As unfortunate as this man’s story reads, wishing he was other than what he was, he also indoctrinated others who were & are inspired to emulate him. This is one example, below, of how Paul Olivas’ ideology of assuming whatever identity made him feel more special, exotic, uncommon is being passed down from one generation to another.
https://youtu.be/WD4WDUMzvF4In this video, starting around the 46 minute mark, you’ll hear one of Paul Olivas’ followers use his fake credentials to create her own fake credentials. The woman is now called Hua Anwa, formerly Rosa Jackson, from Central California.
To my mind, this is just a way of passing down an ideology of Doctrine of Discovery’s (aka finders’ keepers) attitudes towards justifying taking something as the ends justifying the means. This is one of the most insidious attitudes, especially when paired with big-hearted New Agers (of any era) who think they can manifest a better country and world through their often self-righteous ‘good’ intentions.
What is irritating, though, is that as much as the message is that literally anyone can pray and be like an Indian, or that anyone can reclaim their own inherent indigenous roots, these charismatic leaders also have to distinguish themselves as special and capable of guiding others to have what they admire in the leader. Meaning, the PR is that all people are equal, however the leader is more than you’ll ever be.
The classic con artist picks up on how we are conning ourselves and exploits that weakness. The relationship between the con artist and the victim is, in Paul Olivas’ case, relies upon a trait he either shared with or passed down to others: shame and a massive ego.
