THE SWEETGRASS LODGE CONTROVERSY
Can you feel the love?

Here is a quote from Sweetgrasslodge in response to complaints from Native American Students at the University of Arizona regarding the offensive nature of the website:

We as the SweetgrassLodge.org Sisterhood must be ever so pressing to maintain unconditional love, we believe in "What you send out will come back to you in ways that you could never imagine". For in these times of mass communication, opinions and belief systems are a free for all.If for some reason you find this site offensive in any way... the solution is simple, leave and never come back.
... Anything less than this is inevitable to parish[sic]. In the hearts and spirit of all living things that has been Created[sic] by Creator has this knowing... and this knowing is the reason for the assaults and negative attacks on our feminine belief system.
We are all related

This site has been up,in its present form since June 21, 2001. In early August, Native people from all over the country, some students at the University of Arizona, found the site and starting criticizing it in the guest book. What follows is a sampling of the comments and responses from Sweetgrasslodge and its detractors.

Comment left in Guestbook August 8, 2001

I reported your Twinkie site to A.I.M using the links you put on your page. Thanks a lot for making it so easy! In the future, you might want to actually read the stuff you link to. If you did you would know that A.I.M. doesn't approve of what you're doing.
(*Note: The AIM link was removed shortly after this post)

Comment left in Guestbook August 12, 2001

Regarding your Twinkie-site:

1) No, traditional spiritual teachings are not available for the general public over the internet.
2) No, we do not sell readings for totem animals via email, internet, e-bay or any other media
3) No, crystals, tarot cards and making those ridiculous shields are not part of our traditional spirituality.
4) No, traditional medicine people do not charge for their services. Grateful people often give them some kind of reward, but never a set price, or an advertised rate.
5) No, our nation's ceremonies predate the internet. We are developing software and a program for teaching Anishinaabe language to people on-line, NOT ceremony.
6) Our Nation does not recognize "Shamans". We have no priesthood. Traditional families pass down knowledge of healing medicines to relatives. Even if this "Turtleheart" woman is Ojibwe, her knowledge is flawed and incomplete. Her methods of using it and passing it on are not traditional or sanctioned in anyway by the Anishinaabeg Nation.
7) I would welcome it if you would post my objections to the way our heritage is being used for financial gain on your website, but you have conveniently removed that part from the few comments that you did post.
8) If you had any courage or character, you would listen to what the Native people are telling you and take this site down. You don't have any wisdom and the only way you will ever get any is to be still and listen!

Comment left in Guestbook

Are you crazy? Who would want to be jealous of you? Exactly what do you imagine that anyone could be jealous of, Aqua Crones Spinning Sunshine Wand Hat? Your site is ridiculous. You should call your site: "Wanna be Spirchul Lodge: Where stupidity meets greed." If you don't like Native Americans complaining about your site, there's a simple soluton -- TAKE IT DOWN, because we've been here for thousands of years and we aren't going anywhere!

E-mail to: founders1@sweetgrasslodge.org
What you are doing is WRONG!!!! Native Americans don't use crystals or tarot cards or pay to have someone tell them what their totem animal is. You claim to be an environmental advocacy site, but there isn't a word about saving the environment anywhere on your site. I went back through all the links and each site is run by self-absorbed, silly white women trying to sell spirituality to people who are searching and don't know any better. You should be ashamed of yourselves! Do you know why you're getting negative comments? Because any legitimate Native American can easily see how fake and phoney you are. This site is totally New Age crap. I actually am Ojibwe, and I can tell that you are lying about being "registered". No Ojibwe acts like you do. You are dishonoring our people in a big way. People like you make me ashamed to be a human being. And CHARGING money for your so-called "gifts" is a disgrace. I understand from others who have written you (to try and correct you ) that you are so 'spiritual" you call people names and threaten to sue them for exercising their first amendment rights! If you really believed that what you give out will come back, you would not act the way you do. I know a Twinkie when I see one. I know how they act and if there's one thing I'm absolutely sure of, it's that YOU ARE A TWINKIE.

