No LONGER A MATTER OF CONCERN: Murray Small Legs

[ladybug]

Murray Small Legs PresentationsMein Name ist Murray Small Legs. Ich bin ein Blackfoot-Indianer vom Peigan-Stamm der Blackfoot Konföderation. Meine Heimat ist dort, wo die nördlichen ...
www.murray-small-legs.de/
Zwei Welten Fachverlag - VerlagZusätzliche Kontakte erhält sie durch ihre Mitarbeit bei der "Murray Small Legs Presentations", der Veranstaltungsagentur ihres Ehemannes zum Thema Indianer ...
www.zwei-welten-fachverlag.de/
info@murray-small-legs.de
Murray Small Legs Presentations
Flotowstraße 35
D-14480 Potsdam
Germany
Murray Small Legs is doing alot of sweatlodge and sundance cermonie
in germany
not sure if he ok doing this ?

[Renee]

Murray Small Legs is doing alot of sweatlodge and sundance cermonie
in germany
not sure if he ok doing this ?

on his website i cannot see, that he is selling ceremonies or sweatlodge.
if you have information, post the "link".

[Ingeborg]

Once again, I have as yet to be presented with proof of Murry Small Legs selling ceremony. As far as I can tell, he makes a living as an artist and doing educational speeches on Blackfoot culture and history.

Ladybug, what we're doing here is serious work and we make sure what we publish is correct to our best knowledge. What we can do without is somebody bouncing in and dropping numerous mails, most of which are hardly based on research but instead on libel.

[educatedindian]

I haven't found anything questionable on him on the sites in English. He's a dancer and artist who does some very commendable presentations on Native cultures. Ingeborg's research on the sites in German shows the same thing.

Moved to No Longer a Concern.

While we appreciate people wanting to know more, flooding us with many requests and not taking much care in who you label as doing harm, well, that harms both NAFPS and, more importantly, good people who harm no one, like the NAAoG and Murray SL.

[educatedindian]

We received an additional message of support for him.

--------------

At first thank you to the Administrators for welcoming me in NAFPS: you are doing really a great work. I am from Italy: here too exploitation of Native Spirituality is really a bad problem.

Anyway, i am stealing few minutes of your time about Murray Small legs.

I confirm that there was probably confusion with Devalon Small legs (his brother).

I have been knowing Murray for about 8 years now: every summer he comes to italy for Festival organized by Associations (actually 3/4 serious associations) which have been working for many years in order to spread a truer knowledge of Native Cultures, trying as much as they can to invite Natives here, fighting again spiritual exploitation, and giving Native people the opportunity to personally talk about their culture. Never, never, and never any issue related to more "private" areas (such as spirituality) has been mentioned. During these festivals there are lectures, conferences about historical, social topics, poetry readings, social dances (we have professional Pow Wow dancers performing), sometimes games, tipi setting competions, good food and good humor. That's it.

Murray is a really good dancers, he makes beautiful craft working with obsidian rock......in 8 years I NEVER heard him mentioning anything related to things (Things) which must be respected and kept private.

I felt I must write this comment, because Murray doesn't really deserve to be misunderstood.

[Defend the Sacred]

Just came across this twinkie page for an Italian "NATIVE GATHERING" on Facebook. Still looking into what this event is about. But the participants on the page speak volumes.

https://www.facebook.com/events/440371992723896/

"(*Hiervoor kan je je aanmelden, beperkt aantal plaatsen. Bijdrage €7,50)
10:15 -11:15 uur Workshop Healing Circle Door Murray Small Legs*
(*Hiervoor kan je je aanmelden, workshop over hoe op traditionele wijze (van de Blackfeet-Piikani) conflicten en problemen worden opgelost)

Google translation: "(* This, you can sign up, limited places. Contribution € 7.50)
10:15 to 11:15 pm Workshop Healing Circle By Murray Small Legs *
(* This, you can sign up, workshop on how to be solved in a traditional way (the Blackfeet-Piikani) conflicts and problems)"

It may just be a conflict-resolution circle, but this looks like a hobbyist and exploiter gathering that it's happening at.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10200474945849246&set=oa.552310951457253&type=1&relevant_count=1&ref=nf

ETA: Seems mostly cultural presentations. But there is "prayer" involved, as well as the "healing circle" and drum circle. Here's a google translation of the full announcement:
____________________________________________________

Saturday, June 1, 2013 NATIVE GATHERING Deventer

Program (subject-scheduled times may leak-Think: INDIAN TIME)

5:10 pm Sun Prayers (Morning Greeting) (For those who want)

