Denise Iwaniw/ Star Nations

[mermaidmom]

In doing some more research, Denise is the Chairperson, of the Gathering Thunder Foundation, as referenced above, in the Rapids City Journal, in regards to this foster home. I can find no information on whether or not this foster home, was ever built. What happened to the $1 million dollar pledge from the anonymous donor? The Michigan's Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs has Gathering Thunder Foundation listed as a non-profit entity.
Now, I pulled up the website for this Gathering Thunder Foundation. The board members and advisory members appear to be part of this whole network Denise has.... What these people, do not understand, is that it does not really take more, then a few searches on social media, to find a great deal of information. For one, a Laurie Dedecker, is listed on the board, as Tribal Liason. Her Facebook account, shows that she has no ties to the NDN community, friends, family, etc... other then Denise and Neshi. While Denise has a few, supposed Native friends and a couple of women she calls, her "sisters", from Pine Ridge. Neshi, although, her friends list is closed, there are some pictures. But, from a woman who has bio written, as if she is this higly regarded, traditional woman, with close ties to her community, she has only two pictures of herself with a family member, whom she calls her niece. The same niece is listed on the Gather Thunder Foundation's site, as an advisory member for education. Either, Neshi has no ties to the NDN community, or she does not want this aspect of her life to exposed, or it would most definitely cause problems for her, within the NDN community. We all know, how small our community actually is, relatives and friends can be easily found. 

[loudcrow]

Thanks for that information, Ingeborg. Adopted or not, she was raised by a non-Native family and has placed herself on a
pretty lofty pedestal from what I have seen.  She claims to be a pourer, a pipe carrier and a thunder being.  It's best we
wait to hear what Earth has to say about this.

I just discovered a record of her living with Steven Val and Dane Iwaniw in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Maybe I can find birth or
marriage records in Minnesota.

[loudcrow]

Also arriving in 2015, Denise's fifth book, the much anticipated, "My Mother is Earth, My Father the Stars - The Journey of an Adopted Child."
To learn more about Denise Iwaniw, please visit her at: The Temple Within

It appears the Gathering Thunder organization collects money and sells product for the Pine Ridge reservation. However, there isn't anyone
from Pine Ridge in a director or advisory position. Denise has also posted a photo of herself with Arvol and Paula Looking Horse on the
Gathering Thunder Foundation website.

[mermaidmom]

Thanks for info Ingeborg and loudcrow

[Defend the Sacred]

Website: http://www.gatheringthunderfoundation.org/board/

Facebook pages:

"Community" page: https://www.facebook.com/GatheringThunderFoundation-544133888946270

"Cause" page: https://www.facebook.com/GatheringThunderFoundation

Radio show page: https://www.facebook.com/Gathering-Thunder-Foundation-Radio-Show-721726267939970

Public discussion group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Gatheringthunderfoundation

ETA:

I don't know these people. No mutual friends or groups, which, as noted above, is suspicious when *no one* knows them. I need to add this bit here. Many of us have been involved in vetting heating assistance programs. Many of us also know about the scams that happen with people claiming to raise funds for Pine Ridge or other Plains reservations, especially in winter. We always tell people to call people in the community and ask what they know about the people claiming to raise money on their behalf. It really only takes a couple phone calls.

I haven't called yet about these people, but note that there is no information here about what tribal members or heating companies they claim to be working with. It is just a request to give these white people your credit card information and send the money to them. Where is the accountability? Where is any evidence that this money goes to Natives? If I'm wrong about what I'm sensing here, I'll be glad to post a correction. But if they aren't scamming, their website sure isn't instilling confidence that a dime of this goes to NDNs.

http://www.gatheringthunderfoundation.org/new-page-1/

[Defend the Sacred]

Advertising Inipi on a website, with a bit that says, "Love Offering" and a donate button for credit cards: http://www.gatheringthunderfoundation.org/kids-inipi/

Here they have a page about a sacred run that they do not organize. Yet they ask for donations and don't even mention the NDNs who actually organize the run:
http://www.gatheringthunderfoundation.org/fort-robinson-break-out-run/

It goes on and on like this.

[mermaidmom]

About Neshi "Yvette" Lokotz

Ceremony and ritual have always been part of Neshi’s life, and she brings these qualities to her teaching and drum making. She infuses her teaching with a sense of the sacred yet also with an underlying feeling of joy, laughter, and passion for the work she shares.

