.
.
.
.
.
.
.




========================================
Start of January 2003 Newsletter, Part 2
========================================

Hi,

A couple of things have come up recently, and I thought I would pass 
them along. The first is a chance to get in the movies. The second is a 
personal matter.

=============================

"Cherokee Heritage Center to Host Auditions for Native American Actors" 

Open auditions will be held on January 11th in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. You 
can read more about it at the Cherokee Nation's website:

http://www.cherokee.org/NewsArchives/Archives2002/12-02-28.htm

I have been in a couple of movies, and it is an interesting experience.


=====================================

Goodness knows there is no one, unifying voice for American Indians. We 
have different beliefs (political, ethical, moral and spiritual). We 
have different backgrounds, histories, and opinions. I try to respect 
others' opinion, whether I share them or not. And short of someone 
promoting things like child pornography, I try not to take honest 
differences of opinion personally.

As I have mentioned here before, I receive many e-mails from the general 
public. While it may take me a while, I eventually get back to everyone 
whose e-mail I received. OK, I do not reply to the thousands of SPAM 
e-mail I get each day. :-) On January 3rd, I received an e-mail from 
Karsten Boysen. I did not recall this name, although, granted, I have 
e-mailed thousands of people, and it is possible we might have 
communicated in the past. It appears (based on the e-mail address) that 
Karsten Boysen is the editor for The Freshwater Drum: Native Peoples' 
Fisheries Section Newsletter of The American Fisheries Society. You can 
find it at : http://www.lapratt.com/npfs/newslet.htm . Karsten Boysen 
also appears to be a member of the Quileute Tribe in LaPush, Washington. 


This e-mail is an example of the infighting which is often seen in the 
American Indian community. I thought I would pass this along to see if 
any of you agree with Karsten Boysen. And if so, what I might be able to 
do to correct any problems. 

Do any of you know this person? It is possible the e-mail was written on 
a bad day. Or, it is possible that Karsten Boysen just doesn't like me. 
Based on the e-mail address used, it appears they did read my biography 
page on my website. 

I have included Karsten's e-mail, and my reply below.





----- Original Message -----
From: "karsten" ;
To: ;
Sent: Friday, January 03, 2003 11:31 AM
Subject: BAD HISTORY BOOK


Phil --
Do you realize what a joke you are to legitimate tribal people who still 
live on Indian reservations throughout the U.S.? Anybody who wants to 
claim tribal blood says 'I'm Cherokee'. REGARDLESS, it's an insult to 
the tribes of North America to say you have the most significant 
historical dates, BUT you only go back to 800 AD in Chichen Itza? Get 
real! We of the Quileute Tribe in LaPush, Washington, have documentation 
for at least 12,000 years B.C. Haven't you read Indian Givers?

The only authentic way to refer to tribal people is by their tribal
name -- THAT is the only real name they recognize. "Indian" is from the 
Spanish who mistakenly, thanks to Columbo, named the people after India, 
which means, by the way, "People from God : In=from, dios=god.

Obviously you are just one more white guy trying to RIP-OFF the tribal 
people of this world.

Have a nice day!
Karsten Boysen








My reply:



I do not know who you are. You, obviously, do not know me.

Unfortunately, my editors removed everything prior to Columbus in order 
to reduce the book by 100 pages. I had to fight to get what little 
pre-columbian material I could.

Incidentally, nine events about the Quileute did make it into the book. 
That is all I could find for events happening on an exact date. I am 
sure there are many more, but I was unable to find them.

I cannot speak about people who claim to be Cherokee. All I know is 
about myself, and my family. I am an enrolled member of the Cherokee 
Nation, as is my mother, as was my grandfather, and his parents, and 
their parents. My mother and grandfather (both Adairs), grew up in Adair 
County, Oklahoma. I am upfront about the fact that I am not a 
"full-blood." I also do not get into arguments about who is more 
"native" than the next person.