10:00 opening
10:00-11:00 hours Sound Healing by Anu van Leeuwen *
(* This, you can sign up, limited places. Contribution € 7.50)
10:15 to 11:15 pm Workshop Healing Circle By Murray Small Legs *
(* This, you can sign up, workshop on how to be solved in a traditional way (the Blackfeet-Piikani) conflicts and problems)
10:15 Travelogue Lucia Hulman
11:30 Dance performance Murray Small Legs (Blackfeet-Piikani)
12:30 Drum Circle (Everyone is welcome to a (frame) drum, drum, Djembe, or other rhythmic drumming instrument go together
14:00 Story of Baldwin Betzema
14:30 Performance by Roberto Martinez (Aztec dance)
15:30 Presentation Foundation Mapuche FOLIL by Rafael Railaf
16:30 Presentation Lucia Hulman about Monsanto
17:00 Action Surinamese Kumaka dance (traditional song and dance of the Kalinja (Caribbean) from Suriname and French Guiana) Public may dance along!!
17:00 to 17:45 hours workshop Healing Circle by Murray Small Legs *
(* This, you can sign up, workshop on how traditional resolve conflicts and problems)
18:00 lottery for everyone! (Proceeds go to Foundation Nanai)
18:30 Bee Ribbon by Francoise le Flu
18:45 free action (s)
20:00 Around the fire (rounding) Story

21:35 pm Sun prayers (end of the day, for those who want)

Throughout the day, there is room to visit the mini fair trade market making, making music etc. dreamcatchers

BE WELCOME!

Free entrance ... but we ask visitors a voluntary contribution to the travel and expenses of the Native Americans.)

We would like to invite you to take what is shared. Together something from the large buffet
(Sandwiches, quiche, salad, biscuits, juice etc.
With the exception of liquor!)
______________________________________________________

[Defend the Sacred]

From Ingeborg:
_______________

The event was in the Netherlands. There is a description of the workshop at the FB site:

Workshop Healing Circle with Murray Small Legs

In this workshop Murray speaks about how conflicts and problems are solved in the Healing Circle in his culture. It is quite nice a way of „speaking right“ from which we in our hectic society can learn much. Everybody receives time and space to say what they want to say. All let the others finish with what they want to say so that everything gets said and a solution may be found with which everybody can be at peace so that the circle is round again. In this workshop some arrangements will be made so that one can experience how the healing circle functions.
(Personal experience: this is real fun and recommended to participate in. Very instructive.)
Murry asks a small contribution for this workshop.

The organisers seem Nuagers, though, and they invited more Nuagers to do workshops, e.g.:

Ann Van Leeuwem:
In my Shamanic Sound Journeys I call the powers of the elements earth-water-fire and light with my instruments. These elements we have got hidden in ourselves, too. Earth – shaman drum, water – rainmaker, fire – sound bowls, light – didgeridoo. They will take you on an inner journey to a place where healing can take place. I developed this method 25 years ago and I am surprised every time what it does with participants, but also with me.

Lucia Maria Hulman – White Eagle
She is a „lightworker“, does sound healing, crystal healing, is a clearvoyant, clearaudiant , and a medium. „For me, everything has a sound, thus a voice, and speaks to me.“

So it rather seems that the organisers don't know their behind from a hole in the ground. I suspect it might be quite easy to book someone and give them the impression they will participate in a cultural and even political event (especially since there are Mapuche, e.g.), when they don't speak Dutch and will not understand material handed out to advertise the event.

[Defend the Sacred]

I think the question with well-meaning people getting roped into twinkie events is whether it becomes a pattern. Being fooled once is understandable. But if the person makes repeat appearances, or goes to other events organized by some of the same twinkies, that's another matter. I don't know if there's a pattern here or not.

[Ingeborg]

As the topic came up again, I've done another research on Murray Small Legs.
Can the moderators please add this to the thread in the Archives? Thanks.

From what I can see on MSL's website and in a Google search, Small Legs works as an educator and lecturer, he presents dances, flintknapping, leather work, and at times he is an actor. He emphasises giving factual information on Blackfoot history and culture and aims at getting rid of stereotypical images people here believe are true.

This is from his website – the site is in German language, all translations were done by me;so please hold me accountable for any glitches:


http://www.murray-small-legs.de/

„My name is Murray Small Legs. I am a Blackfoot Indian of the Piegan tribe of the Blackfoot Confederacy. My home is where the northern prairies of North America meet the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, today known as Alberta/Kanada.

