May 5th is MMIW Day, a day to raise awareness for the widespread anger and sadness in First Nation communities because of the missing and murdered women and children in their communities. A red hand over the mouth has become the symbol of a growing movement toward awareness, accountability, and advocacy. The red hand represents the silence of the media, law enforcement and government agencies on this issue, as well as the oppression and subjugation of Native women throughout history. Join Native Communities on May 5th by wearing red and raising awareness in the call for #NoMoreStolenSisters.
This is something few know about other than those directly effected by it. The following video will give you a closer look.
Shocking and another way Native Americans have been marginalized and discounted. Awareness is key to officials taking action. Pray that the focus on ending human trafficking will focus on this issue which has been a reality for indigenous people for decades.
Are you a reader like my daughter who avoids serials* until all volumes have been released?
Like the Curse of Dead Horse Canyon trilogy?
Sorry about the wait, folks. Two factors slowed down the saga’s completion: Disruptions to both authors’ lives and research.
Especially research!
If you’ve been waiting, (even though book 3 came out awhile back), your patience is about to pay off.
All three novels will be released as a single mega boxset ebook on April 18!
Preorder now to reserve your copy at a bargain price of $9.99 with the ebook delivered electronically as soon as its released. All three books are complete and unabridged, 2266 pages worth plus an addendum not found anywhere else.
See? Good things come to those who wait.
Assuming you haven’t read book 3, “The Revenge of Dead Horse Canyon: Sweet Medicine Spirits – Novavose,” you’ll find it has a different pace than the others, especially once Charlie embarks on his ceremonial four-day fast.
Be prepared for a deep dive into Cheyenne history, culture, and ceremonies seldom represented in fiction! Those of you who relish immersion in anthropology through fictitious characters and situations imbued with historical truth will treasure these chapters.
Not so much if you’re looking for wham-bang suspense with no other substance.
I must warn you, however, if you’re tempted to skip the fasting sequence, be aware it’s the most consequential part, not only of the third book, but the entire saga. Consider that it drove the title as well as the picture of the Sacred Mountain on the original cover. The ending has far less meaning without that context, as one disgruntled reader expressed in a very nasty review.
Readers’ Favorite, however, gave it 5-stars and a glowing review that among other complimentary things states, “Stands out for its sharp writing and complete ability to immerse readers, especially in Charlie’s spiritual transformation. [His] heritage is painted from the sky to the smallest pebble and the fire burning in between. This finale succeeds with a perfect 10 landing. Very, very highly recommended.”
The cover for the ebook trilogy is a bit different than the others. Not only does it feature “AI Charlie,” whom you may have already met in the trailer video, but blatantly captures the saga’s overall theme. The trilogy’s description has a different spin when viewed from the ten-thousand foot level. Same novels, but the collective vibe is slightly different. Furthermore, upon request, a glossary of Native American words and phrases has been added along with a closer look at the Earth Giving Ceremony too detailed to include in the story.
Its online description states:
The Curse of Dead Horse Trilogy ebook includes all three books of this multi-award winning saga! If you hate cliffhangers and waited until it was complete, this is what you’ve been waiting for. Furthermore, the addendum includes a glossary as well as additional information on Cheyenne practices with a comprehensive look at their Earth Giving Ceremony.
Order your copy now and prepare to be consumed by a story that brings a vast government conspiracy face-to-face with Cheyenne history, prophesy, and ceremony. After centuries of lies, oppression and broken treaties will justice be served at last?
I hope you enjoy the completion of this saga. I must admit that I knew exactly how it was going to end from the first book, but didn’t know how it would transpire until Charlie’s fast. The research was worth its weight in gold showing how the ending was not so much of a stretch after all. Prophesy tends to be fulfilled, sooner or later.
*Per Google AI, “While both “serial” and “series” refer to a sequence of things, “series” generally describes a collection of related items or events, while “serial” specifically implies a story or narrative told in installments, often with an ongoing plot.”
