If you’re a serious reader and want to really sink your teeth into this saga, now you can download our free Readers’ Guide for help along the way. Loaded with thought-provoking insights, discussion ideas, a few recipes, playlists, and a touch of trivia, it will enhance your enjoyment and understanding of the complexities of this award-winning story. Numerous readers have reported reading it at least twice, which bodes well for its quality and reader engagement.
If you belong to a book club, this will facilitate your dive into the series, with similar guides for the other two books coming soon.
Wednesday this week was “Name Yourself Day.” That reminded me of naming conventions among various Native American cultures. With all the research I’ve done with the “Curse of Dead Horse Canyon” trilogy, I’ve become familiar with numerous unusual names and often wondered at their origin, for example Starving Elk, Sleeping Rabbit, and White Frog, to name a few.
Co-author, Pete Risingsun, chose that name to honor one of his ancestors. He also has another name. To quote from his biography, “Pete wears his grandfather’s Cheyenne name, Mo’ȯhtáveaénohe (Black Hawk), who was a member of the Council of Forty-Four Chiefs.”
It’s my understanding when a tribal member does something worthy of recognition or has an experience that sets them apart that they often change their name. The greatly revered Cheyenne chief, Morningstar, is also known as Dull Knife, a derogatory moniker supposedly given by his brother because he wanted peace instead of war. Not that Western culture doesn’t do much the same with nicknames.
It makes sense that children were often not named until they were old enough to inspire one that fit. I’ve had a similar experience with my children, but much earlier. At least two of my six children got different names than the one planned. The moment I held them and looked into their eyes I could tell it simply didn’t fit.
While doing genealogy research it was common to find similar names running in families. Some of my children and grandchildren have middle names of family members. My mother and her three sisters all had middle names that were surnames of close family friends.
Naming characters in my novels is always fun. It usually just comes to me, once I get a grip on their persona. Most likely they’re telling me who they are. As I’ve noted before, my characters drive the story and I just record what they do, never knowing what they’ll do next. When they get themselves in a fix, I have no idea how they’ll escape, but they always figure it out.
With your name a major part of your identity, it’s no wonder they receive so much attention. I know at least one person who changed the spelling of his name so it had a more favorable number in numerology.
“You name it, you claim it” often relates to adopting a pet while “Nomen est Omen” implies your name relates to your destiny. This principle applies in astrology where a planet, asteroid, or star emits an energy related to the archetype for which its named.
However, there’s at least one instance where a planet was possibly misnamed. According to astrologer, Richard Tarnas, in his book “Prometheus the Awakener,” the planet Uranus should have been named for the renegade trickster god who gave us fire, whose archetype is closer to the influence that planet exudes, which includes surprises, upsets, rebellion, innovation, and explosions.
Do you like your name? Apparently, lots of people don’t. 85,000 people changed their name by deed poll in 2015. According to AI the reasons include:
Marriage/Divorce: Taking/ditching a spouse’s last name is a common reason.
Anglicizing: Some people change their names to make them easier to pronounce or more familiar in English-speaking countries.
Personal preference: People may choose a name for its sound or meaning, or to establish a unique identity.
Fresh start: Some individuals change their name to escape a difficult past or create a new identity.
Legal reasons: Changes may be required for legal or administrative reasons.
Religious reasons: Religious beliefs can also be a factor in name changes.
When I was younger I never liked my name because it was constantly mispronounced. As a kid, that was horrifically embarrassing, especially since it was coupled with an eleven-letter French-German surname. On the first day of school I’d slouch down in my seat wishing myself invisible as the teacher came to it and just stood there with a puzzled look on their face. I’d raise my hand, mutter, “Here,” and be glad that was over, at least until the next year. No doubt it influenced my marriage to someone named Fox.
