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<span class="post_date" title="2015-12-09"><i>We worked closely with
John Trudell for the first time when Alcatraz was occupied. A
transmitter was smuggled to the island, John was given a crash
course to get his (then necessary) FCC license to broadcast. He
became the vehicle for the Indigenous occupiers of the island to
report on a virtually daily basis about the occupation and their
goals from liberated territory. (this was a fine moment in KPFA
and Pacifica history - as it made real what self determination
sounded like).</i><br>
<br>
December 9, 2015</span>
<h1 class="headline" itemprop="name"><a
href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/12/09/john-trudell-human-being/"
rel="bookmark">John Trudell: Human Being</a></h1>
<p class="post_meta"> <span class="post_author_intro">by</span> <span
class="post_author" itemprop="author"><a
href="http://www.counterpunch.org/author/michael-donnelly/"
rel="nofollow">Michael Donnelly</a><br>
</span></p>
<p class="post_meta"><span class="post_author" itemprop="author"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/12/09/john-trudell-human-being/">http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/12/09/john-trudell-human-being/</a><br>
</span> </p>
<div class="post_content" itemprop="articleBody">
<blockquote>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-77680"
src="cid:part3.08020906.00000108@freedomarchives.org"
alt="JohnTrudell_AlcatrazOccupation_AP Photo by Richard
Drew" height="287" width="510"></p>
<p style="text-align: right;"><em>John Trudell at Alcatraz
Occupation. Photo: Richard Drew.</em></p>
<p>I don’t want to tell people how to remember me. I want people
to remember me as they remember me.” —John Trudell</p>
<p>“He got a fast horse. Comanche warriors made sure he got
their best. Hoofbeats thunder through the Time Ripple,
cracking open the curtains that divide the spirit worlds,
casting sparks back our way. Let’s gather them up and build
fires.” — Greta Montagne<em> </em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>There’s a reason John Trudell is in the Counterculture Hall of
Fame. Several reasons.</p>
<p>The great <a
href="http://www.usnews.com/news/entertainment/articles/2015/12/08/american-indian-activist-poet-john-trudell-dies-at-69">Santee
Sioux poet/philosopher/warrior</a> passed December 8, 2015
after a long bout with cancer. He was at peace, surrounded by
family and friends; many had tirelessly helped care for John
thru this transition. He lived a magnificent life. He was 69.</p>
<p>After serving in the Navy in Vietnam, John was instrumental in
the 1969-70 Alcatraz Occupation by the Indians of All Tribes.
Alcatraz jump-started the Native Rights Movement. He went on to
be a founder of the American Indian Movement (AIM) and became
its only Chairman.</p>
<p><strong>Termination and Restoration</strong></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“If you can’t change them, absorb them until they simply
disappear into the mainstream culture. …In Washington’s
infinite wisdom, it was decided that tribes should no longer
be tribes, never mind that they had been tribes for thousands
of years.”— Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell</p>
</blockquote>
<p>One of AIM’s greatest accomplishments on John’s watch was
drawing attention to the odious policy of <a
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_termination_policy">Tribal
Termination</a> and the eventual rollback of Termination and
the Restoration of tribal rights and some Native lands. AIM
walked (<a
href="https://www.nlm.nih.gov/nativevoices/timeline/546.html">The
Longest Walk</a>) from California to DC and occupied the
Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) headquarters building. While
there, AIM activists discovered secret plans to Terminate even
more tribes and blew the entire thing wide open.</p>
<p>John paid a serious price for his activism. His buddy Kris
Kristofferson wrote this song <a
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDt_3JA4GBQ">Johnny Lobo</a>
about it.</p>
<p><strong>Later Years</strong></p>
<p>Trudell went on to become a noted environmental activist. He
was arrested along with his roommate Jackson Browne,
counterculture icon Wavy Gravy and 2000 others at a protest
against the Diablo Canyon Nuclear plant in California. Famously,
they somehow got a guitar smuggled into the men arrestees
holding area and started a concert. That led to his friend and
ally Bonnie Raitt, Holly Near and others demanding equal rights
to a guitar for the women’s area. Yep. They got their guitar and
concert, as well.</p>
<p>John was an outspoken advocate for the rights of other species.
