Consumer Alerts on Giovanni de Carlo, aka The Flute Keeper

INTERNATIONAL
NATIVE AMERICAN FLUTE ASSOCIATION
A Musical and Education-Based Organization Whose Goal is to Foster the Preservation,
Appreciation, Understanding, and Advancement of the Native American flute, as well as other world flute traditions

Consumer/Retail Alert on Giovanni de Carlo

ATTENTION U.S. MILITARY BASES IN GERMANY: The military bases in Germany have been notified about Giovanni de Carlo, the self-proclaimed Flute Keeper, whose alias is Tdom Bah Toden Xkee. In the past, Gio has performed on U.S. military bases, in particular during November which is Native American history month.

Since the base itself is considered to be the same as being on American soil, the U.S. military bases were made aware of the fact that Gio is wanted in the United States for felony fraud. He is not Native American in heritage, which means that he is in violation of the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990 (http://www.doi.gov/iacb/act.html). He is Greek and passing himself off as Native American and profiting from it. This is illegal according to the Act and he can be held accountable on a military base since it is American soil. He may also be apprehended on military bases for the fraud warrants that are active for him in the U.S.A.

The following e-mail was sent to INAFA on February 27, 2009, with regard to Giovanni de Carlo, the self-proclaimed Flute Keeper, whose other alias is Tdom Bah Toden Xkee. INAFA urges caution is dealing with this individual, and encourages everyone to educate themselves before giving money or support to people like Giovanni de Carlo. Be it known that the Kiowa have no record of this person as a member of their tribe; he was not born into the community and he was not adopted into it. He is not Native American. Gio did not win a Grammy Award. He did not compose the music for the movie, "The Last of the Mohicans" or any other movie:

"Dear INAFA,

A friend of mine and I have come across your website and found your alert statement about Giovanni de Carlo, also known as Gio, The Flute Keeper, and Tdom Bah Toden Xkee.

As we have been interested and engaged in Native American cultures for a very long time and also have many Native American friends. We are very concerned about this person. We met him first at a German Powwow in 2007 and were suspicious right away. As platform for his atrocities, he chose a German association called "Powwow Freunde e.V." (engl: Powwow Friends, non-profit). By using the association, he was able to fix appointments for numerous gigs, where he played his flutes (with background music from tape), sold "handmade" flutes, CDs, DVDs and MP3 players. He has earned a lot of money without paying any tax to the German tax office. At events he acts very hot-tempered, despotic, and profit-greedy. But, what hurts us most is that he constantly ridicules and tramples on Native American traditions:

-He takes off his roach and passes around the attached eagle feather
-He takes pictures of and films ceremonial events at powwows (e.g. prayers, picking up fallen eagle feathers, etc.)
-Afterwards, he sells the footage to the audience and again makes a lot of money.
-He has crafted a war-bonnet, which the audience can pick up and he takes photos. He also walks around with it himself to lure people from the street to his shows.
-All the above mentioned things he does, claiming to be a member of the Kiowa tribe, originated in Oklahoma

Whatever this Gio does, he does for his own profit, supported by the president of the "Powwow Freunde e.V. (Jackie Fischer: jackie.fischer@yahoo.de) He uses the members of the association in a very shameful way. He gets all the support without giving anything back. Because of his misdoings many members have quit by now and we were the first of them.

He claims of being the ONLY NATIVE AMERICAN Grammy award winner, and the composer of the flute music of the soundtrack "The Last of the Mohicans". He publishes this statement on his website >www.gilamusic.com< in a video clip of a German TV show called "1, 2 or 3" from 27 December 2008. Here are some of the websites where you can find material about him:

-www.gilamusic.com
-www.powwow-freunde.de
-www.buffalo-chips.powwowagency.de

We hope you are able to take legal actions to finally put an end to this deceitful fraud!!! Or maybe could at least be supportive to German legal offices. We would appreciate any kind of feedback."

UPDATE - August, 2007: Giovanni de Carlo, the self-proclaimed "flute keeper," has surfaced in Europe.

INAFA has recently received numerous complaints and advisories from people in Europe about the whereabouts and their dealings with Giovanni de Carlo, also known as "Gio", "The Flute Keeper," and "Tdom Bah Toden Xkee." INAFA continues to council caution in doing business or hiring this individual. Please research and verify his credentials and award claims carefully. According to the Kiowa, they have no record of this person as being a member of any type of the their tribal nation. The Native American Church does not recognize him as being a legitimate shaman, nor is he listed as a member of the church itself. Please contact INAFA if you have seen this individual, so that we may notify the appropriate authorities.