While I never liked my name, after carrying it for over seven decades I’ve somehow grown into it. It’s too ingrained to abandon. If I still had that cumbersome maiden name, it would be another story. I no longer cringe when it’s mispronounced. It’s unique, which somehow fits. I’ve done too many unconventional things in my life to be Barbara, Nancy, or Linda. Even the more conventional spelling, Marsha, doesn’t feel right.
It’s been noted that its empowering to change your name. I get that. Years ago, I may have done it myself.
What about you? What name would you give yourself?
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.”
This book deserves to be a Best Seller for more reasons than I can count. For one thing, it’s informative. If you’ve never heard of MK-ULTRA, this will give you a close-up-and-personal view of what it was about. If you’re naive or unaware of some of the things that the U.S. Government has done, then it’s going to enlighten you in that area, also.
Indigenous people were not the only people the government lied to and abused. Many of their own natural-born citizens were used in experiments, often without their knowledge, much less consent.
Previous to reading this story I knew the basics of this program, specifically that it involved the CIA following up on work in mind-control techniques conducted by the Nazis during WWII. That alone, much less being highly classified, should be enough to demonstrate it was nothing short of evil.
I happened upon this book at an opportune time. Based on what I knew, I used MK-ULTRA as a backstory for a character in my latest book, “Revenge of Dead Horse Canyon: Sweet Medicine Spirits – Novavose.”
Oddly enough, while writing the story, MK-ULTRA arrived at my muse’s bidding and I wondered if it was a credible explanation for one of the character’s idiosyncrasies. My research seemed to validate it, but it was gratifying when nothing in this story contradicted what I’d assumed. Numerous scenarios in this book fit my character’s odd traits perfectly. Synchronicity, perhaps?
Actually, I have some very sharp muses who lead me to all sorts of things that turn out to be accurate and a perfect fit for the plot. Which is what I love about writing fiction.
The fact that the author is an MK-ULTRA survivor says it all. While written as a novel, the level of detail is such that its reality is inescapable. It pulls you right in, moving along at a fast pace and alternating between Tommy Matthews’ life after being subject to their experiments and flashbacks indicating what was done to him to motivate it.
While all the antagonists in the story are certainly evil, some are darker than others. From the purely scientific side, understanding how the brain and memory work is fascinating, useful data. It helps psychiatrists understand and help their patients. But when it turns to controlling another person’s life by programming them as an innocent child to pursue a malevolent destiny it’s another story. Using torture such as isolation, hallucinatory drugs, electric shock, and ritual sexual abuse to achieve it definitely treads on criminal as well as unethical ground.
Preventing this sort of thing is what the post-WWII Nuremburg Trials were all about!
It was fascinating to read of Tommy’s perceptions, then learn how that particular impression was programmed into him in the next chapter. One question that ran in the back of my mind was how on earth could responsible parents subject their children to such experiments? This was clarified by the end, which made it even more tragic. Some people simply should not be allowed to have children.
Yet who is qualified to define the criteria? Years ago, Indigenous people were subjected to forced sterilization as a means of genocide. Again, by the U.S. Government. See what I mean? Who decides who’s qualified to be a proper parent? Certainly not the government!
If brain research tell us anything, it’s that there are other realities outside the corporeal world and that “consciousness” goes beyond what is visible with our natural eyes. Aliens, UFOs, remote viewing, prophecy, shamanism, near-death experiences (NDEs), and everything else defined as “paranormal” are elusive when it comes to scientific investigation. Thus, closed-minded people dismiss them as hoaxes, imagination, superstitions, and so forth.
While this story did not emphasize the paranormal, there were enough references to sense its presence, which gave it all the more interest. My jaw literally dropped when I read the last sentence in Chapter 76.
When the three children grow up and start to remember and compare notes, it’s impossible to put the book down. I’m not a fan of “horror stories” and elements in this story fall into that realm, some downright gruesome, cruel, and heartbreaking. While it’s shocking that these innocent children and numerous others were subjected to these horrific experiments, the author presented them in an objective, journalistic way rather than exploit them in a graphic, gratuitous manner. Nonetheless, you cannot “unsee” what was revealed.