E-mail from Turtleheart
To Whom it May Concern,
Sweetgrass Lodge is a teaching forum for women ONLY. We are a group of environmental activists and base our learning around the teachings of our sister Paul Gunn Allen. While we accept women from all spiritual paths, 99% of our members are registered Native American women with their own respective tribal affiliations. I myself am a registered Ojibwa woman artist and writer. Our Lodge has nothing to do with the Lakota People, AIM, or any other group. One of our Lodge members is the Chief of her Tribe and I will let you figure out who this is. Our forum is a private one. We respect your rights to your own web site, kindly leave ours alone. All futher communication from you, messages left in our guestbook by renegade thugs and any other nasty email will be considered spam and A: turned over to our attorney and B: reported to the ISP of the offending party.
Thank you.
Have a wonderful day.
Turtleheart
Lodge Mother
Sweetgrass Lodge.Org

Response from A.I.M.:
Your reply is typical of organizations exploiting Native American culture, tradition, and spirituality. You think you can hide behind the laws of a fascist Euro-American society to protect yourselves. If you were in fact anything Native American you would not use these kind of threats. Perhaps, you think the Indigenous People of turtle Island are going to take your threats lying down. Wrong! bring on the lawyers. Nothing would make me happier than to expose you world wide! Now if you really want to stop all the complaints your getting then - stop exploiting. We will not let you people steal and bastardize our religion, culture and traditions.
Ray Mongeau
----- Original Message -----
From: "TurtleHeart"
To:
Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2001 9:52 AM

I Know you don't give a damn - You have already shown the Indegious People you have no care or conscience about twisting and exploiting their culture, tradition and spirituality. Your site is http://www.sweetgrasslodge.org/ and it's trash will be on the moccasin highway shortly. Why don't you people get a life?
Ray Quietwolf Mongeau
Director
Northeast Confederated AIM
http://pathshop.com/confed.htm

Comment left in Guestbook August 29, 2001

What is a Lodge Mother? I grew up on the Rez and I never heard anyone referred to with that title. If you're going to tell big lies, like that 99% of your members are "registered"[sic], then maybe they shouldn't post their photographs with their pages. I looked at every single one of your silly pages and I didn't see one Indian face. You must think we are real ignorant savages here in Arizona. Regarding your message posted on ndn-AIM: Do you really think I'm not going to contact Wilma Mankiller and find out if she would have anything to do with your exploitive web site? Think again. Real Indians are not that easy to fool. We're used to hearing all sorts of double-talk and bullshit from white people.

Comment left in Guestbook August 30, 2001

If you want people to believe that your spiritual, maybe you should calm down and stop making threats you can't carry out. Take a deep breath and think about what you're saying. Telling lies about being Indian isn't going to convince anyone. As long as you are using the images of Native American women and our cultural and ceremonial symbols, we are going to have something to say about it. We don't forgive or forget. If you think your threats will stop us from protecting our culture from charlatans like you, you are sadly mistaken. If you pervert my culture, I'm not going to sit quietly like a good Indian and take it, I'm going to expose you.

Comment left in Guestbook September 2, 2001
I totally expect the same abusive treatment you show towards all Native people... which would only serve reinforce my low opinion of you. So... I'll just beat ya to it: You are a low-life, money -hungrey, hoky, slimey, plastic, twinkie-type, wannabee. fat stealing, spiritual rapist pig. There.... how's THAT for constructive feedback??? Take your dog and pony show on the road woman.... Whatever I have to say to you won't be nearly as bad as what you'll face when you cross over to the other side.Your a slimey bottom-feeding piece of trailor trash, no matter what you call yourself.

