these elders would travel across the country to be associated with a scam artist. Even if it were to honor the sacred. the elders say that the sacred is not sacred if it is not done in a pure and spiritual way. If the intent is to exploit the spiritual any ceremonies performed would not be honored or excepted by the Creator.
That being said I also believe that one must always keep their eyes open and be receptive to any legitimate claims or disputes. If there is truly evidence of foul play, make it public for all to see. It should be noted that a disgruntled ex girlfriend making biased statements would not be considered credible.
The reason I mention disgruntled ex girlfriends is, when we were on location shooting documentary footage. One such individual started making some outrageous claims that were very un-nerving.
I quickly got both of them together and questioned him about the allegations. She quickly changed her story and stated that I had misunderstood her. There was no misunderstanding, just vicious lies meant to discredit this man.
By the way, he never once stated that he was any kind of medicine man. He stated that he was just a man, serving the buffalo and doing what was asked of him to help the people. He seemed to take painstaking efforts to make this point clear to all of the people that I saw him interact with. There were hundreds. He never solicited money or donations of any kind from me or anyone in my presence.
The real reason I'm writing this is my concern about how quickly we as Native Americans will go out of our way to halt the progress of our people. You are not at fault, Hawk is not at fault, I am not at fault, history is at fault. Our people have been conditioned by design not to trust. The government promised one tribe this, the neighboring tribe that until a people that had co-existed on neighboring lands began to battle for what lands and territories they were promised by the government.
After creating an environment of hostility and mistrust they put everyone together and let us systematically destroy ourselves. The genocide that the government had started was left to us to complete. Sadly we are still at war with each other.
If we as a people took as much time to unite and return to the ways of our ancestors, the world would be a better place. Not only for Native Americans, but for all people as the prophecies state.
Posted by Buffalo Messengers on October 12, 2009 - Monday - 8:08 PM
So, do you really want ALL information, or just the information you want? I went so far as to create a myspace page and apply to be your friend, just so I could respond here.
I cannot speak about the past, for I have no knowledge of it, but I can speak to now - I have worked with hawk for almost two years, I was at the Powwow where respected spiritual Native American Elders were in attendance, were guiding hawk, and were supporting the work he is doing with the buffalo. I spent time with these Elders and spoke to them personally.
I was there when he returned from Sundance, the man danced, 'nuff said.
I have participated in sweat lodge with hawk, and he has been nothing but respectful, a humble servant to the people, and very careful to abide by the instruction he has been given by the Elders.
He has never claimed to be a Medicine Man, in fact, goes out of his way to present himself as a humble servant of the people, just a man.
And I have never witnessed him nor experienced him as being inappropriate to women in the Inipi, ever. I have witnessed him holding the utmost concern for the safety and wellbeing of all the people he serves.
And by the way, I am in no way a "follower" of hawk, nor do I think the man is perfect - he's human like the rest of us, we all have our rough corners, so I'm not some bliss bunny spouting off the required retoric. I'm just an observant participant in life who finds it fascinating that brother/sister attack brother/sister when there is so much better use of our time that could be made in these difficult days.
Can we ask you, now, since you asked us for information - what prompted this "investigation"? And what is the outcome? Will you post that as well?
Posted by Silverbear on October 13, 2009 - Tuesday - 3:13 AM
This has been going on for 4 months -
We support AIM PAs investigation. We support Erin Browne, We Support Graywolf, We support the statements of Woman that Walks with pride.
We don't work with gossip.
Posted by American Indian Movement Santa Barbara on October 14, 2009 - Wednesday - 7:28 PM
In my statement I had no intention of bellittling you or anyone else. I also stated in my first post that if Mike Spiszak AKA Hawk Goodfire had done any or all of the things stated that he should be held accountable. Out of all of these accounts of misdeeds there surely has to be some type of evidence and or documentation of all these improprieties.
I do have reason to question some of the statements since I had someone tell me some accusations when we were on a video shoot then recounted what they had said when questioned. They stated they were upset because they still loved him and couldn't understand why he didn't want to be in a relationship anymore. Then they told me the horrible account of him hurting someone in a lodge.
During that same video shoot I also had the unique opportunity to question the account of the person who was hurt during a lodge. On hearing this story I contacted the emergency room and had gotten an account of what happened from some of the staff that was in attendance. I then interviewed the person who was "hurt".
They explained to me that they were in the spirit world for four days then returned. They did not portray it as if they were a victim or had been violated in any way. Based on the multiple accounts that I heard, I thought that the person in questions story seemed very credible.
The medical position was more of a question mark as they really couldn't establish what the problem was and sent her to another facility with similar observations and results. Then all of a sudden she was fine as if nothing ever happened.
The horror story that I heard was then recounted and seemed to have no validity. Im not saying that their are not valid issues here, I'm saying that some of the issues are being blown out of proportion as I have respectfully stated above.
I say all of this to say, it is obvious that I am not trying to belittle anyone. I have an utmost respect and support for anyone who has suffered injustices done to them. ANYONE, Native or Non-Native. I have been a defender of the defenseless and always reached out to help someone in need. It is my nature and it is the native way.
I'm looking to lay blame, I'm looking for the truth. That's all.
I once again state that whatever issues that all the parties involved have. Can't all of you get together and resolve this.