The Blackfoot Confederacy is made up of four tribes: the Piegan Nation (Piikani), the Blood Nation (Kainai), the Blackfoot Nation (Siksika) and the Blackfeet Nation (Niitsitapi Piikani) in Northwestern Montana. We all speak the same language, i.e. Blackfoot. In earlier times, these four peoples were a unit, but politically independent from each other. This idendepence goes on up until today. Since 1958, the Peigan elect their tribal government in a democratic election.

Ten years ago, I founded the Murray Small Legs Presentations here in Germany with my wife Antje. Her work has been of utmost importance for the development of the company. Since then, I do lectures, above all on Blackfoot culture past and present. I have done more than 600 such lectures in Germany as well as a few more European countries. Above all I mean to introduce Indians (members of the First Nations) of today and to point out that we life a modern life in the same way as people in Europe do. So in my dia presentation „Between Yesterday and Today....“ the audience will see modern Indians, how they survived with their culture and at the same time can cope with the Western world of today.

In children's tipi camps children experience what it would have been like to live in a tipi and learn which tasks would have come with that. In these camps, activities are e.g. kunsthandwerk, walks in nature, creation legends of the Blackfoot and playing traditional Indian games.

Furthermore I participated in organising festivals and other events, like e.g. dance presentations with other North American Indians living in Europe, city festivals, and international tourism fairs all over Germany.

Apart from this, I am also in one sequel of the whodunnit „Tatort“ [on German state-owned First Programme]; it is titled „On the warpath“.“

[I haven't watched this, but Google says it is about a case of murder happening during Karl-May-Festival. An employee of the museum has been killed with a 300 year-old Tomahawk at the Karl May Villa. Cops are questioning Karl May fans, hobby Indians, and ndn chief Black Hawk touring Germany. When another burglary happens in the Villa, a 200 year old medicine pouch is stolen. Eventually the cops find out that the culprit is a young German who went to live 'with the Indians' and means to force the return of a buffalo mask.]


http://www.murray-small-legs.de/programme.htm

„All events offered by „Murray Small Legs Presentations“ for educational institutions have been devised according to pedagogic aspects and can be integrated into teaching units, e.g. in Social Studies in grade 3, or into English lessons in all levels of secondary education, or into leisure activities.
Seminars and workshops for universities, academies etc on particular issues can be compiled by „Murray Small Legs Presentations“ on request. [...]“

MSL covers the following fields:
Tipi or wigwam
From the Northern American Prairies – traditional Blackfoot dances
Between Yesterday and Today – The History of the Blackfoot Nation
Games and Handicraft
Napi-Legends
Fur Scrapers and Arrow Points
Quills and Beadwork
Made from Leather and Sinew – A Creative Programme
On the tracks of the Buffalo Hunters – A Vacational Programme“


http://www.murray-small-legs.de/beratung.htm

„During the past ten years I received many requests, e.g. regarding the possibilities of cooperation with Indians. Therefore I have added this category to the programme of Murray Small Legs Presentations. It aims in contributing to a more and more realistic concept of Indians past and present with the audience. As a Blackfoot who is also versed in the traditions of his people and who has gathered much experience in working at the Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump (a UNESCO cultural monument) as well as from having co-organised a multitude of cultural events in Germany as well as in Canada, I gathered the knowledge which enables me to offer counselling regarding the following fields:
- for organisers of cultural events and city festivals
- for students who are studying North American Indians resp plan to write about them
- for employees of museums who wish to receive advice on the most effective presentation of artefacts of North American Indians in exhibitions aimed at all agegroups
- advice with film projects on the issue of North American Indians
- touristic purpose
- job experience etc.“

From the vast majority of sites and articles I found online, it is evident that MSL does not sell or do ceremony but aims at educating the European audience. Of course he is not responsible for daft people, or daft journalists, using stereotypical terms in describing those events.
However, I also found an article which mentioned that, after a lecture MSL gave on present-day Blackfoot life, a grown man from the audience managed to ask him: „Now that you got to know both life at home and in Germany, do you prefer living in a house or in a tent?“ The article adds that MSL replied, and in no uncertain terms, that he never in his life lived in a tent.

Apart from the Dutch event, I can see only two other doubtful events in which MSL may have participated or did participate:

http://www.eco-world.de/service/news/archiv/4102/index.html

This is an ad for a Nuage congress dd June 1-4, 2001, organised by Nuage magazine „The Andere Realität“. Its title was „Psychic Healing and Mediality with Europeans, Indians, and Shamans“. The text apparently was published before the event.