My method of writing is generally referred to as a “pantser,” i.e., I write by the seat of my pants. The other prevalent writing style that of a “plotter,” where the author determines the entire story, scene by scene, in an outline. I tried plotting, but my characters persistently got out of hand. They’d refuse to follow my plan and do their own thing. It didn’t take long to discover they had a better grip on the story than I did. Thus, I became a “pantser.” I populate my story idea with characters, then sit back to watch what they do as would a dutiful scribe.
I began work on this saga before connecting with my co-author, Pete Risingsun. I had a handle on the story’s government conspiracy angle, but lacked cultural knowledge of my main character, Cheyenne Charlie Littlewolf. I wrote what he told me to, but didn’t know whether it was feasible.
As a science fiction author, I wondered.
Was my imagination getting carried away?
I tend to obsess over accuracy and can get carried away with research. I started reading books on Native American cultures, but I needed to find a Cheyenne elder who could let me know if what I had written from Charlie’s point of view was accurate or too off-the-wall.
When Pete got involved he assured me that the various incidents I’d included were indeed realistic in the Cheyenne world. I smiled, relieved to learn Charlie was not leading me astray.
One incident that I wondered about is depicted in chapter six, “The Aspen,” of the first book, “The Curse of Dead Horse Canyon: Cheyenne Spirits.” It’s there that Charlie receives a message from the aspen tree that witnessed the wreck that killed his best friend. Besides numerous others, another one of my favorites is in the second book, “Return to Dead Horse Canyon: Grandfather Spirits,” where in chapter thirty-nine, “Trail Ride,” Charlie finds an ancient arrowhead that tells him and his brother, Winter Hawk, (cousin in western culture), that their prayer regarding the fate of the murderer had been heard.
As work on the saga continued, more and more research came into play. The works of George Bird Grinnell as well as Peter John Powell were excellent sources, but had limitations. I find it ironic that some of the most detailed information on ancient Cheyenne (Tsistsistas) beliefs and ceremonies is conveyed by German anthropologist, Karl H. Schlesier. His book “The Wolves of Heaven” was priceless while writing this trilogy, especially his detailed description of the Massaum, the Earth Giving Ceremony, that plays a key role in the final volume. In a typical episode of serendipity, I found Schlesier’s book on Amazon, attracted by its subtitle, “Cheyenne Shamanism, Ceremonies, and Prehistoric Origins.”
Or was it a maiyun who brought it to my attention?
What is a maiyun?
Schlesier tells us they are powerful spirits that associate with human beings. There are also the hematasoomaeo, which he describes as “the immortal spiritual forms of plants, animals, and human beings. . . .The maiyun most responsible for physical life on earth belong either to the deep earth or to the sky places. In Tsistsistas ceremonies they are celebrated especially and represented through plant and animal forms.”
The lodge of the maiyun is the Sacred Mountain, i.e., Novavose. (You’ll meet plenty of them in “Revenge of Dead Horse Canyon: Sweet Medicine Spirits – Novavose.”)
Why have western religions denied the existence of such things? Claim that animals do not have souls, a belief with which any pet owner, farmer, or rancher will disagree? Slowly the world is awakening to the reality of other dimensions; recognizing the thin veil between life and death and the elusive nature of time.
Things ancient peoples took for granted.
Speaking of animals, a few months ago, my precious 18 year old feline fur baby, Ophelia, crossed over. I hoped that when she did, that she was reunited with her half-brother, Hamlet, who’d left this life four years before. Thus, I was drawn to the “Pets and the Afterlife” book series by Rob Gutro. He’s a medium who specializes in connecting with pets in the spirit world. These books contain dozens of stories of such experiences. The truth of what he envisions is validated by multitudes of grieving pet owners when he provides details of the encounter that he couldn’t possibly have known.
As I read Gutro’s books I couldn’t help but think of the maiyun–spirit helpers that indigenous people have relied on for millennia. What are “civilized” people missing by tuning out these messages and connections?
I am beyond grateful for my introduction to this marvelous world while writing these three tomes with Pete. My heart and mind lived there from July 2018 when this story was conceived until the final book was published in January 2025. My life is enriched beyond measure for the experience.