 Neshi Lokotz is a tribal member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, with Ho Chunk Nation and Yaqui Nation descent. She was raised in the traditions of Ho Chunk and Potawatomi since birth. Neshi teaches about Native American hand drums, drumming, the medicine wheel lifestyle, and space clearing through her business, Sacred Hoop.

Neshi has more than five years’ experience making drums and has taught hundreds of people how to make their own hand drums. Neshi has over 30 years of space-clearing experience and has lived the lifestyle of the medicine wheel her entire life.
 
Neshi is one of only about 100 certified teachers in the world by the School of Remembering for the Awakening the Illuminated Heart method of ascension. Some of these teachers have studied with Drunvalo and his inspired information for years and were hand selected by Drunvalo and the Awakening the Illuminated Heart Council. Neshi has studied Drunavalo’s work for over 10 years and will now be teaching the Awakening the Illuminated Heart meditation throughout the United States, primarily in the Midwest.


This comes from her Sacred Hoop website

[loudcrow]

https://www.rockethub.com/projects/49844-gathering-thunder-foundation-heating-fund-fall-2014

It appears Gathering Thunder Foundation collected $3,560 for a heating fund in 2014.

[loudcrow]

I am particularly disturbed by Gathering Thunder Foundation collecting money for heating, suicide prevention and other
projects for Pine Ridge. There is not one Native from Pine Ridge who belongs to that organization and there does not
appear to be any accounting for the monies that have been collected.

I have not been able to find any birth or marriage records for Denise. I don't know if her maiden name is Cronk (non-Native)
or Iwanwi (Russian) or if Steven Val Iwanwi is her husband or biological brother. There are too many missing pieces to her
story and they all stink.

[Sparks]

I have not been able to find any birth or marriage records for Denise. I don't know if her maiden name is Cronk (non-Native)
or Iwanwi (Russian) or if Steven Val Iwanwi is her husband or biological brother. There are too many missing pieces to her
story and they all stink.

Why do you think "Iwanwi" is a Russian name? (It isn't.) — Denise has a Facebook profile where one can read this:

Married to Todd Francisco
Since September 22, 2012
From Augusta, Georgia

[Sparks]

Why do you think "Iwanwi" is a Russian name? (It isn't.)

I will correct myself to a certain degree. The letter "w" does not exist in the Russian alphabet. Spelled "Ivanvi" this site claims:

Approximately 4 people bear this surname

— They all live in Russia.

[mermaidmom]

I have seen on one of Denise's many pages, that her parents' names are Cronk.

[Defend the Sacred]

So, per their Board Members page and Facebook, their "tribal liason" looks to be a young white woman who is involved in Harner Shameonism:



If this is her FB page: https://www.facebook.com/laurie.dedecker/posts/10201830738433040:0

Obit is for this guy: http://shamanism.org/news/2014/02/17/david-corbin-in-memoriam-1953-2014/

[mermaidmom]

Exactly, what qualifies Ms. DeDecker to be a tribal liaison? The people on both board and advisory are part of Denise's circle.

[Ingeborg]

I think I found an answer for why DeDecker is viewed as qualified for a 'tribal liaison'....

http://pandoraorg.net/DeDecker___White.html

Laurie DeDecker, RN

Laurie has been a nurse since 1985. Her focus has been in colon cancer. She developed and coordinated the Ferguson Inherited Colon Cancer Registry and provided colon cancer risk assessment services from 1995-2000. She has been collaborating with the Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan and Native American Cancer Research since 2004 in an effort to explore and address cancer disparities for Native Americans in Michigan.

However, DeDecker seems to be using an RN status to promote her selling of Nuage methods and concepts, f which shame-onism is just one:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurie-dedecker-0257a828

Owner of DeDecker Consulting, LLC - Nurse consultant for wellness, cancer prevention, public speaking and workshops. Grant work and grant writing.
- Energy Medicine Practitioner and Owner of WoodsEdge Healing.
- Teaches Certified Energy Healer Training Workshops with Contact Hours for Nurses and Massage Therapists in the Healing In America Method of Energy Medicine.

https://www.holisticcareapproach.com/practitioner/laurie-dedecker/

Laurie DeDecker, R.N. has been an R.N. for over 25 years and involved in wellness and prevention education on a local, state, and national level for over 17 years. A member of the American Holistic Nurses Association and a co-founder of Holistic Nurses of West Michigan, Laurie has had a long-time interest in holistic nursing, chronic disease prevention, and energy healing.

