John Trudell
John Trudell
John Trudellwas a Native American author, poet, actor, musician, and political activist. He was the spokesperson for the United Indians of All Tribes' takeover of Alcatraz beginning in 1969, broadcasting as Radio Free Alcatraz. During most of the 1970s, he served as the chairman of the American Indian Movement, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionAuthor
Date of Birth15 February 1946
CountryUnited States of America
interest native people realities younger
I have a real interest in working with younger Native artists. I think it's a very important way for Native people to communicate the realities of our culture and remember our ancestors.
expand music people room ways
I find there is room in music to talk with music. It may expand ways people can participate with music. It doesn't sound hokey or like some kind of voice-over.
electrical life physically project vibrate
What I view life like is about energy. Everything is about energy - everything. We physically are little units of electrical energy, and we vibrate and project electromagnetic thought.
cannot change chooses control economic hands intention meaning minority people sick social until
We cannot change the political system, we cannot change the economic system, we cannot change the social system, until the people control the land, and then we take it out of the hands of that sick minority that chooses to pervert the meaning and the intention of humanity.
happened land positive protecting resources terms vigilant
There have been some positive things that have happened for the tribes, but it's a constant, vigilant fight about protecting what resources we have in terms of land and rights.
art culture lives longer people rely society truth
When one lives in a society where people can no longer rely on the institutions to tell them the truth, the truth must come from culture and art.
dealing solution understand
For decades, my identity was political, but I've come to understand that there's no political solution when you're dealing with someone else's rules.
america bit bone carrying hard human sort
The average human being in America is going through some sort of hard times - physical, emotional, psychological. Everybody's carrying a bit of bone days in them.
good home someplace
It's always good to go home. It's strengthening to see your past and know you have someplace to go where you're part of a people.
along coming electric humans power speaking wire
I wanted to take the power of thought and the word, along with the power of speaking and heart, and see if we could wire what was coming out of us as humans with electric instruments.
arts early eighties further influence left music natives politics
When I left politics in the early Eighties and started writing and recording, my idea was that I could have an influence further down into other generations. That Natives could come into the culture through arts and music.
crops grow land somewhere took
They took all our land; I don't have any land to toil. My crops have to grow somewhere else.
authentic indian politics preventing
All politics to me - Indian or white - is an illusion preventing us from being authentic because we're communicating through something that isn't real to us.
best deal irrelevant matter staying time
For us, it's a matter of just staying alive and getting the best deal we can now. Eventually, this will all straighten out. It may be two generations away or 10 generations away, but time is irrelevant in that sense. As long as we, as a people, stay alive, we will survive.