Two of my favorite quotes related to this lost wisdom were spoken by Tȟašúŋke Witkó (Crazy Horse), the Oglala Lakota Leader who said:
The red nation shall rise again and it shall be a blessing for a sick world; a world filled with broken promises, selfishness and separations; a world longing for light again. I see a time of seven generations when all the colors of mankind will gather under the sacred tree of life and the whole earth will become one circle again. . . In that day, there will be those among the Lakota who will carry knowledge and understanding of unity among all living things and the young white ones will come to those of my people and ask for this wisdom.
The Curse of Dead Horse Canyon Trilogy is a lengthy saga that is more than a juxtaposition of a corrupt government’s clash with Cheyenne spirituality. It’s an introduction to a world too many don’t yet see.
But as Crazy Horse declared, they will.
You can find the trilogy on Amazon and other online vendors.
I couldn’t help laughing when I came across an article that contained this quote from Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark) where he states: “The Jewish people’s legal and historic rights to Judea and Samaria goes back thousands of years. The U.S. should stop using the politically charged term West Bank to refer to the biblical heartland of Israel.” [Emphasis added.]
What does that have to do with this blog mostly dedicated to Native Americans? Can you not see where I’m going with this?
Okay, let’s say the quiet part out loud:
If the U.S. believes that Israel has “historic rights that go back thousands of years,” what about Native American’s rights to their lands? Like, for example, let’s say the entire Western Hemisphere!
In my mind, the most shameful is land seized by conquest to say nothing of attempted genocide, while purchases like Manhattan Island for $24’s worth of trinkets aren’t much better.
Did the white man steal Native Americans’ land?
You bet they did!
I don’t believe in coincidences for a variety of reasons. Thus, I don’t consider it an accident that the same day I encountered that article about Israel I also came across one recounting the Fort Robinson Breakout back in January 1879.
If that incident doesn’t ring a bell, that is when Chiefs Little Wolf and Morningstar (a.k.a. Dull Knife) refused to return to Indian Territory in Oklahoma as directed by the U.S. Army. Rather, they insisted on returning to their homeland. After being nearly starved and frozen to death, they decided to escape. The hardships they suffered and loss of life they endured to return to their ancestral home is heartbreaking.
Land they maintained was given to them by the Great Spirit.
Karl Schlesier’s book, “The Wolves of Heaven: Cheyenne Shamanism, Ceremonies, and Prehistoric Origins” was an important reference developing the final book in the Curse of Dead Horse Canyon Trilogy. Schlesier is a German anthropologist who attributed the Bighorn Medicine Wheel in Wyoming (shown at the top of this article) to the Cheyenne and provided evidence that led him to believe it was the site of their ancient ceremony called the Massaum. (You can see my review of his book here.)
The Massaum, which Schlesier describes in fascinating, albeit laborious, detail, is also known as the “Earth Giving Ceremony.” It is likewise referred to by George Bird Grinnell and Peter J. Powell in their works about the Northern Cheyenne people. The first Massaum was conducted tens of thousands of years ago by Cheyenne prophet, Sweet Medicine, when he accepted land gifted to them from Maheo as their ancestral homeland. That land was centered on the Sacred Mountain in the Black Hills with them also given the right to expand their hunting ground by conducting the same ceremony.
I don’t know about you, but I suspect the reason the U.S. Government yielded and eventually gave them the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in southeast Montana was because it was part of the land consecrated for them by the Creator God through the Massaum.
But what about the rest of their land, “from sea to shining sea?”
Another thing that really gets me riled up is how much the U.S. Government has done for other “conquered” lands, e.g. Japan and Germany. Who attacked us or our allies during World War II! Yet, they allowed those countries to remain in the hands of their original occupants while giving them a whole lot of financial help rebuilding.
What have they done for First Americans other than break treaties and allow far too many to suffer in Third World conditions? Then an even bigger slap in the face, when for the past four years, illegal aliens were welcomed with payments far larger than my monthly Social Security benefit, which I earned.
That sounds an awful lot like speaking with a forked tongue, don’t you think?
But that’s another blog (or should I say rant?) for another time.
Meanwhile, I got my personal “revenge” in the grand finale of the Curse of Dead Horse Canyon Trilogy. I suspect there isn’t a single Indigenous person who would disagree.