He quickly joined in the forest protection efforts of the 1980s
and the effort to curtail fossil fuel use and carbon pollution.
He supported the efforts to defend Native Fishing rights.</p>
<p>John became an actor in many of the seminal pro-Native movies
of the late 20<sup>th</sup> Century. Perhaps his most complete
role was in the contemporary <a
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderheart">western
mystery</a> Thunderheart. He also was in the great film <a
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke_Signals_%28film%29">Smoke
Signals</a>, based on a Sherman Alexie short story. And, my
absolute favorite – <a
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powwow_Highway">Powwow
Highway.</a></p>
<p><strong>Gaian Poet/Activist</strong></p>
<p>Trudell was a gifted linguist. In his amazing 17,000-page FBI
dossier, it becomes clear that the FBI feared his verbal skill
the most. “Articulate” appears repeatedly.</p>
<p>John first started setting his poetry to music in collaboration
with his good friend, the legendary Kiowa guitarist Jesse Ed
Davis. Their collaboration <a
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qyk4HiGr3CM">AKA
Graffiti Man</a> is superb. Bob Dylan called it the best album
of the year.</p>
<p>John’s life-long buddy Quiltman, a T’ygh longhouse
drummer/singer, who signs Native songs on that album and John
began their effort as Tribal Voice and set about criss-crossing
Indian Country performing and doing Q & A with Native youth.
Many young Natives see John Trudell as “the Elder me and my
friends listen to the most.”</p>
<p>From there, it all evolved into Bad Dog, with John and Quilt
being joined by the great guitarist Mark Shark, Rocky Eckstein,
Billy Watts and others. Bad Dog put out numerous CDs, Including
the superb Wazi’s <a
href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B012IWPM5A?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0">Dream</a>
earlier this year. John and Bad Dog recorded up to the end –
even recording three songs from the hospital the day before
Thanksgiving.</p>
<p><strong>Hemp Activist</strong></p>
<p>Coming from a culture that has been devastated by alcohol, John
became an early advocate for Cannabis as a healing Earth
Medicine. John and Bad Dog performed at many pro-Cannabis events
across the globe. They are beloved internationally.</p>
<p>Quickly, John saw the potential in the restoration of America’s
Industrial Hemp industry. In 2012, he and another of his many
activist friends Willie Nelson co-founded the Hempstead Project
Heart, which advocates for industrial hemp as the eco-friendly
alternative source of fiber and food.</p>
<p>There is so much more. I’ve barely touched on all of John’s
Gaian activism. Suffice to say the world is a far better place
because of John Trudell. He touched the hearts of thousands. An
autobiography is in the works.</p>
<p>Coyote to the end, John had someone make one final post to his
Facebook page yesterday afternoon after he passed.</p>
<p>It read, simply:</p>
<p>“My ride showed up”</p>
<p>“Celebrate Love. Celebrate Life”</p>
<p>John Trudell
February 15, 1946 – December 8, 2015</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>PS My dad always said, “The hardest part about growing old is
your friends dying.” And when your friend is also your hero…</p>
<p>I’ve known about the illness from the beginning. One memory
I’ll cherish is when Quiltman and I went down to the Bay Area to
hang with John two springs ago. John was in the thick of
treatment and holing up. On a beautiful sunny day, John, Quilt
and I walked up and down Haight Street in silence, all lost in
our memories.</p>
<p>It’s hard to put in words just what John means to me and the
planet, as I’m sure it is for all John touched in his remarkable
life. I’ll sure miss him and our far-ranging conversations.</p>
<p>As I noted, the world is a far better place because of John
Trudell. I am a better human because of John Trudell.</p>
<p>Ride with the Wind, Brother Coyote</p>
<p> </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="author_description"> <em><strong>MICHAEL DONNELLY</strong>
has been an environmental activist since before that first
Earth Day. He was in the thick of the Pacific Northwest
Ancient Forest Campaign; garnering some collective victories
and lamenting numerous defeats. He can be reached at <a
href="mailto:pahtoo@aol.com"><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:pahtoo@aol.com">pahtoo@aol.com</a></a></em> </p>
</div>
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