Today, 8 May 2023, the discussion is how a racist policy of cultural cleansing reared it’s ugly head in a men’s organization, which prides itself on its diversity training. From it’s website, the ManKind Project USA holds itself out to be a “men’s community for the 21st Century. MKPus is a nonprofit training and education organization with over three decades of proven success hosting life-changing experiential personal development programs for men.” The experiential training is called the New Warrior Training Adventure (NWTA) and was characterized as an “initiation into manhood.” The NWTA featured some aspects of Native American culture into the process and most importantly, all of it was reviewed and approved and with explicit permission from Native American ceremonial chiefs and elders. Many of those same men attended the NWTA and saw it was a great experience for the young men of their respective tribes.
The NWTA ended the initiation weekend with a “purification and renewal ceremony,”(P&RC) which is a cleansing of the body and spirit from the toxic debris left behind. Such ceremonies are found in every culture throughout history, thereby being the most generic of multicultural processes. Note that the creators of the NWTA were middle aged, college educated professionals, and white men. As such, they were uniquely aware of including diversity into the NWTA. Hence, the format of the P&RC they developed was structurally a 16-pole generic sweat hut or sweat lodge and, in so doing they were explicitly honoring the Native American approach to the P&RC rather than use the European method of immersion in a tub (or swimming pool).
There were a number of men “initiated” as “New Warriors” who were Native American or trained and blessed by indigenous men to perform Sweat Lodge Ceremony. Joined by a number of men who had a profound experience during the P&RC on the NWTA, they formed a constituency called the Lodge Keeper’s Society or the LKS. From 1990 to 1996, the men in the LKS formed alliances with a variety of Indigenous peoples in the US and Canada. They helped refine some of the NWTA protocols about spirit guides and the P&RC. In 1996, the LKS, in collaboration with the Ceremonial Chiefs and Elders, created a P&RC ceremony unique to the NWTA and ONLY to be used on the NWTA. It was also clearly stated to the Project Council in 1996 that the P&RC was NOT a religious or traditional Inipi ceremony. It was a gift from the indigenous peoples who sons were being helped by the NWTA.
The entire “project” welcomed the LKS and its contributions to the NWTA. The LKS Headman was given a vote on the Project Council. Likewise the leader body gave a vote to the LKS on it’s own council, which has total control of the curriculum (processes) on the NWTA. However, it should be noted that there was a very small group of leaders of the NWTA who held that the P&RC was not necessary. They refused to participate in the P&RC and held the “feedback sessions” to the leaders-in-training at the same time as the P&RC, thereby isolating leadership from the LKS. And this small group actively discourages leaders from being members of the LKS.
In 1998, the NWTA protocols were revised and approval from the ceremonial chiefs was received. Again in 2004, the protocols were revised and again approval was acknowledged from the indigenous men. Likewise, with each revision, permission was granted to use the P&RC as revised. And then the “New Age” use of Sweat Lodges for weekend retreats ended in a tragedy on the national stage. The cabal of anti-LKS leaders used these events to claim, falsely and knowingly false, that MKP never had permission to have a sweat lodge on the NWTA. It wasn’t long before allegations of “cultural misappropriation by MKP” began to surface within the project. And the lies and misinformation not only increased, a few leaders published the well known false and misleading allegations throughout the MKP network.
To wit, what follows are some of the more egregious lies and malicious misrepresentations by a MKP leader, who, as a result of his fabrications, was blocked from re-certifying as a leader, and apparently admonished for his racist behavior.
He alleged the P&RC was a Lakota Inipi (religious ceremony) imposed on unsuspecting NWTA participants. Fact: As previously noted, the P&RC is a recap of the events on the weekend, is entirely secular, and has no relation to a traditional or religious Lakota lodge or any other Native American lodge. The physical structure is the same as used by people all over this planet and is NOT specific to Lakota or any other Native American Lodge.
Alleged the founders knew they were “appropriating” Native American culture. Fact: the founders should be praised for their honesty in choosing to honor and blend Native American culture into their own White Northern European culture, for example, they incorporated the Iron John story from the brothers Grimm into the NWTA. The founders knew the difference between appropriation and appreciation.
The leader actually fabricated a story: “a White Man from MKP, Curtis Mitchell, worked with an Indigenous man, Mel Lonehill, to create an Indigenous-appearing Sweat Lodge experience for the NWTA. Mel’s identity was kept secret for fear of what would happen if Indigenous People found out what happened. Mel has since died, so his identity as the “Indigenous man who shared the ritual” is now known.”
Facts: to refer to the Chief without reference to either his title or authority is a denigration and is not just insulting, it is harmful. In the multicultural awareness model of MKPus, which every leader is required to complete, this is called “denial of difference” and it is a racist behavior.
Facts: The statement the leader published, that the Chief’s identity was kept secret for fear of what would happen if people knew, is a malicious fabrication. The appropriate people knew that he was working with MKP. The Chief’s Council knew. Whatever the source of the judgment (not facts) that were alleged, with its implication of cowardice, is another insult and a denigration and most importantly, will easily sustain a claim of defamation by all those identified by this leader.
