A tremendous act of Spiritual Generosity toward MKP is being disrespected and abandoned because of the demands from basically only a few men who apparently cannot adapt to their own personal and genuine suffering, wrapping those demands in a flag of virtue signaling cultural misappropriation, and I must say it is a false flag.
The LKS did nothing wrong, and wronged no one. The LKS has always maintained right relationship with its Traditional roots. To punish the LKS is wrong, I believe, and I hope the Board can see its way clear to ending the suspension of the P&R soon. The substitute process is not as effective as the original, and there is no reason that I can see that the men who take the NWTA should be deprived of the benefit of the P&R Ceremony.
I wish to bless those LKS men who have chosen to collaborate with MKP US as an act of service to those men yet to come. May you glow with the power of the Old Way so that the new brothers’ hearts are touched, strengthened, and cleansed. I honor the Courage of you men despite the injustice of your new assignment. May you be blessed in Holding the Below.
And I wish to bless those LKS men who have chosen not to collaborate. Your faithful service to MKP was disrespected and dishonored through no fault of your own. Take care of each other and the Protocol.
Remember that we are all still brothers.
I am remembering at this moment the ancient archetype that previously occupied the space of the Lover.
I am remembering the Sacred Clown.
I am remembering the power of the Sacred Clown to deal with the absurd, the ridiculous, and the unjust. I am smiling.
May you find the path to drop below the suffering of your hurt Love and Hate, drop below your Anger, and access the wisdom of the humor of salient irony.
Be the ghost that haunts the dreams of those who have sought to rub you out, those who have done you an injustice. If they are going to act like colonizers, act like a Traditional man.
“Those who shout the loudest tend to be those who know the least.”
–Fools Crow
I have tried to tell the truth as I know it and have experienced it to be. My opinions are my own.
What was Done by the LKS was Done in a Good Way.
This is what I have to say.
Curtis Mitchell, Standing Coyote
Email the Author
truthbetold@spiritprotect.org
At a loss for words, at least for now.
Thank you.
Thanks a lot my Brother. I understand ,and I will respect and protect your gifts, I mean protocol and the true storie of LKSI. Because I feel it has maid on the good way.
Jonathan SCHARSCHMIDT
Dark and Giant Octopus
One of your french LKS’Brothers
Thank you for your truth.
This man honors and thanks you for setting the record straight.
Many Blessings
ps not to mention many men in LKSI have traditional blessings from native mentors that also have approved what we do in a good way.
Thank you for these words. As a man who was present at that first ceremony back in July 1992, I recall being educated as to it’s origins at that time just as stated in this document. I have a belief that we will one day see this ceremony again and in the meantime I hope the LKS maintain their contacts with the peoples who gave us this ceremony and bring it back to MKP at that time.
Curtis thank you for this. I believe you, and I grieve the hurts caused by MKP leadership. I grieve the loss of the P&RC personally as it was always very powerful to me. I grieve that new men may not be able to experience what I and many thousands of others were gifted to experience.
My one plea is for us all to remember what calls us to this work and the absolute IMJ need for it. MKP AND LKSI
Have changed lives. And we need to continue to do so in the integrity and service that has always been.
Thank you again for your truth.
Curtis – This man thanks you for all you have done for MKP & LKS throughout the years. Thank you for putting the truth out there. I don’t know where I am about staying involved w/ MKP right now. I am one of those men who feel deeply disrespected by what MKP USA has done. I will take care of myself, my brothers, & the Protocol.
Curtis,
Thank you for your words now and past. Your wisdom is evident in the gentle nature of your presentation of hard truths.
It is my hope that the s.p.i.r.i.t. group own their personal pain and abandon the false flag of cultural appropriation.
It is my hope MKPUSA finds a way to; serve the many, to make amends to the few, and to help the one to know itself and the unintended consequences that have arisen from their actions. [The removal of so many peoples learning of and respecting Indigenous Ways. Knowledge not available in any other tangible way.]
It is my hope we bring back the LKS into the MKP fold. They have acted as guardians of tradition (Indigenous and MKP) for decades, bringing the phrase “in a good way” to life for myself and thousands of men seeking now a ‘mission of service’ in the world.
Peace
Brother Standing Coyote,
thank you for your words and perceptions. Your shared thoughts bring me some relief, since I did not have a good understanding of the full background, around this debacle.
Dealing with the “Woke” agenda of the UN, UNDRIP, and the S.p.i.r.i.t. organizations is difficult enough, but to be tossed under the bus, by our own leadership, is extremely hard to
stomach.
I pray that there is a good way to move this toward a resolution that truly serves our LKSI community, our earnest native brothers, and all of the MKP leadership that still have balls.