P.S. And just for the record, I’m about as white as you can get. My ancestry is strictly Western European, some of which goes back to the Colonial Era in the late 1600s in Connecticut. That said, I’m ashamed and embarrassed by what my forefathers did.
[NOTE:–If you’re interested in more information related to the Israel issue, you can find the full article I referenced here.]
The final volume of the award-winning trilogy is now available! The paperback will be released on January 7, BUT if you act between January 4 – 7, you can get an electronic version of the explosive conclusion for a bargain price at the vendors listed below.
Loaded with new twists and turns, familiar characters and a few new ones, fans of this saga can now find out “the rest of the story.”
The paperback is 581 pages long, which tells you something right there! A tremendous amount of research was done to embellish the story with Cheyenne history and traditions, which fit beautifully into the story.
We believe the ending should make Native Americans and their supporters smile.
Get your ebook copy now for only $3.99 at most vendors, the other books in the series on sale for that amount as well until the official release of the paperback on January 7.
The Sacred Mountain (Bear Butte State Park, South Dakota)(Photo by John Brueske, Shutterstock)
Today is Native American Heritage Day, a time to remember and appreciate Native Americans and their rich culture. An important element of indigenous culture has always been their sacred sites.
The main theme of the third and final book in the Dead Horse Canyon saga, “Revenge of Dead Horse Canyon: Sweet Medicine Spirits — Novavose” is the importance of the Sacred Mountain, known also as Bear Butte State Park, in South Dakota.
In the final volume of the trilogy Charlie fulfills his vow to make a pilgrimage to the site for a four day ceremonial fast. What he learns there is not only startling, but charges him with the responsibility of bringing his people back to their sacred ceremonies as originally taught by Sweet Medicine, specifically a five-day ritual known as the Massaum, the “earth giving ceremony.”
The video above notes the importance of sacred sites. You can find more information related to the video in the article on the Native American Rights Fund website here.
In writing the Dead Horse Canyon Saga, I have done a tremendous amount of research. Many of the books you see below I have read and/or referenced in writing the trilogy to assure accuracy as well as discover new material to integrate in the plot.
Of course coauthor, Pete Risingsun, is the final authority on Cheyenne culture, but he also discovered new information, especially from the two volumes of Peter J. Powell’s “Sweet Medicine.” What a godsend they were as was the work of many other anthropologists such as George Bird Grinnell and, in more modern times, Karl H. Schlesier. Without their work, the Dead Horse Canyon story would not have all the rich detail we were able to incorporate. We have made every effort to be as accurate as possible with reference to historical events as well as Northern Cheyenne ceremonies.
What I have learned writing this trilogy with Pete has opened my eyes to the many injustices Indigenous people have suffered for hundreds of years due to colonization, not only in the United States but also abroad.
The release date is January 7, 2025! It has taken far longer than expected, for which Pete and I apologize. However, we believe it will be worth the wait.
If you haven’t yet read the first two books, you have time to do so before this one comes out. Without knowing the entire story, you may be able to follow this final volume, but it will have far more meaning if you’re familiar with the other two.
I’m confident that Indigenous readers will be very pleased with the ending as well as those of us who love and appreciate Native American culture and pray they eventually receive the retribution they deserve for centuries of abuse. It’s truly a travesty that immigrants are welcomed and allowed to retain their culture while America’s original inhabitants continue to be treated so unfairly.
On this special day, may we all pray with them that they will receive the respect they deserve and gain access to their sacred sites and cultures and that they will be preserved.
As always, Navajo Wally Brown does a fantastic job in the following video summing up what it takes to be a great leader.
Sad but true, lack of leadership has brought the United States to where we are today. Caring for the people you lead is paramount. Who wants to follow someone who is exploiting their people for power and financial gain and sets a poor example of a moral individual?
Once again, Native Americans have shown that their culture is far superior to what has been the norm in Western culture for millennia.
Leadership starts in the home. Respect for authority is important, but must be earned and deserved. Just because someone has a title does not mean they’re worthy to be obeyed or followed. Do you have the courage to stand for truth?
Like Wally says in the video, leaders are not necessarily born. They are raised. Everyone has the capability with the right training and example. His story about the blind sheep is so apropos for today’s world.