The ad announces:

More then 40 lectureres from all five continents will offer various ceremonies, sweatlodges, lectures, short workshops and music. There will be shaman Alba Maria from Brazil - Grupo Calli, Aztec shamans from Mexico – Kargo Nyanu, shaman from Ghana – Hunting Wolf from the tribe of Cheyenne Indians – Murray Small Legs of the tribe of Blackfoot Indians – Inti Cesar Malasques[sic] from Peru – Katchinas[sic] Kutenai, medicine woman of the Apache, shamans from Nepal and many more.
For the Western region there will be e.g. […] the German shaman expert Helmut Christof.

Christof still works as a shame-on, he used to be a long-time member of Deer Tribe.
NAFPS already got threads on Inti Cesar Malasquez: http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=2213   
and Kachinas Kutenai http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=617

There is no other site for this Congress I can find online, so it cannot be verified whether Murray Small Legs did in fact participate or not.

On the other hand, there are numerous site mentioning the participation of his brother Devalon Small Legs for following congresses organised by this mag. So it is possible that this ad misprinted the name.


http://brujitas-earthblog.blogspot.de/2007_04_01_archive.html

Thursday, April 26, 2007

The conference was really great. It was organised by the headmaster of the school in Vorarlberg [a region in Austria], by UNESCO and some private persons from „Trafo“. And Ursual Gantner. To show the children the multitude of different cultures in the world. There were lecturers from Mongolia (Dr. Amelie Schenk), from Canada (Murray Small Legs), from Guatemala (Eufemia Cholac Chicol), musical therapists (Chris Amrein), known book authors (Dr. Rätsch, Jeanne Ruhland), and many, many more, there were even persons from the nearby Buddhist monastery.

So Trafo is a Nuage seminar house (they did the summer camps with Benjamin Cloud, pls cf: http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=1401). Chris Amrein is a Nuage musician posing as a therapist, he is a regular lecturer at Trafo. Dr. Christian Rätsch calls himself an „ethno-botanist“, he is an anthropologist who went to Latin America and got into contact with – errm: substances. He propagates all kinds of drugs and comes across as having had one kick too many from at least one of those drugs... - cf: http://www.christian-raetsch.de/fotos/fotoarchiv-christian-raetsch_files/page12-1000-full.html , http://www.erowid.org/culture/characters/ratsch_christian/ , or here giving a lecture on „The correct dose“: http://vimeo.com/9742405  . Jeanne Ruland again is friends with Trafo seminar house, she's into power animals and various other kinds of Nuage stuff.

However, with the event being organised by the headmaster of a school, and having UNESCO drawn into it, I can see how one may get the impression this was a reputable event, especially as it claimed to educate school children on different cultures.

:::::::::::

The following site belongs to Ms Antje Small Legs who runs her own publishing company. She also aims at educating readers and getting rid of stereotypes about ndns.

http://www.zwei-welten-fachverlag.de/Indianergeschichten%20Neu.htm

Meanwhile it is not only teachers, but also many persons interested in Indians who look at our homepage regularly or visit our stalls at markets, festivals, and fairs.

We publish novels as well as project material, handicraft instructions, and games which may be introduced in teaching units in Primary Schools or in leisure projects on the issue of „North American Indians“.

Our team aim at gaining Indian authors for every book and every story, or at least gain an Indian person from the respective nation for specialist counselling. In this consequence, this is a new concept on the German market as well as for the other European countries. This illustrates our wish to ensure an authentic, ethnologically and politically correct presentation of Indian culture in all publications, with the participation of persons from those cultures. At the same time this gives us the opportunity to avoid presentations which are not welcome from the Indian side, e.g. from „religion, dances, and songs“.

There is one book in particular aiming at teachers in all levels of education, from kindergarten to secondary, providing advice regarding how to compile a teaching unit free from stereotypic portrayal of ndn nations and persons. Its title is: „From Stake to Dream Catcher .- Etiquette for Projects on the issue of Indians“.
Another book compiles information re organising a project day in Primary Schools.

The only point of criticism I've got re Ms Small Legs' site is about her links: she exchanged banners with a company by the name of „Begegnungsreisen“ run by one Corinna Veit on whom we have got a thread, pls cf:  http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=2626 . 
Veit e.g. organises travels including ceremonies done by Sequoyah Trueblood and a Navaho medicine woman whom she meanwhile avoids to name.
Another exchange of banners happened with this site: http://www.gunbara.at/
This is an Austrian Nuage couple, he is a shame-on doing shamanic journeys. His part of the site also has a section on power animals and rituals. However, he does not sell ceremonies.