I, just as you, can call myself ANYTHING I wish. I happen to prefer 
American Indian, or Indian, over the phrase native American. Perhaps you 
perfer Native Peoples. That's fine with me. I like that better than 
Native American. I prefer Cherokee over American Indian. I prefer Phil 
over Cherokee. The following appears on my website, note the third 
paragraph:

-------------
"Just for info, I bristle whenever I hear the phrase "Native American." 
When it comes to words to decribe this part of my background, I prefer 
just about ANY other term: American Indian, Indian, Aboriginal American, 
First American, First People, etc., etc.

I have talked with 1000s of people about this. I have only encountered 
two (2) American Indians who prefer the NA term. Most Indians only use 
the term when someone else brings it up first. It is fine with me if 
people want to called themselves NA. That is their choice.

By far, most Indians prefer to be called by their name (Phil, for 
example). Most would also prefer the use of their tribal name (Cherokee, 
for example) over any other phrase.

I realize American Indians are not from India, thus American Indian is 
an inaccurate term. In my mind though, anyone born in the Americas 
(North and South) is a native American. I am "politically correct" in 
many ways, but not this one."
-------------------

The part about tribal names sounds just like what you wrote. What I said 
has been posted on my website for years.

You do not know me, and yet you are very critical of my motives. I do 
not know you, so I cannot judge your motives. Pardon me, but how have I 
ripped-off anyone? Do you know how many books I have donated to 
libraries?

If you are the Karsten Boysen who is the editor of The Freshwater Drum, 
you should be ashamed of yourself. Most writers try to get their facts 
straight before accusing people of things. But, then, perhaps you were 
mistaken about what you thought you knew about me, and thought you did 
have your facts straight. While I do not consider him to be the abitor 
of what is "native" and what is not, one of the first people to add a 
link to my website (about 5 years ago) was Russell Means. He was the 
first person I ever heard who quoted the "In Dios" story.

Incidentally, it was the marketing people at my publishers who said my 
book had the "most significant historical dates." I never said that. 
Marketing people have a tendency toward hyperbole. Many of the most 
significant historical events can not be traced back to an EXACT date, 
which is the format of my material.

By the way, is your only object the lack of events before we discovered 
Columbus? Even considering that, it does not make my book bad. There are 
5,400 other events which ARE listed.

I am not trying to insult you, even if you are trying to insult me.

Respectfully,

Phil Konstantin





I waited a few days to see if there would be a reply. There has been 
none. I do not mind constructive criticism. This just seemed a bit 
spiteful. Oh well, you cannot please everyone.

===========================

That's it for this update

Phil


======================================
End of January 2003 Newsletter, Part 2
====================================== 
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.


  

Monthly Newsletter

Put your e-mail address in the box below and click the button to receive my monthly e-mail newsletter. The newsletter features historical information, a "Link of the Month" and other related material.

Join American Indian!

Go To Newsletter Page Go To Main Page Go To Tribal Names Page Go to Indian Moons & Calendar Stuff Go to Awards & "Web Rings"

Click on the drop down menu:

Links Pages Tribal Name Meanings Moons & Calendar Info My Photos My Bio Sleepy Driver Space Program Ancient Ruins Maya Ruins Whale Watching Awards & WebRings CHP Cherokee Info Cherokee Enrollment Get Paid to Surf the Net Newsletter Archive AmericanIndian.net Store "Indian Era" Forts Articles I Wrote Photos of Northwest USA Reviews of Books and Movies KUSI TV, my new job My Website's Main Page

or
Click on the image below to go to......

My Website's Home Page	Links: (8,700 and counting)	Tribal Names
Indian Moons	Personal Photos	My Biography
Sleepy Driver	The Space Program	Ancient Ruins in Central America
Maya Ruins in Mexico	Whales	Awards & Webrings
Cherokee Holiday 2001	Cherokee Enrollment	My Newsletters
My Store	California Highway Patrol	Indian Era Forts
Articles I Wrote	Northwestern USA Indian Country	American Indian Museum in D.C. 2004
Movie & Book Reviews	KUSI TV, my other job	Mesa Verde and Utah in 2006
My Mortgage Loan Company	2006 SDSU Powwow	Beach Photos

---

Sign My Guestbook

View My Guestbook