Here is a recent statement that INAFA received concerning the self-proclaimed Flute Keeper. As these people are concerned about their personal safety, complete names are being kept private:

"Dear Sir, presently an american speaking individual tours throughout northern Germany and The Netherlands. He Claims to belong to the Kiowa people. He offers a.o. native american flute concerts, hand made native american flutes and workshops to learn making them. For his flute production he uses a modern carpenter's machine shop as can be seen at his website. His remarks about native american indian people, their history and the rôle of the white people in relation to them are rather nebulous and aggressive. His claims about his position in the native american and international music world (awards, recognition etc.) are rather bold. At so called Pow Wows he arranges naming ceremonies according to Indian heritage culture as he claims. The Kiowa Tribe Enrollment office has informed us officially with a document signed by the Notary Public that the subject person is not shown on the current membership roll of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma."

"My partner and I talked with Gio after a concert in Offenbach/near Frankfurt. Giovanni de Carlo invited my partner to do a concert together and gave us a date, when he have time for this and we should organize this for him. This was very short-thermed so that I didn´t research for him more than I did find on his gilamusic – site.We did the Concert and I really don’t like this Gio and his way to treat the people and he was obviously not spirituell or shaman or in any way in contact with mother earth that was my experience with him. We don’t have troubles with him, but he was not really comfort with the money he got, he tried to exert pressure on my partner with the arguments that he can help him to get successful through his Name (Thom Bah Toden Kxee, Grammy etc.) but I had the feeling that its not good to do any more business with him and so we did not.

I hope it will help you and preserve people for more troubles with him."

UPDATE - December, 2005: Giovanni de Carlo, the self-proclaimed "flute keeper," has surfaced in a new venture. His new Web site is: www.gilamusic.com His new contact information is as follows:

Giovanni de Carlo
14609 Saticoy, #21
Van Nuys, CA 91405
Phone: 1-818-988-3090
E-mail: flutes@usa.com

Important: Much of the biography for the so-called "Flute Keeper" is pure fiction, including his false assertion that he received a NAMMY and a GRAMMY for his recording, Sacred Ground. Look deeper into his claims; you will find further falsehoods.

This is an UPDATE concerning the warning given about Giovanni de Carlo(Gio), who refers to himself as "The Flute Keeper." The original warning was as follows:

Transgression: Giovanni de Carlo attends powwows or arts/crafts events and purchases Native American flute-related materials using worthless checks and a worthless debit card. He wrote a bad check to one particular flute maker at the Tulsa Indian Art Festival for 45 books, one flute, and two CDs. Giovanni de Carlo cannot be located to make restitution for his bad debt. The flute maker who was victimized by Gio has filed a report with the Tulsa police department. This is only one example of de Carlo's activities.

Gio also bills himself as being a GRAMMY Award winner and a NAMMY Award nominee. Neither claim is true, and both entities have been notified of his false promotional claims. At present, Giovanni de Carlo is doing workshops for the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians in Oregon. The Human Services Program Manager, Lorre G. Lewis, Ph.D., for the tribal community contacted the INAFA when she saw our consumer alert on our Web site. He was also recently seen at a festival in Venice Beach, California, and is rumoured to be heading to Greece, next.

Recently, Gio found the INAFA consumer warning on our Web site. He wrote INAFA an e-mail that was completely filled with rage and very unsavory, threatening language. Local authorities have been made aware of the threat made by Giovanni de Carlo against the INAFA and Dr. Kathleen Joyce-Grendahl. Since then, INAFA has received numerous e-mails from other people who have been victimized by Gio. Many people have written to INAFA expressing appreciation for the warning about him, and, as a result, have opted not to do business with de Carlo.

Gio’s present contact information is only a Web site address on which he does not list an address or a phone number. If one wants to order something from him, the only way to do so is by contacting him via e-mail. His present Web site is: www.theflutekeeper.com.

Other addresses that we have on file for de Carlo are as follows:

Giovanni de Carlo Publishing, Inc./ Tax ID: 36-428-3574 (Illinois)
4619 San Dario Avenue, #502
Laredo, TX 78041-5773

and...

Giovanni de Carlo
1626 West 18th Pl 3-Rr
Chicago, IL 60608
Phone: 312-492-8651
E-mail: the_flute_keeper@oklahoma.usa.com

In addition, de Carlo has another address listing him in Idaho.

INAFA encourages its members to use caution when doing business with this individual. And, if you have further information, please contact INAFA immediately and we will put you in contact with the appropriate individuals/authorities.