Native Sun News Today: Navajo Nation citizens unite to stop controversial 'Sundance'

Wednesday, August 30, 2017

A Sundance in Navajoland?

People unite to stop Sundance on reservation
By Alaina Adakai
Native Sun News Today Correspondent
nativesunnews.today

DILKON, Arizona –– The Navajo community of Dilkon has recently gained national attention as its residents united to stop a Sundance that was planned to take place from August 15th to the 21st. Historically, Sundances are not a traditional Navajo ceremony; however, through intertribal marriages the Sundance was introduced and adopted by some Navajo families.

Dilkon is located in the southwestern part of the Navajo reservation. A 35-minute drive south will take you to Interstate 40 and Winslow, a small town made famous in the song, “Take It Easy," by The Eagles.

This particular Sundance was controversial because of its ties to Dwight D. York, a convicted pedophile and Black supremacist cult leader. In 2003, York pleaded guilty to over 100 counts of child molestation and sexual trafficking of minors. He is currently serving a 135-year sentence.

In 2007, author Bill Osinski published a booked titled, “Ungodly: A True Story of Unprecedented Evil”. In the book Osinski chronicles the rise of York’s black supremacist cult and subsequent criminal actions.

"When he (York) was finally indicted, state prosecutors literally had to cut back the number of counts listed- from well beyond a thousand to slightly more than 200 — because they feared a jury simply wouldn’t believe the magnitude of York's evil.… [It] is believed to be the nation's largest child molestation prosecution ever directed at a single person, in terms of number of victims and number of alleged criminal acts,” wrote Osinski.

Dwight D. York is an African American man who has used countless aliases. He is most known as Dr. Malachi Z. York, the founder of United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors.

“The Nuwaubian Nation,” as it is currently called, is a religious group who believe that African Americans are the first and “true” Native Americans. They believe that their ancestors were living on the American continents long before the American Indian. The Nuwaubian Nation members claim that different tribes such as the Olmec, Creek, Seminole, Anasazi, and ancient Mound Builders are their African American ancestors.

Nuwaubian Nation doctrine also teaches that African Americans built the great cities and pyramids in South and Central America. Along with architecture, they believe that their ancestors taught American Indians science, medicine, farming, hunting, and religious practices such as the Sundance.

Their religious beliefs are an eclectic mixture of ancient Egyptian god worship, Islamic doctrine, Judaism, and belief in extra-terrestrial life and UFO’s. Further complexing their religious doctrine, the Nuwaubians also intertwine and practice some Hopi, Navajo, and Lakota ceremonies.