Comment left in Guestbook August 24, 2001

Dear money-grubbing hypocrites:
Go ahead. Call me whatever names you feel like, put me on your silly hall of shame! Coming from YOU it's a compliment! You're the ones who should feel shame. I'm not the one misrepresenting myself for profit and robbing people of their hard earned money. Unlike you, I know who I am, and MY relations aren't ashamed of ME. Who are your people? Do you even know, or are you ashamed to admit that they've turned their back on you? Nobody in Indian country knows who "Turtleheart" is! Why don't you use your real name, you coward? Are the police looking for you for fraud? If they're not I'm very, very surprised. Do you think I'm stupid. I'm gonna contact every Ojibwe tribal office I can find and tell them you're claiming to be one of them. You're the one who'll have to answer to them! and to the Creator ...one day.... I hope you get what you have coming to you, in this world and the next.

The follwing post forwarded to AIM General office:

E-mail sent to: nativesong_2000@yahoo.com>
I was shown your page by one my classmates that I met in an American Indian Studies Course and as a REAL Ojibwe woman, I feel I must say that what you have on your site is dishonorable to ALL American Indians, particularly the women. We do not "charge" to help someone, much less sell a ridiculous hodge-podge of psuedo-feminist fads. If you were truly Native American, this page would not even be up. Our legitimate, hereditary elders teach us to honor our gifts. I see no honor here, just greed. My classmate also sent me your responses to her comments, let me tell you if you feel the need to send back a "name calling" email, I will be forwarding it on to the tribal offices and NDN websites who know how to expose you for the fraud that you are. If you think REAL Indians take this kind of thing lightly, think again. We've had so much taken from us in the past that we take cultural theft or those who try to profit from it VERY seriously....so think before you write anything further about the people who are trying to give you the "Native widsom" you claim to seek. And by the way, your litigious attitude is VERY EURO!

E-mail from: nativesong_2000@yahoo.com
[explitive deleted]

E-mail sent to:nativesong_2001@yahoo.com
I called every legitimate tribal office I could think of yesterday, and had a very interesting conversation with them. You are not, as you claim, a "registered"[sic] Ojibwe, nor are you known, other than by the sheer volume of complaints, questions, at any Tribal Office in the Northeastern United States. All the tribal offices disavow you. There are a few points I would like to make in regards to your threats:

1) Considering your abusive attitude, the students protesting your web site have shown considerable constraint as regards to their e-mails and posts.
2) If you are an attorney, it has been a long time since you studied, passed the State Bar., and, like Custer, must have been at the bottom of your class.
3) Your language is the one that is abusive. Nothing that the REAL Indians have said is actionable, nor reportable to the law. The Attorney General's office of Maryland says they would not act on any complaints you/anyone might make along these lines, especially if they were directed at Native American University students exercising their constitutionally guaranteed right to free speech. They are interested in prosecuting people who falsely misrepresent themselves as Native American, though ...
4) You ARE a fake, phoney, and a hazard to all the desperate women who's spiritual bankruptcy you exploit. I wonder how you manage to eat with that mouth. It took you about two seconds to go from guru to plaintiff and that says a lot about your true motives. I'm grateful that my children do not have to abide by their upbringing and treat you as their elder. Whether you're Native or Non-Native, you're hardly what I want them to emulate. You've got a lot of nerve calling yourself Lodge Mother. If you ever thought about anything that you said, you would be ashamed of yourself.
5)I would say I'm sorry that your life is so pathetic and empty, and that you are so without identity, culture, it has become necessary for you to steal from Native Amerian culture, but I know from my instructions that this is your fate. Your ancestors, whoever they were, handed this emptiness down to you as your legacy. You cannot fill this void by trying to steal my birth-right and perverting it with your cafeteria brand of New Age clap-trap. You can either deal with reality honestly or continue to act in ways that will damage your grandchildren and their grandhildren. You can stop the cycle of stealing from the Indians today, or you can hand it down to future generations. The choice is yours. I shall pray for you to find true widson.

