Due diligence on the Nemenhah Band

Another "tribe" of plastic shamans has been in the news this week:

Phony "band" sells healing
Hodgkin's patient is Nemenhah "elder"

Now here are some quotes from the Nemenhah Band itself:

About UsThe Nemenhah Band and Native American Traditional Organization (Oklevueha Native American Church of Sanpete) was established as an Indigenous Group and People by Self Determination through the original writing and ratification of the Band Constitution in 2003 by the General Council of Nemenhah Mothers. Phillip ‘Cloudpiler’ Landis, NAP, ND, was elected to the position of Principle Medicine Chief and has been re-elected every year since then by the unanimous vote of the yearly Great Council of the Nemenhah. At the same time, the Band was established as an Independent Branch of the Oklevueha Native American Church of Utah, and later of the Oklevueha/Sioux Nation Allied Native American Church, under the direction of Chief Richard ‘He Who Has The Foundation’ Swallow, Head of the Eagle Clan of the Lakota and the Rosebud Native American Church.ConstitutionNemenhah Band and Native American Traditional Organization. An Educational Auxiliary of The Oklevueha Native American Church of Sanpete.

Declaration of Good Conscience and Practice, Constitution, and Establishment of a Native American Traditional Organization beginning in this State of Utah, in the United States of America. In a Sacred Manner We Are Talking. In a Sacred Manner We Are Walking.

Preamble

We, Nemenhah, believe in the Creator and that the Creator made all men and women who have lived, do now live, and who will yet live, as free and equal beings. We recognize the inherent, ancestral, sovereign rights granted to all people by the Creator, human conscience, international law, and legal constructs of reciprocity, mutuality, and comity, which cannot be diminished or extinguished. We believe that we derive from and that we may become like the Nemenhah who lived in this land anciently and that, through their literal descendents, we claim the right to form a Native American Traditional Organization based upon their teachings which have been passed down to us through the traditions, customs, ceremonies, writings, and records of the Native American People, among which we acknowledge the Mentinah Archives by way of example.Individual Spiritual AdoptionNemenhah Medicine Men and Women declare that Natural Healing is part of their Spiritual Orientation and that they will ‘First Do No Harm.’ If you can make this declaration, the Nemenhah Band invites you to request Spiritual Adoption and join with the Community of the Nemenhah.

Membership is only by Spiritual Adoption. It is also the only way the Nemenhah Seminary can accept you into the program and designate you a Medicine Man or Medicine Woman. As a Nemenhah Medicine Man or Woman you will be able to practice your Healing Ministry under the full weight and protection of the Native American Free Exercise of Religion Act 1993 (NAFERA) and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act 1993 (RFRA).

After reading the Constitution of the Band, if you wish to request Spiritual Adoption and to begin your training as a Nemenhah Medicine Man or Woman, click on the link below, download the PDF application for spiritual adoption, fill it out, and mail with the suggested donation to:

Nemenhah
P.O. Box 126
Weaubleau, MO 65774The Sacred GiveawayThe Nemenhah Seminary is not a Commerce-Based Program. It depends entirely upon the generous donations of its Members for support.

The Sacred Giveaway is the method by which the Nemenhah Program is supported. The Suggested Offering amount for the Ceremonial Service of Individual Spiritual Adoption is $250.00 initially and $100.00 annually. Thereafter, Nemenhah Members of good intention, willingly make regular, monthly offerings from out of their own financial stewardship. They do this prayerfully, relying on Spirit to direct them in the amount or kind of offering that is most appropriate. They never neglect this part of the Adoption Covenant, understanding that if they do, the Nemenhah Band cannot continue in its important work and its offering to Humanity globally.Due DiligenceLine of Authority

In the USA, ‘Tribe’ is a legalized term which only has to do with those entities recognized by the U.S. Dept. of the Interior, or by Act of Congress, to receive special ‘reservations’ to the treaties into which they entered with their conquerors.

‘Band’ and ‘Traditional Organization’ are terms that are regulated more by the Native American People than by Federal or State Governments.

Federal Law dictates that a ‘Native American Practitioner’ or ‘Traditional Spiritual Leader’ must be either an enrolled member of a Federally Recognized Tribe or Band, or he/she must be recognized as such by Tribes, Bands, or other Native American Traditional Organizations. Therefore, every member of the Nemenhah Band enjoys recognition, not as Tribal Medicine People, such as Lakota or Yankton or Mandan, to name few, but rather, as Nemenhah Medicine Men or Women and Ministers of the Oklevueha Native American Church of Sanpete.

The Line of Authority cited above does not rely upon the changing political factions within the Tribes, but rather, upon recognition that, once given, cannot be taken away because of the nature of Native American Religion.Comment:  When any organization's writing is this verbose and unclear, you can be sure it's trying to deceive you.

If I read this bafflegab correctly, the Nemenhah Band's claim goes as follows: An act of Congress recognized one branch of the Native American Church. Someone in this Church recognized the Nemenhah Band. By the transitive law, recognition has passed from Congress to the NAC to the Nemenhah Band, which means the Nemenhah Band is as "Native" as any tribe or tribal organization.

Alas, the Nemenhah Band's claim is wrong. This may explain why its "Chief Cloudpiler" has been convicted of fraud before.

For more on the subject, see New Age Mystics, Healers, and Ceremonies.