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PAGE 4 of MAIC's RESPONSE

The Story of Manataka
Contrary to being "the most sophisticated of fairy tales and New Age concepts. . . .by nature unprovable claims without rational support," most indigenous sacred stories and songs are not recorded most never were. And hopefully, never will be.

A true "American Indian Heritage Support Center" would know this. Native cultures exist through their language, stories and songs – not written documents by Europeans cited as footnotes.

Which is exactly why we talk with our brothers and sisters of different tribes.

Nonetheless, historical records of our story are many. In dominant culture, they include: the accounts of Thomas A. Nuttall, 1905; George A. Dorsey, 1905; Fred W. Allsopp, 1931, Orso Cobb, 1935; John R. Fordyce, 1939; John G. Fletcher, 1947; John L. Atkinson 1966; Francis J. Scully, 1966; Dee Brown, 1966; Charles M. Baker, 1974; Hester Davis, 1975; Dick Whittington, 1975; Herbert E. Baird, 1987; Dee Brown, 1982; Sam D. Dickenson, 1987; Thomas Woodward, 1990; Frank Schambach, 1990; Marcus Phillips, 1994; etc., detail their understanding of the people and events at Hot Springs. Of course there are other references found among early Europeans.

However, we do not entirely base our account on the basis of white historians who have a penchant for writing from the own limited perspective. We rely more heavily on the stories of the Caddo, Choctaw, Osage, Sioux, and many other spiritual elders who are responsible for the history and stories of their people.

Read the books. They do not support MAIC's claims major claims about Hot Springs. Once more, the Caddo, Choctaw, and Osage do not support MAIC’s claims. The Sioux were never in the area.

For the National Park Service to attempt to debunk our version of the Story of Manataka based on their limited history (200 years verses thousands of years), is at best amusing, but may be considered sinister and ugly when their actions here are added to the innumerable acts of illegal harassment of our people and deliberate acts of physically erasing indigenous history from public places in Hot Springs.

Why does MAIC keep referring to the NPS in their tirade against AIHSC? We have no connection to them outside of requesting documents. MAIC's version of the Story of Manataka is exactly that, their version. It is not supported outside of Manataka by anyone.

Government "Preserving," "Protecting?"

There is valid documentation found within the Park Service’s own archives that tell of a period when the government and locals began blasting portions of the sacred mountain with dynamite during construction projects and at least one instance when a claimant of one of the springs used dynamite to increase the flow of his spring. Altogether, after the blasting was finally halted, it was discovered several of the springs had stopped flowing. The government allowed this to happen to our sacred waters.

Any claim by the National Park Service that it has "preserved and protected" the ancient healing springs and the sacred mountain is totally without merit. They have poured huge amounts of concrete all over the natural surroundings. They completely redesigned nature to accommodate their own petty comforts. They buried the beautiful waters in a large underground holding tank allegedly to protect people from radon gas and the springs from pollution, but we believe, rather, the reason was money and power. They want to control a natural (re)source for political and monetary gain.

There is no debate in that a great deal of transformation was made to the park area. We do not agree that it was part of a vast governmental conspiracy to remove evidence of American Indian occupation or activity in the area.

The Rainbow Woman

We know the story of the Rainbow Woman cannot be substantiated in modern archeological terms. Any reader of this story knows this, too. The name of the Rainbow Woman can be depicted in many languages of both North and South.
The Mayan name was used here out of respect for two Maya spiritual elders who have visited Manataka several times.

The term “Rainbow Woman” is a common New Age term. The correct translation is Lady Rainbow. The validity of the “two Maya spiritual elders" is questioned. MAIC has aligned itself with too many fakes to be taken seriously.

OmeaKaEhekatl Gaada Erick Gonzales (Maya/Haida), is a Maya priest (Aj Q’ ij) and member and international representative of the Great Confederation of Council of Principal Mayan AjQ’ijab of Guatemala and Director of the National Council Nim E; Magdala Rameriz, is a Maya priestess who came here and retold the story using the name Ix Chel to describe the Rainbow Woman.

Either Gonzales has conned MAIC, much like MAIC claims Weasel Bear did, or they are both accomplices in what they do. Our sources show that Gonzales is Criollo, not Maya/Haida as stated. You too can join him in a retreat at the Kalealea Retreat Center in Maui or the Kalani Hanua Oceanside Resort for either $1,300 or $2,500 - depending on which one you want to go to. So much for any spirituality this guy has. Magdala Rameriz is a New Age author of a book on Ix Chel.

The comment that Ix Chel is "generally associated with being destructive, deathly and demonic" is totally incorrect and an ugly attempt to cast an unfavorable light on the beautiful characters of both stories -- from the South and the North.

Here is what Magdala Rameriz had to say:
"Your words are true except for the last part; the ‘demonic, bad things.’ As you realize, that was written by a hand of the Spanish people that arrive to our land, and of course, they were shocked to see all this beautiful culture and so much knowledge that they could not grasp. The Spanish were thinking as the white people that the planet was flat. Imagine a culture in the 1400s that already knew about time, space physics. Our culture already knew about quantum physics and the measurements of the planets and the distances to the Sun, Venus and many other planetary dimensions. Of course, for the Spanish and maybe still for (these people), this is a ‘demonic thing.’ . . . . She is indeed a Goddess of Life/Death, very much related now with some religions here like mother Mary ‘in the of our death,’ say that prayer.
Then she is also life and death. Now do not think whatsoever that it is only way to see the things. The ancestors explained that to us in very ancient schools that the Rainbow Woman, Ix Chel, can be also dressed in white buckskin, and use the feathers if she pleases for the tribes of the north. The importance of this is that she does bring unity with her knowledge, to all tribes, all together, including white people, because she is indeed the weaver, as you mention."