Anyone who doesn’t believe that a battle for the minds and souls of men has existed for millennia needs to read this book. If you know nothing about MK-ULTRA you are likely to be shocked. But being blind to unpleasant realities is what allows evil to persist, often right beneath our noses.
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 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?
An author never knows how a sequel will be received in a contest. Without the backstory presented in the previous book, the judges may be lost or unimpressed, thinking there are too many unanswered questions. All you can do when you submit it is cross your fingers and hope for the best.
Clearly, this was not a problem with Return to Dead Horse Canyon: Grandfather Spirits. So far it has done as well as its precursor, plus winning a Firebird Book Award, but The Curse of Dead Horse Canyon: Cheyenne Spirits was not entered in that particular competition.
Each of the awards is described on the book page, so I won’t repeat that information here. While winning another award is always a good day for authors, the one that impressed me the most was the wonderful review rendered by Asher Syed on behalf of Readers’ Favorite.
It was beyond gratifying to see that he comprehended the message Pete and I were trying to convey. Not only that, but that he actually went back and read the first book when that was not required. Yet, he did so, and provided very complimentary comments about that as well. Calling us a “dream team” truly made that day and several since! To be perfectly honest, it made me cry.
Many thanks to the various individuals who have read our work and provided us with such valued feedback. Nothing makes all the work more worthwhile than being recognized by complete strangers. Thank you, one and all.
Our goal with this ongoing saga is to provide readers with a glimpse of the beautiful Northern Cheyenne culture about which most know little, if anything. Pete and I are learning more about it as well. The conclusion to this trilogy is in work with the goal to be well underway by the time we celebrate Native American Heritage Month in November. The challenge upon us is to make the conclusion even better than the first two installments.
The Founding Fathers believed they created the perfect structure for government when they wrote the Constitution. But did you know that it was inspired by the Iroquois Federation, an agreement between indigenous nations hundreds of years before the white man arrived?
As the USA approaches its 246th birthday, things are not looking very good. Where have we gone wrong?
What better source of answers than a Native American? The video below narrated by Lakota, Russel Means, explains it perfectly.
The suspense-laden sequel to triple award winning “The Curse of Dead Horse Canyon: Cheyenne Spirits” is now available!
In honor of Native American Heritage Month both this new release as well as its predecessor, “The Curse of Dead Horse Canyon: Cheyenne Spirits,” are on sale in ebook format for only $0.99 through November 30, 2021.
If you’ve read the first book, no doubt you’ve been wondering what happens now that Charlie and Sara have discovered what her husband, Bryan, discovered that cost him his life.
While Charlie swore to avenge his white brother’s death, the path to do so remains unclear.
His job with Lone Star Operations allows him to use his college education and earn a generous income. However, it conflicts with everything he knows to be right. Is violating the Earth wrong or not? Little does he realize that his work will ultimately return him to the Northern Cheyenne reservation where his true destiny will manifest in ways he never imagined.
Sara is determined to fulfill Bryan’s last request to expose the government corruption coupled with the lethal forces that stole his life. Releasing the scandalous Top Secret data via WikiLeaks infuriates those with much to lose, which places her in the cross-hairs of a hired killer.
While miles apart, each struggles with life-threatening situations as a result of their dedication to Bryan’s legacy. Their lives remain entangled through a series of fateful decisions and circumstances that define a future fraught with unknowns for them both.
The books are available through the following links with more vendors to follow in the coming days. Remember that reviews are pure gold to authors and help other readers decide on whether a book is right for them.
The wisdom of indigenous people is something the world is in sorry need of today. There is nothing I can say that would have greater meaning on this day set aside to honor indigenous peoples throughout the world than what is said in the following video. Note that the speaker, Floyd “Red Crow” Westerman (Kangi Duta) crossed over to the next life in 2007. His words are truer now than ever before.
The Curse of Dead Horse Canyon 