E-mail sent to: nativesong_2000@yahoo.com

I am FBI (full-blooded Indian) and I would like to know exactly who in your circle am I supposed to be sisters with? Kerrybear and her sunshine beamer hat? What about Aqua Crone? How about Sister Badger Willlow Horse? They made the mistake of posting their pictures on the web and no-one would mistake them for Native Americans. It doesn't take much effort to reveal that you are just a bunch of spoiled rich white people's children playing Indian. This is racism. Your website is insulting to Native Americans. It's time to grow up! It doesn't matter that you are too self absorbed and stupid to see how offensive you are. More than enough Native people have told you how offensive you are at this point. Stop exploiting our culture! Put up a silly site if you want to, but you have no right to put Native images and symbols on it in order to falsely market it as something that it isn't. There are laws against this. Where are all the Native women who supposedly support this garbage. The only Native people associated with your site, in any way, seem to be the ones complaining about your exploitation in your Guestbook. That should tell you something. When will you learn?

Posted on Sweetgrass Lodge Web Site
The Security Company that maintains the security on this site, logs all visitors. What this means to you is when I check my log files each night, I know who has been to this site. I know the computer's browser, the location of the computer, the IP address, the time, the date, where the computer is located, in which country it is located, the name of the computer and who owns it. If you are on a computer at a University, I know which computer and which building that computer is in. probably even have your name and if I don't, I can get it from the University or via my State's Attorney General's Office. In a nutshell, if you visit here, and take any art from this site without my permission, other than the link ware as described I will know it. If you visit and leave a nasty message, a threatening message, a harassing message, a libelous or defamatory message in my guest book or take it to my private email, you have committed a crime that is punishable not only by new federal laws but also by my State's Laws. The First Amendment does not apply to harassment, stalking, defamatory, threatening, or libelous messages. It is called computer stalking and is a crime. It will not matter what state or country YOU live in, you are posting to a site that resides in the State of Maryland. My state's laws can be found on the internet should you decide to read them for yourself. It says, electronic crimes, and this includes defamatory, libelous, threatening, and harassing messages in my guest book, are punishable by a fine of $500.00 and a year in prison. It will not help you to post from a proxy server such as AOL, JUNO, Earthlink, etc... These proxy server dial up companies also keep files of all of their clients when they log on. They happily turn over all log files when requested by any attorney, any State's attorney, any judge or police department. It will not help you to use an anonymous browser. Even anonymous browsers show originating IP addresses and these companies also turn over log files when requested. It will not help you to use a re-mailing service if you send me nasty email. All emails have a point of origin and will include the original IP address of the mailer as well as the originating host. In other words, I've got you lock stock and barrel. This information applies to all sites I own personally, all sites I maintain, and all sites with which Turtleheat's Designs may be affiliated or linked to. So, before you steal, before you leave a nasty message, use your brain. Turtleheart's designs is a company that WILL send all defamatory, libelous, harassing, and threatening messages left in my guest book or sent to me via email to the State of Maryland's Attorney General's Office. I do not and will not hesitate to prosecute and I do not care who you are. If you doubt the above information, you should read the following letter, a copy of which has also been sent to the Attorney General's Office. University of Arizona students or those posing as students should read it carefully fully.
Consider yourself WARNED.
(This letter and all information, emails, and log files enclosed inside were mailed to Mr. Likins at his request)