What qualities do you think are essential for a leader? How many of those traits do you have? What can you teach to those around you, especially the youth who will inherit the mess the world is today?
Returning to true principles based on love is the only way.
November is Native American Heritage month! To kick it off, the organization, IllumiNative, has produced a short video highlighting Native American accomplishments.
Our world has so much to gain by recognizing and adopting Native American principles. Take a few moment to browse the IllumiNative website to see the many influences that have not received the publicity they deserve. Native influence is everywhere! Celebrate and share!
The quote above is often attributed to Henry Ford, but in trying to confirm that, I struck out. Several have said something similar and millions agree.
The evidence is in this book, which is both shocking and heartbreaking. Its essence is captured in its subtitle: “The case of 60,000 murdered children and the man who surfaced their fate.”
The author, Kevin Annett, was a priest associated with the United Church in Canada. In the course of his ministry he uncovered evidence of the genocide committed against Native American children in the government sponsored Residential Schools. Witnesses who’d survived the schools told horror stories of children being murdered before their eyes. He proceeded to take it upon himself over the course of decades to expose these crimes and achieve justice for the victims and the survivors. Note that these “schools” weren’t closed down until 1996!
“The day I saw my little brother Benny get beaten to death by a Catholic priest, I prayed to the Great Mystery to someday give me the chance to get justice for him.” — Albert House of the Anishinaabe-Ojibwe nation
Naturally, governments and churches wield their power to protect their own, making exposing their crimes an herculean task. In February 1998 Annett and survivor Harriett Nahanee launched a campaign to publicize the death camp crimes and prosecute those responsible.
This led to the first public inquiry in June 1998. It convened under the auspices of the United Nations affiliate, International Human Rights Association of American Minorities (IHRAAM). IHRAAM recommended to the United National Human Rights Commission that Canada and its churches be formally charged with genocide. But diplomatic pressure prevented such action and IHRAAM withdrew its statements.
How typical.
Ten years later in 2008 Canada admitted to some of it, yet whitewashed it by indemnifying and exonerating all the guilty parties. Meanwhile, Harriett Nahanee had been murdered in prison.
In 2010 Annett helped found the International Tribunal of Crimes of Church and State (ITCCS) which sponsored the International Common Law Court of Justice (ICLCJ) that tried and convicted Canada and its churches of genocide and compelled Pope Benedict and three Catholic cardinals to resign their offices during 2013. Their success sparked a worldwide movement to establish common law courts and sovereign Republics to replace criminally convicted churches and governments.
Today genocide continues as part of China’s economic penetration of North America to seize oil and gas resources by displacing indigenous communities in northern British Columbia and Alberta. This is being done with the support of the Canadian government, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), and the same churches, which continue to traffic and murder indigenous children. More native people die in police custody in Vancouver than any city in Canada.
Needless to say, you’re not going to hear about any of this in the mainstream media. Anyone who thinks that genocide ended with World War 2 needs to wake up. More information about these incidents can be found at the website https://www.murderbydecree.com
Of course Annett was “punished” for his actions by the United Church by defrocking him as a minister in a shamelessly biased kangaroo court. He was never told what he was accused of, witnesses in his favor were disallowed, and there were clear conflicts of interest with those conducting the hearings. All details of the bogus procedures are described in the book. Furthermore, they paid his wife to divorce him and set out to do everything possible to destroy his life and livelihood.
“Physical assaults and public smears against Kevin increased and his native supporters began to be killed by police or while in jail or in the hospital.” (p. 50)
I can’t begin to summarize the background any better than what is stated in the book and I quote:
“Between the years 1889 and 1996 tens of thousands of indigenous children across Canada were deliberately and systematically murdered by the Crown of England, the Canadian government, and the Roman Catholic, Anglican, and United Church. These killings occurred in internment camps operated by these churches and authorized by the Crown, and deceptively called ‘Indian residential schools.’
“For the first year of their operation, the annual death rate in these camps was between 25% and 70%: A genocidal mortality rate that continued for over half a century. As a result, more than 60,000 of these children died.