If I can serve in some capacity for this effort, please say so.,
…………blessings ………. Ray Smith —- raven
I am so grateful for these honest words and for the love, faith and respect they convey for what is good in each of us. I was adopted by an Arapaho elder medicine man in the early 1980s. He called me nephew and my children he called grandson and granddaughter. All the Native Turtle Island elders I ever had the honor to sit in ceremony with carried the same spirit of radical generosity that Curtis speaks of in his elders. They told us “the saddest thing would be that if we shared with you these medicine ways and you didn’t practice them and share them. My uncle Henry truly believed that if enough humans learned and practiced indigenous wisdom ways with respect, we would all begin to remember what he called “The Original Instructions,” and bring the Mother earth back into balance.
It was obvious to me, when I was initiated at the Kauai Waipa NWTA in 2018, that the men holding the responsibility for the P&R ceremony were doing so with selfless respect, love and reverence. My Arapaho, Navajo, Cheyenne, Lakota, Azteca and Winnebago relatives would, to a person, be happy to see the essence of indigenous wisdom being respected and shared, in a humble way, for the benefit of all.
I believe the integrity I feel in the words of brother Curtis and I have to say I’m appalled that the LKS brothers were not included in the decision making process that would impact so many men, future generations, and families. I truly believe the actions of MKP US in this regard are misguided. This is not because I am rigidly holding on to a certain kind of ceremonial way. It is because they have thrown away an invaluably precious gift of the heart from an ancient lineage. This kind of blessing way cannot be replaced by a group of men inventing some kind of secular “replacement.”
I join my heart and voice with Rick Bishop above, in the belief and prayer that the P&R ceremony will return, for the benefit and spiritual health of everyone, everywhere.
What Curtis quoted a few times in this important document gave me chills, as I heard the voice of all my dear elders coming through it loud and clear. Here it is again:
“The Power and the Ways are given to us to be passed on to others. To think anything else is pure selfishness. We get more by giving them away, and if we do not give them away, we lose them.”
– Chief Frank Fools Crow (Mails
with a thought of blessing and healing,
Alan Sternik – Skydog – MKP Kauai Community Coordinator
Thank you, Curtis. Your intention to do all that you do in a good way is clear and obvious to all who know you. Your service and giveaway to our brotherhood has been of incalculable value to me personally, and to many thousands of our brothers. May the truth of your words and your heart be heard.
One of my most beloved mentors said that the initiation of men is archetypal and therefore global. He was also a part of crafting a mission of reclaiming for our time the sacred masculine.
Every man is unique. Perhaps there are men who never seek an initiatory experience or some who would be content with one without any spiritual component. What do you believe? In the USA I know you know there are issues where we may never find common ground.
My hope is that there are people who can work together on the meaning and value of initiation; work together on the value and means of including soul.
Hau tehanshi Curtis, Standing Coyote, Pidamiya for your words and wisdom, and your heartfelt work to bring the ways to initiate men in a good way. We have had a good run in our years since our initiation at the first NWTA away from Haimowoods here in Mnishota Makoce, the land of the Dakhota Oyate – we are grateful we have other more welcoming venues to share our centering cleansing rituals, and grieve the loss of extending the fellowship and wisdom Grandpa Fools Crow so generously shared back in the day. Will miss the gathering at Bedford this year, and are hopeful we may connect at a Wi Wang Wachipi or other gathering as the world turns. Doksha Akay Tehanshi Tom W Two Spirited Sycamore
So many feelings to sit with. So much conflict within.
It is with sadness that I hear of the suffering of others when they speak of the source being me, or what I have done. Does it matter whether I believe in their right to claim that what I am doing is hurting them? Am I willing to stop before seeking dialog? Is not the act of acquiescence the best place to embark upon the journey of healing?
I too believe other men who have done these things, that have caused suffering, feel hurt and loss at being told they are not welcome to do these things anymore. The question is whose suffering is greater? When will we come together to find the path that leads from this place?
Grief takes the time it must. I pray to have the stamina to endure the pain and sadness, as well a the patience required to be ready when reconciliation is requested. This is the hard way.
Please share the kind heart we all know you possess with us all. It is what will make the journey seem even more valuable when we look back and describe it to our descendants.
APPROPRIATION or APPRECIATION?
APPROPRIATION…when a person or group profits by taking (without permission, acknowledgement, nor compensation) from a minority.
APPRECIATION…when diverse individuals, groups, races, or nationalities freely exchange knowledge and experience, each giving the other proper acknowledgement and appreciation with a goal of learning, growing, healing and benefiting one another.
In my experience and solely in my opinion,
(1) I do not feel LKS nor MKP engaged in appropriation; and
(2) I believe we could have done more to acknowledge the origins of LKS and PNR and do more to differentiate from indigenous culture and ceremony, and
(3) I honor all of the initiated indigenous men, our MKP brothers, elders and leaders; men who shared their knowledge and experience with me, and the men who added to the diversity that makes MKP the success it is.