Peter Likins The University of Arizona 1401 E. University Blvd. Bldg 6600 Tuscon, AZ 85721 To the Honorable Mr. Likins, It is unfortunate that I must bring this matter to your attention as I do not enjoy writing letters of this nature. Sweetgrass Lodge is an environmentally conscious teaching group comprised of all women. Our Lodge Sisters reside all over the planet, from Denmark to Australia and back to the United States. We write letters to our Senators, our respective country's leaders, to our Congressmen and women, and do our best to take an active part in maintaining a healthy and clean environment for our children and grandchildren. All of our members are highly intelligent women from various spiritual backgrounds, all have earned degrees from various universities around the world. We are moral, ethical in our various businesses and spend a great deal of time doing volunteer work in our own communities. We are Black, White Native American, Jewish, Christian, Pagan, Irish, Dutch, Danish, Australian, pick any country, ethnic background, or religion and this is what we are. Our only concern and agenda is an environmentally clean planet. We are mothers, wives, and grandmothers who care about clean water, clean air, healthy forest lands, and the education and future of our children.
Of late, we have been receiving ugly messages and threats left in the guest book at our Sweetgrass Lodge. Org site. These threats have carried over into our private email boxes and many of those are email boxes we use for our different businesses. Our log files and tracking systems indicate that 99% of these ugly messages and threats are coming from the University of Arizona Library. I have enclosed examples of these private logs which include dates, location, times of postings, and the number of the computer where the message/threat is coming from. Some of these messages and threats are being left using stolen identities and email addresses. I have even enclosed my own private email complete with headers so you can see for yourself where these threats are coming from and who the "ringleader" may be behind the threats. We kindly and humbly request that you look into this matter and if at all possible, keep the offending students or people posing as students from sending us these threats and messages. We realize that your power as a University President is limited but perhaps you can help us in this matter by turning over this information to your computer security department. Again, I apologize for having to bring this ugly matter to your attention. We thank you for your attention to this and hope that the University of Arizona has a wonderful and productive school year.
Sincerely,
Turtleheart
Lodge Mother
Sweetgrass Lodge
www.sweetgrasslodge.org

Comment left in Guestbook August 31, 2001

Oh no! You told Greedy Pete on us! I'm sooooooo scared! What are you going to do next, tell our parents?

Comment left in Guestbook September 1, 2001

I can't believe how ignorant you are! If you are really so concerned about the environment, then why don't you know anything about the Mt. Graham controversy? Likins was among those who pushed for the University to build a telescope on sacred ground. The University of Arizona stopped our elders from going up to the mountain to pray. When the students protested this and posted flyers all over campus, Likins had his goons go out all night tearing them down. He even had DPS try to get fingerprints off of them so he could nail the protesters. Drunken white students can start riots on 4th avenue, but when Indians try to exercise their rights, this guy goes after them. Is this really the kind of person you want to associate yourself with? For you to elicit Likins help tells me that you are as evil as he is.

****Click here to learn more about theMount Graham controversy.

Comment left in Guestbook September 2, 2001
TWINKIES BEWARE!! It's scalpin season!

Comment left in Guestbook September 7, 2001

Anyone who goes to such extremes to prove to the world how happy and positive they are, is probably neither. You're site defames Native Americans and I'm telling on you!


Comment left in Guestbook September 8, 2001

Who are you really, Turtleheart? You're like an ostrich, trying to hide by sticking your head in the ground ... but your big white ass is still exposed!


Click here forMore Breaking News!

What do you think? Why not get together with a few hundred of your close personal friends, visit www.sweetgrasslodge.org, sign the guest book and send an E-mail to: founders1@sweetgrasslodge.org. Or if you want to send a message to 'Turtleheart' the fake Ojibwe, E-mail her at nativesong_2000@yahoo.com

Click here, if you want to see her really, really bad poetry book, or go to: http://www.turtleheart.atfreeweb.com If your upset about Dr. Peter Likins attempt to disclose the identities of anonymous surfers from the Univeristy of Arizona's campus after listening to Turtleheart's lies, why not get together with some friends and send him a few hundred e-mails at: plikins@arizona.edu.

If you send an e-mail or post a comment that you're particulary proud of, send it to us at planettwinkie@yahoo.com and we'll post it on this page. If it's really amusing, we're offering an award of two delicious cream filled hostess snack cakes of your choice. If you have any knowledge of the true identity of "Turtleheart" send it to us and we'll give you one dozen twinkies.




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Auntie Laura, Maria Gomez
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