Beast regards to this group.
I am the subject of this little collection of comments, so I thought I would introduce myself.
Not one of you knows me at all, no one here has participated in my work or even been introduced to me.
First of all, Ed Woods is a retired FBI Agent In Charge, who was the one in charge of the AIM occupation of Wounded Knee in 1975, and lead the team who investigated and arrested leonard peltier. I support his work to keep peltier in prison. Along with tens of this ands of American Indians and courts and law enforcement people, we all believe peltier is guilty of murder and that he uses scams and lies to get people to send him money. It is amusing that none of you believe peltier is a liar of a fake. I absolutely do.
My father was an Ojibwe man, my mother Catabwa and Welsh. I support myself as an artist, doing paintings and sculpture and photography. I have had a transparent web site since the first days of the www, my work being archived in the permanent collection of the smithsonian in 1995.
For some years now, after 25 years of study, I have started carrying a sacred bundle around the earth. i was asked to do this by my tribal elders and teachers, who are the one who created this sacred bundle. It is a historic and sacred inter-tribal bundle. There are a group of ceremonies attached to this bundle for which I am responsible. Some of these ceremonies can be shared with people of the modern world, many of them cannot and are not. The money that comes from these ceremonies is to cover travel and food expenses only, always has been. On that measure, I have never made what you call "a profit", as most of my ceremonies end up costing me from ten to 50 per cent more than I have ever collected. I have never met an American Indian trying to share teachings with the world who has made a profit from this work. Ever.
Many tribal elders believe more American Indians need to have a seat at the tables of the world…participate and share. This is a natural and healthy desire. I have made presentations to the United Nations, leaders of world religions, and free and interested people all over the world. This work has two goals, one is to share with the world, let them know and see and hear the desires and hopes of our elders and our best ideas. I try always to do this work with respect. The other purpose is to gather prayers and songs and mystery life ceremonies to help everybody. This work is well documented and its results and experiences has been shared with tribal elders all over the USA.
I pay for my life as an artist. Selling art in Italy is very slow and not easy. So I am not in any ways a rich person. For most ceremonies, I pay myself, from my pocket, this has been true for many years and is true now.
I am a Wabeeno, a keeper of sacred pipes, sacred fires, names, dreams and what we call correction ceremonies, which includes the sweat lodge. I have den working in this way for more than 30 years at this point. I have a good relation with my tribal elders. These days I am an older man and most of my old teachers and elders have passed away.
I keep a small sacred morning tobacco fire, which is open without charge, for all people to visit the island and use it.
I am not a famous or rich person and have no interest in money or fame. I work with very small groups, usually less than ten. Over the years I have made at least three thousand ceremonies with American Indians and people from every race and culture on this mother earth. I was born into the River Otter clan of the Ahnishinabeg Aneeg, my Grandfather was a Mide-Wian at the sixth degree. I have been educated by many elders, and education I paid for myself over many years. I believe in the survival, the beauty and the power of the old Indians, of our sacred prayers, of our reasonability to work for peace and balance for everyone, everywhere at all times.
www.sacredpipe.org is my long time web site, I was one of the first people to have a web site, I was there at the very beginning making open communication a part of my work.
I do not have anything to say against the very poorly informed opinions expressed here. I am a little surprised that you all allow yourselves to be distracted with such flimsy evidence and to assume everyone must be some sort of criminal. Of course, this is a common problem among American Indians, there is a lit of anger and suspicion and resentment. It is very common to hear other American Indians talking bad about each other. I would encourage you to have some faith that some American Indians might work with the permission and under the direction of tribal grandfathers and tribal grandmothers to try and do good things in this life. I have devoted my whole life to understanding and practicing this idea. I try as best I can to live a good life and walk in balance with my relations. I hope you will do the same. It might also be useful to be better informed. There are so many errors in the comments here, it would take probably forever to correct them one by one. Otherwise, have at it and project and act out and name names. In the end I believe absolutely that each person has the power to recognize the truth when they are face to face with it. I deal in a face to face world and not in speculation where the imagination is allowed to just run unchecked. There is a difference between seeking and understanding the truth and just guessing and making things up.
Mymhenteqhous Nagamowin Gashk'ewizi
Ojibway Artist
aka Turtle Heart
