Fake Plastic Indian: The Stolen Legacy Of Harley SwiftDeer Reagan
Chapter 63 of Neophyte: My Life In A Sex Cult
This is a chapter within my memoir, Neophyte, about my time in a harmful cult called the Deer Tribe Metis Medicine Society. It is not meant to be read as a stand-alone post. To view all book chapters, click here.
The Deer Tribe is a dangerous cult. While they present themselves as a spiritual community offering healing and empowerment, their practices are rooted in manipulation, control, and cultural appropriation. Like many cults, they offer moments of genuine connection and personal insight — but these are strategically used to gain trust and draw people deeper into a harmful system. Readers are encouraged to read the entire book before forming opinions about the Deer Tribe.
Chapter 63
I hadn’t spoken to Sawyer Brooks in three years, not since the day I had lunch at his house and he revealed all the lies SwiftDeer had told. But it occurred to me that Sawyer could be a valuable ally. One afternoon in late April, I reached out.
“I have left the Path and am actively working to hold them publicly accountable for horrific abuses of power,” I wrote. “Have you put this all behind you or would you want to connect to see what can be done with what you know and what I know?”
Sawyer was more than happy to talk with me.
“I’m so glad you realized the Deer Tribe is a cult!” he told me in his reply. “SwiftDeer was a liar, a manipulator, a plagiarist, and a sexual predator. He was not Native American. He was not a student of any Native American teacher. He was not a decorated Vietnam Veteran. He was not wounded in Vietnam. He committed the act of ‘Stolen Valor,’ which is a felony. The origin stories of all the Deer Tribe’s teachings, ceremonies, and traditions are all lies.”
Sawyer had done his research. He sent me files and photocopies of all the information he had gathered, including Harley’s DD214 form, which, as Sawyer explained, is the official and indisputable record of military service. That form was undeniable proof that Swift Deer had lied about his military record.
Harley Reagan served in the US Marine Corps for 10 months and 28 days. After being Absent Without Leave and committing a crime, he served time in a US military prison. The US Marine Corps discharged him under “Under Other Than Honorable Conditions” for “Reasons of Unfitness.” That category of Dishonorable Discharge disqualified him from future US Military service.
“By the way, the Deer Tribe leaders had this form at the beginning of the controversy. They knew about Swift’s lies and chose to keep them hidden,” he added. “We have freedom of religion in our country. The Deer Tribe could come clean, admit to the lies, and then people could freely choose to practice their ‘religion’ with full disclosure. That’s something I repeatedly tried to explain to the leaders. They won’t do it, because they are consciously and subconsciously terrified of letting go of their delusions. But hey, if people want to spend their time and money living these lies, they have the freedom to do so. God bless America!”
Sawyer’s reply made me laugh, but it was also sobering. I, too, had once been one of those people who ignored SwiftDeer’s lies
I spent hours reviewing Sawyer’s research. He provided explanations and proof for everything.
“Check out this clip,” he said in one email. “SwiftDeer claimed that he did the martial arts scenes in the movie Billy Jack. You know that movie poster of Billy Jack that hangs in the Rainbow Power Center near the dojo? The autograph on that poster was forged. SwiftDeer had nothing to do with the martial arts in that movie. That’s just another example of SwiftDeer stealing credit for someone else’s hard work and life accomplishments. There is zero evidence that SwiftDeer held any martial arts black belts, despite his claims to the contrary. You can’t find his name on any black belt tree of any martial arts lineage.”
But the most disturbing lies had to do with his ancestry.
“Here is the evidence of SwiftDeer’s ancestry lies,” Sawyer wrote in another email. “SwiftDeer always claimed to be half Irish and half Cherokee. This was a lie. You can find evidence of this lie through two main sources.
"The first is Ancestry.com. When using Ancestry.com, it's important to understand that there are different types of entries listed under an individual’s name. Some entries are automatically populated from public records, such as census data and birth and death records. However, individual users can also add records and even modify names.”
SwiftDeer’s grandmother was Johnnie Edmond King. On Ancestry.com, someone altered her name to display as Johnnie Edmond “Spotted Fawn” King. Under “Nationality,” they created the entry: “Cherokee, Eastern Band Roll #1595 85.”
“That’s a bogus entry,” Sawyer explained. “The second source of SwiftDeer’s ancestry lies is through the Cherokee Nation. Anyone can contact the Tribal Enrollment Office of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians at (828) 359-6764 to verify that Johnnie Edmond King, born 10/08/1889, was not a member of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation. In fact, the roll number shown on Ancestry.com isn’t even in the correct format. The entry is completely falsified.
"Additionally, multiple automatically populated census records list Johnnie Edmond King’s ‘color or race’ as ‘white.’ Her father, Reverend Joseph Underwood King, is also documented. A photograph of him shows a man with a beard—an unusual trait for Native American men, who typically do not have facial hair.”
“Why did we fall for this?” I wailed to Naomi one day.
“SwiftDeer was a charismatic person,” she replied. “Very typical cult leader personality. He fabricated, blended, and twisted everything. He also had a bad habit of not crediting people unless he was forced to or caught, and he usually wasn't. His body of teachings comes directly from various sources, including Hyemeyohsts Storm, Carlos Castaneda, Ken Meadows, Black Elk, SunBear, Peter Balin, The Rosicrucians, Wilhelm Reich, Jung, Ordo Templi Orientis, Aleister Crowley, Blavatsky, the Golden Dawn, the Freemasons, the Bible, the Mormons—yes, more than you might think!—martial arts teachers, movies, books, Manly P. Hall, and Lynn Andrews. He was brilliant at skillfully maintaining an internally consistent system.”
He had deceived us all. And even when the truth stared us in the face, most of us refused to see it.
Go to Chapter 64.
In the book Star Warrior, it states that Swiftdeer was awarded the Silver Star for his heroic actions in Operation Raincoat Vietnam war. That book came out before the internet. Pre-Internet a person would need to write to the government to get a paper copy of all Silver Star recipients to find out if it was true. Now on a search engine you can enter "US Marines Vietnam Silver Star Recipients List" and dozens of government and non government sites list every single person. I didn't see Harley Reagan on any list. If he is listed as a Silver Star recipient it must be on a list I couldn't find. 2418 Marines got the Silver Star during Vietnam.