Of course, if this letter is not enough to satisfy the government, we will be happy to request the Maya elders of Guatemala to supply another.

We doubt that government has the slightest interest in Ix Chel. If they did, they most likely would refer to a more reliable source for their information than Rameriz.

Other claims/allegations

We could further contest point by point other allegations by the AIHSC web site, regarding intricacies of DeSoto’s travels, tribes in ancient and modern times that have visited the area, the Trail of Tears, the area’s geography, features of the sacred mountain, and other Native American sites and ceremonial grounds in the area, but, particularly regarding the latter, for what purpose? So the government can acquire them, too? Prevent Native Peoples from holding ceremony on those places? Loot them, too? And then say they don’t exist?

The purpose would be to validate MAIC's claims, which we suggest they cannot.

In sum, we know Manataka was called by many names across the continent, according to the languages and traditions of many nations. We call it Manataka, but other nations called it by many names. The name we give this holy place is not the point, nor is it to get into endless debates over white history of the area. The only important issue is, is this place a sacred site of ancient times and today?

What other names is the Hot Springs area called by any tribe? Those we have contacted outside of the few that have had a historical connection there never heard of the place!

We consider all the Earth as sacred. But this particular site was and is a place where the Creator of All Things manifests in wondrous ways, therefore, Manataka is a sacred site.

Which differs from the claim that thousands of American Indians gathered there because it was a sacred place, or that aliens blasted crystal caves into the mountains.

We are, of course, saddened that anyone would go to such great lengths to malign our organization, or cause pain for our members by holding them up to ridicule, for what purpose, we do not know -- but we can conjecture a host of reasons. But if we are to practice the power of the Sacred Site that is Manataka, the Place of Peace, where even the bitterest enemies laid down their weapons to peacefully coexist in the healing waters under the compassionate eye of the goddess of the mountain, then we must lay down our weapons, too, and offer our hands in peace.

Malign, no. Expose MAIC for it's claims that misrepresent American Indian history and traditions, yes.

We have not sought the dispute with the National Park Service barring us from practicing sacred ceremonies. We have sought every peaceful and amicable means possible to hold our gatherings in cooperation with the government in whatever reasonable way it deems fit. All to no avail.

We offer our thoughts and observations in a good way, to set the record straight, and prevent more damage and hurt by these individuals whoever they may be. Perhaps if they found the power and beauty of the Place of Peace themselves, there would be no need for such controversy.
Mitakuye Oyasin - We Are One
The Elder Council of Manataka

There's that "Mitakuye Oyasin" again. The controversy will exist as long as MAIC continues to make the claims it does, misleads those who are serious in connecting with an American Indian heritage, and bastardizes our traditions.

If AIHSC wants more documentation of MAIC’s assertions from writers of European descent, the person(s) behind that anonymous organization may wish to peruse:

Here MAIC lists approximately 53 published resources. The reader can find the whole list in MAIC's article directed towards us.

Finally, MAIC has provided the reader a chance to look at MAIC’s assertions and determine their truthfulness from the very sources they claim that support them. We invite the reader to look at these resources MAIC says they used, and see if they really do support the American Indian history of Hot Springs that MAIC claims, that Hot Springs was a sacred place, that tribes of 34 languages gathered there, that aliens from space blasted caves into the mountains, or any other claim that MAIC made. Instead, we believe that the reader will find these resources supporting our view that MAIC has either invented or twisted claims based on a factual background for their own purposes. We doubt that MAIC has even read or referred to most of the resources they list. If they did, they would not have been included.

For example, Dee Brown’s “The American Spa: Hot Springs Arkansas” describes how early promoters fabricated stories about Hot Springs and American Indians there. One of the authors of the references is familiar with MAIC‘s claims. When told about the inclusion of her and some of her fellow professionals work as supporting MAIC, she responds: “That's not surprising, but it is interesting. More than one person has looked for legitimacy of claims in mainstream archeological writings. I can't imagine how those articles would support them, though.” Ingenthron’s "Indians of the Ozark Plateau does not address anything near Hot Springs, but the Ozark Plateau of Missouri and Northern Arkansas. The same goes for the vast majority of other books MAIC claims they use for reference.

Also note the inclusion of the books on the list that deal with folklore and romanticism. Folklore includes urban legends, conspiracy theories, UFO abductions, Paul Bunyan and Pecos Bill. One of the most famous folklore accumulations is that by the Brothers Grimm. Using folklore and romanticism to build a foundation of claims such as MAIC makes is indeed strange.

The identity of the primary person responsible for the malicious and slanderous attacks against Manataka and architect of AIHSC, can be revealed to the public with a court order.

MAIC likes to use such threats. No doubt that a court would consider such an action to be a nuisance, since the information is readily and easily available to those who take the time to research properly. That MAIC apparently is incapable of this does not say much for any other claims that MAIC might make.

Not a part of their claims against AIHSC, but an interesting point to show the MAIC intellectual dishonesty, is that an Arkansas Times article on the Lost Cherokee Nation of Arkansas and Missouri being involved with 21 school districts and pushing fraudulent Office of Indian Education grants was published on 9/22/2005. MAIC placed the article in their October Smoke Signals Newsletter, followed by this "Editor's Opinion":

"The actions of LCN are reprehensible and abhorrent to American Indians and all citizens with ideals and principals. In addition to the activity described above, the LCN uses greed to lure prospective members by holding out a false carrot of Federation Recognition. LCN will never achieve recognition. They do not currently qualify under federal guidelines and laws nor will they ever. We are aware of groups in other states who are operating in the same fashion. When will they learn?"

"Portions of this article were omitted for the sake of space and clarity."

Guess which portions were omitted? Those were the parts that described AIHSC's part in exposing the fraud!