Fact: there was a decision not to broadcast his name far and wide. The rationale was concern that the white men who knew this would behave badly, bragging about their “connection.” It was always the case that men knew his name. Every year, more and more men would make the journey to Pine Ridge to meet him, and when the time was right, he accepted the invitation to come and sit with the LKS. He worked with the LKS for more than two decades, sat with the LKS at the annual gatherings, and when he was ready he went through the NWTA himself.
In addition, the leader stated that because the Chief has passed on his identity is now known. Facts: This statement is also incongruent with reality. For whatever reason his name may be known, it is well known that there is a Tradition among his people to not speak of the dead, especially by using their name. Only the appropriate person can authorize the use of his name, and this authorization has not yet been given. Again, the denial of difference and failure to recognize and respect the culture that the leader is claiming to be appropriated is overtly racist.
Finally, the leader alleged that men have performed the P&R “outside the NWTA, outside the MKP, and in other for-profit workshops. Fact: there were only two instances where this has occurred. In both cases the men were sanctioned and eventually left MKPus.
There are only a few men who perpetrated the lies and misinformation and continue to knowingly misinform MKPus. This is called gaslighting. And, they had a divisive impact, that is, many centers in MKPus and the entire international MKP community including Canada, Mexico, Ireland, the UK, France, Germany, Sweden, Israel, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand do not agree with the course of action taken by MKPus.
That course of action: Any and all references to anything remotely Native American were removed from the New Warrior Training Adventure, that is, the NWTA was cleansed of the beautiful culture and Native American wisdom that made the NWTA the outstanding experiential training it unfortunately was. As of this date, there is no rationale explanation by MKPus why the American NWTA is no longer the same one it was prior to 2022, or the same one offered everywhere else in the world.
MKPus is being harrassed by a very small group of men falsely purporting “cultural appropriation.” They claim, through a website called Spirit, https://www.spiritprotection.org/the-problem, “MKP is engaged in severe cultural misappropriation and has made millions of dollars selling Native American traditions in direct violation of Indigenous rights.” They claim their authority comes from two main sources, the United Nations and the Looking Horse Pipe Presentation,
United Nations Declaration on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Article 12
- Indigenous peoples have the right to manifest,
practise, develop and teach their spiritual and
religious traditions, customs and ceremonies;
the right to maintain, protect, and have access
in privacy to their religious and cultural sites;
the right to the use and control of their ceremo-
nial objects; and the right to the repatriation of
their human remains.
Article 12 clearly states Indigenous peoples have the right to teach their ceremonies as well as protect them.
The Looking Horse Pipe Presentation, 2003, basically proclaimed that only indigenous peoples are to be allowed to attend indigenous ceremonies, especially the Sundance. However, Spirit fails to inform that the overwhelming majority of indigenous peoples not only reject the Looking Horse Pipe Presentation per se, they consider it a violation of long standing cultural and inter-tribal agreements. Moreover, the response to the Presentation clearly indicates excluding non indigenous peoples from ceremony is explicitly racist. https://ictnews.org/archive/mitakuye-oyasin-a-response-to-the-looking-horse-proclamation
Reality Check: Spirit has absolutely no authority to sanction MKPus. However MKPus, by its actions in response to false and misleading harassment, has re-published those lies and misinformation, thus exposing the organization to a claim of defamation. Ironically, MKPus is actively being victimized by a Tortious Interference with Business Contract whereby they shut down for half a year, and allowed an old racist policy to once again flourish. One can only conclude that the MKPus model of mandatory diversity training is either completely ignored or seriously flawed. Or both.
Irony Check: MKPus purged a process that invited men to connect with nature and identify with an animal totem. Not long ago, children were taken from the tribal homes and were no longer allowed to connect with their cultural totems.
MKPus purged a process that identified a talisman ceremony as appropriated from the Lakota, not withstanding the fact that every known culture currently has some form of talisman. Not long ago, children were taken from their homes and no longer allowed to keep their talisman and medicine bags.
MKPus purged the use of the term “Aho” as a Lakota appropriation, notwithstanding the fact that it is a Kiowa form of greeting and passed on to other tribes and non indigenous peoples 100 years ago. It’s also Japanese for “idiot.” Not long ago, children were taken from their homes and no longer allowed to speak their native language.
MKPus purged the sweat lodge from the NWTA. Not long ago, indigenous men, women and children were forbidden to participate in a sweat lodge or shot for doing so. That was one of the most heinous episodes of racism in US and Canadian history. It’s no less so for MKPus.
Based on a false and misleading “big lie” and on an overly sensitive and unrealistic need to not offend “even one person,” the impact of it’s cultural cleansing clearly indicates that MKPus endorses a blatant racist policy.
For the record, this man attended the NWTA, June 1993, and was active in the development of the LKS and the curriculum of the NWTA, especially the P&RC, leadership and leadership training until retirement in 2012.