In an article, it becomes pretty obvious that DeDecker's experience with living conditions on a rez is rather recent. There are also lots of donations etc mentioned which it may be interesting to check:

http://hastingsreminder.com/hastings-woman-makes-run-for-the-rez-with-gathering-thunder-foundation-p5054-92.htm

Twice each year, the Gathering Thunder Foundation makes a “Run for the Rez” to deliver a truckloads of food, household supplies, clothing and other necessities to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.The mission of the nonprofit organization, based in Rockford, is to preserve Native American culture by helping meet the basic needs of those in crisis on reservations and then branching out to provide an infrastructure for a sustainable culture. Laurie DeDecker of Hastings was recently elected to the foundation’s board as a tribal liaison director. And, after two years of involvement with the organization, made her first “Run for the Rez” with 10 other volunteers in June.“For me, it was an eye-opener,” said DeDecker. “I knew about the poverty and the situation on the reservation, but to actually see and experience it first-hand really brought it home.”DeDecker said the vast distances and open land separate the beautiful reservation and its occupants from a lot of the services and conveniences most of society takes for granted.“Up north [in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula], there are little four-corners, but out there is no gas, no groceries [nearby] — nothing,” she said. “Seeing it was very helpful in making me understand the situation. There are no jobs nearby; the closest are about an hour and half away. Many of the people on the reservations have no money, no cars, no gas ... There are no simple answers for their situation.”Each time Gathering Thunder representatives deliver goods, they also try to accomplish some project. The June visit included a groundbreaking ceremony for a children’s safe house being built on the reservation.“It will be the first time there has been a safe house for children 12 and under, and that was the focus of this trip,” she said, adding that Michigan resident is donating the entire building for the safe house.“It is a pre-fab house that is being manufactured here in West Michigan,” she said. “Right now they are working on the final design and plans. Then it will be framed, and they will take it out to the reservation by flatbed.”The safe house is scheduled to be finished by the spring of 2013.“A woman from Pine Ridge is leasing the land for the safe house to the tribe; this is the first there has been a partnership with a private citizen rather than building on tribal land,” added DeDecker.Details are still being worked out as to how the building will be turned over to the tribe and the community and how to make it self-sustaining.“This project is being watched by a number of other tribes, and we’re hoping this will be a sort of pilot program that other tribes can follow,” she said. But, while details are being finalized and the safe house is being built, there are still plenty of other needs to be met, and the supplies brought to Pine Ridge on the latest Run for the Rez will help.The truckload DeDecker helped deliver included the latest batch of more than 20 handmade blankets and quilts from the ladies of the Sarah Circle at Grace Lutheran Church in Hastings.They will be distributed by Lakota Social Services through their suitcase program, which provides children entering the foster care system with a blanket and suitcase filled with necessities, said DeDecker.Gathering Thunder also delivered 40 new infant and child car seats to the reservation which were purchased with money raised through fundraisers here in West Michigan.DeDecker said the car seats will be distributed through Lakota Social Services to families that need them either for their own or for a borrowed vehicle, or when riding in someone else’s vehicle. She said No. 1 cause of death for children living on the Pine Ridge reservation is from injuries sustained while riding unrestrained in automobiles. “Things like this [the need for car seats without easy access to the money and stores to purchase them] underlines the issues and poverty facing the people on the reservation,” she said. “Things that we take for granted and seem simple in our minds can become a huge barrier out there. The principal goal of Gathering Thunder is concern for helping to preserve the tribal community and sharing with people in need.”The work of the Rockford-based organization has not gone unnoticed.“Gathering Thunder has been told that they are the first group to work with people on the Pine Ridge Reservation that has asked nothing in return. People keep asking us what we want, and we just say we’re doing this because we can; there is a need and we are about filling the need,” said DeDecker. “The poverty on Pine Ridge is one step above the conditions in Haiti, and it is appalling that in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, the tribal communities live in Third World conditions and most people don’t know about it. That’s why we’re doing what we can.”DeDecker said the Sarah Circle at Grace Lutheran Church plans to continue its efforts to help Gathering Thunder’s mission by providing blankets that will now be shipped to three reservations in South Dakota and may even expand to include a reservation in Montana. She said has recently learned of another pending sizable local donation to the cause.[...]