For over 10 Years this channel has been dedicated to teaching people world wide "The Art of Native American Flute Making". Now we are facing a collective battle to retain our rights as Native American Artists and the rights of State Recognized Tribes to maintain status as American Indians and to continue to be included in the language of the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990.
Under the Act, an Indian is defined as a member of any federally or State recognized Indian Tribe, or an individual certified as an Indian artisan by an Indian Tribe.
In Section 309.2, the Act defines an "Indian tribe" as:
(1) Any Indian tribe, band, nation, Alaska Native village, or any organized group or community which is recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians; or (2) Any Indian group that has been formally recognized as an Indian tribe by a State legislature or by a State commission or similar organization legislatively vested with State tribal recognition authority.
I recently attended a US senate hearing on changing the language of the Indian Arts and Crafts Act to include Native Hawaiians and one Chief out of Oklahoma spoke and wishes to add language that excludes thousands of Native people across the country because of their status as State Tribes. The largest Tribe in the United States is a State Recognized Tribe from North Carolina. I too stood up and spoke on behalf of every Native American person facing the deleterious effects that changing this law would have. Because of my willingness to stand up in the face of adversity, I am beginning to feel the repercussions.
At the time this video was recorded, it was brought to my attention that someone who only goes by SAM, wrote a blog piece about me. In this piece he calls me a 'Fake Indian' and tried to post information about my family using public records that he doesn't understand. This "Sam" hides behind his keyboard and knows nothing about me, my family or my history. Prior to this he wrote a hateful piece against the whole tribe of Lumbee.
This video was made to publicly call out the ones who are hiding while trying to destroy people, cultures and histories they themselves know nothing about. I'm here to set the record straight. You don't know ME. You don't know MY family and I will not cower to you.