The buffalo are the true concern here. In my book their well being is more important than any issues that any of us have.
Posted by Kingfish on October 14, 2009 - Wednesday - 10:46 PM
My name is Jimi (Quapaw and Cherokee). I have known Hawk for about 10 years. I have been with him at 3 sundances in Porcupine, hamblechas, and the ghost dance done for him by Rick Allen, Blue Thunder, and others. He was asked to run the ceremonies and be responsible for the well-being of the black and white calves by Dave Swallows and Gary Christensen back when only the white was born. The next year, after the black was born they said this was his responsiblity too. They had him hang from the tree that year in order to carry the staff that is supposed to be at the ceremonies done for them. His job was pouring the lodges and providing for any elders who wanted to come and pray with the calves. Mary Johnson supported him and gave him permission to dance her grandfather's colors when he was hung in the tree (Fool's Crow). After some falling out with Dave and Gary, Mary stepped in and told him to continue on, and has helped guide him in the way the things need to be done. I have always gotten along with Dave, and Hawk, and Gary, and all them, I don't get involved in arguements. But things are being done the way they were put in place. I was there for all of that from the beginning. Since then, there have been many different elders and leaders who have come and prayed and given support. These things are true.
I have known Hawk a long time, and I knew him when he was coming on to the road. I knew him when he went to the Kiowas to give them back a bonnet that had been taken from them. And when he stayed with the Oneidas and friends with the Shannandoas. He has always been learning in a respectful manner. And he has done what he was told. This is why so many people have liked him and spent time with him. There are alot of Indian people who were raised in foster homes like hawk, and we don't hold that against them. They are home now. I ask that these people who are looking to find things out about him to keep in mind that we all have to learn. Nobody is born knowing everything. It is what we do with what we learn that is important.
ha, thank you
Posted by James on October 14, 2009 - Wednesday - 10:44 AM
Prior to the year 2000- Michael Spisak was married & living in North Huntingdon Pa. He visited Hawk Pope and the Shawnee Remnant Band in Ohio, where things did not work out for him. He had also been to Tennessee and he statd he could not return there because in his words, "They'd kill him because he had 'problems' with the Chiefs wife.
Between the years 2000-2003- He was living at my house attempting to get his disability.
Between the years 2004-2005- Michael traveled to the Onieda 32 acres, NY, and gave the Shenandoah's a portion of his disability settlement. However things did not work out there and he returned. He traveled north to Michigan to visit the Odawa. He returned saying he was 'learning from many different tribes and that we should respect his teachings.' He also traveled to the Kiowa to return a headdress and attempted to be 'adopted' into that Naion. I received a call from there, it was Michael wanting me to vouch for his character so he could take an 18 yr old boy with him to Sundance in Arizona. He went to Sundance in Arizona but did not pierce there. Instead of returning to Oklahoma, Michael, the young man and several others drove to South Dakota to attend a Sundance there. The people from Oklahoma drove to South Dakota to get the young man and take him home. Michael and his friends were thrown out of that particular Sundance. He came back to PA and announced he had learned the ways of the Lakota, had sweated with specific groups of people and that we should honor his teachings. He stated we had never gone anywhere so we didn't know anything.
Following this: Michael was in a car accident and broke his neck. At this time Kenahkihenan was born and Michael began to form his 'alliance' with David Swallow, headman of the Lakota Nation by telling David about the White Buffalo. David was gracious and polite. There was a naming ceremony that ALL Nations attended at the Farmington Zoo.
After this, David Swallow came here, spoke at the Zoo and held ceremony for a weekend.
Michael poured a few sweats here. 1 sweat was good and turned out fine. 1 he poured and was in such a hurry he talked through the entire thing. The 3rd sweat he was in but NOT allowed to pour he was obnoxious, bitter and sarcastic. He interuppted the conducter of the sweat and blew an eagle whistle so loud 3 people came out saying they could not hear, 1 person got angry and left. Everyone stated they would never go back into a lodge with him again. Michael got angry and said we did not appreciate or understand his medicine. I banned him from here and he tells people he walked away because we are local crystal twinkies and bliss bunnies who know nothing.
Michael began to Sundance in South Dakota and returned with David Swallows drum and an Eagle staff saying David appointed him to guard the buffalo. Now, it has been learned that David didn't have enough money and he pawned his drum. Michael bought it from a pawn shop and instead of giving it to David, he returned to PA with it.
After this, Michael took it upon himself to push everyone else 'out of the way' stating they didn't know anything. He went to Sundance but reports that I received from various people told me, he did pierce but he did not complete the ceremony and in fact, David Swallow asked him to leave.
Standing Stone Village sponsored the 1st pow wow at the Farmington Zoo.
Following this, Nations and small groups in this area backed away from the buffalo and the zoo because no one wanted to be affiliated with 'Michael Thunderhawk, Hawk Goodfire, Hawk Crazydog...ect'
A disturbing pattern arises that whereas Michael told everyone he was traveling and learning, he was actually traveling and being thrown out of several Nations across the country.
Who taught him to pour? No one. He merely imitates what he saw and interprets it into what he THINKS a sweat lodge ceremony is or should be.
Posted by Alice Miller on October 15, 2009 - Thursday - 6:28 AM