“This enormous mortality was caused by a deliberate and continual practice by all the churches of starving children and housing the healthy ones with those sick and dying from tuberculosis and smallpox while denying them medical treatment and any form of care; in short, by a regime of institutionalized germ warfare designed to “find a final solution to the Indian Problem,” according to Duncan Campbell Scott, the Deputy-Superintendent of Indian Affairs, in May, 1910.
“Every crime defined as genocide under international law was perpetrated in these Christian internment camps, including murder, mental and physical torture, starvation, slave labor, systematic beatings, gang rape, sex trafficking, destruction of family, sexual sterilizations, involuntary drug testing, medical experimentation, and daily, mandatory brutality.
“When I was six years old, I saw a little girl killed right in front of me by a nun… The girl she killed…was five years old. The nun kicked her hard in the side of the heck and I heard this terrible snap. She fell to the floor and didn’t move. She died right in front of us. Then the nun told us to step over her body and go to class. That was in 1966.” –Steven H, St. Paul’s Catholic Day School
“These crimes were inflicted on children as young as four years old according to a mandatory death quota and torture regimen established by these churches and the government. The purpose of this operation was genocidal: to exterminate the remaining indigenous nations and seize their lands and resources by killing off or enslaving most of their children.
“From its inception, this genocide was authorized, perpetrated, and concealed by every level of state, judicial, police, and church authority in Canada until the camps officially closed in 1996. The master plan for this genocidal operation was adopted on November 25, 1920 at a meeting in Ottawa of top officials of the Canadian government and the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Presbyterian, and Methodist churches (the latter two being the forerunners of the United Church of Canada, formed in 1925 by an Act of Parliament.”
“The master genocidal plan was made Canadian law by a special Order in Council on July 1, 1920. It required every indigenous child seven years or older to be interned in an ‘Indian school’ or face arrest and imprisonment.” (p. 11-14)
Unless you’ve had your head in the sand the past few years and/or have a naive and horrendously misplaced trust of government and various powerful institutions including the Vatican and main stream media, this should not come as a surprise. I must say I was nonetheless shocked by the scope and blatant actions of church and state, but had no trouble believing it.
“Richard Rubenstein, a chronicler of the Nazi Holocaust, observed that modern states have the legal power to render their own citizens into stateless people without rights prior to their wholesale destruction.” (p. 6)
The evidence in this book is sickening but irrefutable.
It’s essential for everyone to wake up. Recognize what is going on and that the COVID debacle is more of the same. Indigenous people have been the target for centuries.
Who’s next?
Bear in mind that no one of any skin color, religion, national origin, or ethnicity can be assured that it won’t be them.
One more thing.
For those of you who are white like myself, can you begin to understand why our race is hated?
If there were ever a time when we need healing at a personal, national, and planetary level it is now. There is no greater wisdom to help achieve such peace than that found in Native American culture.
A culture that Western Civilizations tried desperately to destroy.
Yet Indigenous people survived.
The U.S. Constitution was modeled after the government in place amongst Native Peoples. Why did it work for them for millennia while it’s falling apart here after a few hundred years?
Where did we go wrong?
Reverence for the Earth Mother and all creation were integral to their culture. Resources, whether animals, vegetation, or minerals were treated with respect. Our efforts to achieve a “green” society is laughable by comparison. Our power grid can’t even withstand a hot summer day or winter storm. How will it handle millions of electric cars?
The way history is taught, Native Americans are represented as ignorant savages. Christian missionaries were sent to teach Indigenous people about God. Navajo elder, Wally Brown, sums up his culture’s beliefs in the Great Spirit and the existence of an evil one in the following video.
Maybe we should have been listening instead.
The Great Spirit and his messages were seen everywhere. The symbolism behind their ceremonies, dress, and practices is deep, often sacred, and served as a constant reminder to keep watch for messages from the world around them. In addition to physical senses they had spiritual senses, which have been beaten out of today’s “modern” culture by fake science.
People seeking the meaning in life with the desire to expand their spirituality are returning to Native American philosophies. Even science is turning to them for answers as it admits “paranormal” phenomena are real.
How ironic that so many answers lie with the very people governments tried to destroy.
On this special day may we admit the wrongs of the past and listen as we should have centuries ago.
The Curse of Dead Horse Canyon 