Brooke "Medicine Eagle" Edwards (born 1943) is an American author, singer/songwriter and teacher, specializing in her interpretations of Native American religions. She frequently teaches workshops at

New Age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars conside ...

and other events.

Biography

Edwards was born and raised in

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

. She studied at the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private university, private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Mountain States, Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is ...

obtaining a BA degree in psychology and mathematics. She earned an MA in counseling psychology from the

. She has

self-identified Personal identity is the unique numerical identity of a person over time. Discussions regarding personal identity typically aim to determine the necessary and sufficient conditions under which a person at one time and a person at another time can ...

as being descended from six Native American tribes, including

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...

, Crow,

Cree The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...

, Piegan Blackfeet, and some "

Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin (; Dakota language, Dakota: Help:IPA, /otʃʰeːtʰi ʃakoːwĩ/) are groups of Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribes and First Nations in Canada, First Nations peoples in North America. The ...

and Nez Perce ancestry," as well as European blood from Scotland, Ireland, and Denmark. She is not enrolled in any of these tribes, however, and her statements and misrepresentations of Native American spirituality have been contested and protested by several Native American groups, including the American Indian Movement. In 1984, the American Indian Movement included Edwards among those it said were responsible for "a great attack or theft" of Native American ceremonies, and in a 2001 article in the '' Journal of Religious & Theological Information'', Cynthia Snavely connected Edwards to the "misappropriation of Native American spirituality hattakes place within the New Age spirituality movement". The ''Center for the SPIRIT (Support and Protection of Indian Religions and Indigenous Traditions)'' accused her of misrepresenting her heritage and falsely claiming to be a medicine woman. Bianca Casady of the musical group CocoRosie has referred to Brooke Medicine Eagle as her mother's partner, stating "As a small child I was carried in a papoose around sacred Anasazi grounds by my mother and her partner, Brook Medicine Eagle."

Works

Audio

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Books

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References

External links