Extremely Eloquent, Therefore Extremely Dangerous
John Trudell: In His Own Words
“We on Alcatraz are asking for possession of that island and we’re not going to settle for less, because we’re right. Indians are not buying the talk that America has an Indian problem. The problem is a white-oriented society geared to meet white needs.” ~
SOURCE: Daily Independent Journal (San Rafael, California)
Right now everything on the island is fine. We are in good shape morally. Morale is high and we are still in the same position as far as electricity goes. We had our lighthouse burned out, we blew some bulbs a couple of nights ago when we went without a lighthouse for a night, but things are running all right again. But our biggest problem we have now is running into this deal about water. We are out of water. I think we have fifty gallons of water left and that is it. So now our biggest worry is getting water. We need water because we have children out here. We need the water for them. We need the water for ourselves.
Continue reading “John Trudell: Radio Free Alcatraz | June, 1970”Here is what happened last night, June 1, 1970. We had a fire that burnt down the warden’s home, the old clinic, and the old lighthouse building. All that is left of the lighthouse building or the lighthouse is a long skinny thing with a light on the end that sticks up in the air. That is all that was burned. The next question was how did the fire start, do you know? No, we don’t know that. All we know was that at about 10:30 last night that it started and that it finally died out this morning. We tried to keep the lighthouse from going, but it went, and there was nothing we could do about it. We didn’t have any water to fight it with and by the time the Coast Guard came it was too late for them to do anything, so we didn’t let them come on the island. They asked if they could land. We told them no and they stayed off, away from the shore. They couldn’t save the buildings, they were already too far gone to be saved.
Continue reading “John Trudell: Radio Free Alcatraz | June 2, 1970”T. E. Hannon made a statement yesterday that they had met with us over thirty times. That’s kind of weird, because I’ve never seen him around, except for about three times. I can actually name things that were said. Yeah, well, anyway, we told the government, no, we don’t plan on leaving. Well, the situation was, they said that it’s [Alcatraz] going to be a national park with an Indian flavor and that they were removing their officials from the lighthouse. They encouraged us to leave too. So today they cut off the electricity, and yesterday they took our water barge. We were told we’d get it back by today, so we would have plenty of water for the weekend. This is the story we were told, then they ripped us off. They took off with that water barge. Took the GSA personnel off the island. There are only Indians here now.
Continue reading “John Trudell: Radio Free Alcatraz | May 27, 1970”“It is the government’s aim to break down our families and break down our resistance. A lot of reservation Indian children spend their young lives separated from their parents in boarding schools. They separate children from parents with schools that do not teach. We have seen them trying to turn us into white people called Indians, stereotype us, suppress the history of our heritage and culture in the books. All this has produced a militancy. A non-violent militancy. But we’re not going to be put down by the Bureau of Indian Affairs anymore.” – John Trudell
SOURCE: Akwesasne Notes, May 1970.
As far as the island, we’re holding up pretty well. We have been working pretty closely with the [Bay Area Native American Council] organization here. BANAC was formed by the Indian groups and the service organizations in the Bay Area to deal with the Alcatraz situation, and Alcatraz is a part of BANAC. BANAC has helped us to establish a refrigerator over at the depot, on Pier 40, and things can be brought there, contributions, whatever you feel that we deserve, and we will try to liberate ourselves from the federal government and gain some kind of self-determination.
Continue reading “John Trudell: Radio Free Alcatraz | April 30, 1970”“A center for Native American studies aimed at imparting skills and knowledge to improve the lives and spirits of all Indians. A spiritual center, which would practice ancient tribal religious and healing ceremonies. A center of ecology, to train young people to restore lands and waters to their natural state. A training school. A museum that would depict Indian food and cultural contributions and show the noble and tragic events of Indian history, including the broken treaties, the documentary of the Trail of Tears, the massacre of Wounded Knee, as well as the victory over yellow hair Custer and his army.” – John Trudell on the complex proposed by the Indians. ~
SOURCE: https://www.nytimes.com/1970/04/09/archives/alcatraz-indians-reject-park-plan-insist-government-consider-their.html
Good evening this is John Trudell. We have been lucky here, we haven’t really had a lot of cold weather. And we, about a week ago, we received $15,000 worth of medical supplies and beds from Los Angeles. I think George Brown donated it to us. He brought it up here. We’ve got things pretty well in shape here. Our biggest hassles right now are with food supplies, fresh foods, and we have a boat problem yet. We are still chartering a boat but we are looking into buying a boat of our own, because that is our biggest single expense.
Continue reading “Radio Free Alcatraz | March, 1970”Johnny YesNo: This is Johnny YesNo, the host of a radio program here in Canada. First let me begin by asking you a few questions. What is the population of Alcatraz?
John Trudell: I would say roughly around seventy-five people at this time. We lost quite a few of the younger people who had to go back to school at the beginning of the quarter or the new semester, and especially some of the young men who are of draft age and their draft status is kind of uncertain, so they had to go back to school.
What are some of the Tribes that are represented at Alcatraz?
Continue reading “Interview of John Trudell by Johnny YesNo | January 20, 1970”John Trudell opens by sharing articles from the Native Alliance for Red Power newsletter from Vancouver, British Columbia, to show similarities between Native People in the United States and Canada. The article is entitled, “The art of stealing human rights,” taken from a speech given by Gerry Gambill given at a conference on human rights at a Tobique reserve in New Brunswick in August 1968. Trudell then shares NARP’s eight-point program for the betterment of Canadian Indians. Trudell concludes this episode expressing United States Indians’ support of Canadian Indians and their struggle, and promotes next Tuesday’s program with Canadians Jonny Yesno and Shirley Daniels.
Continue reading “John Trudell Shares “The Art Of Stealing Human Rights,” And NARP’s Eight-Point Program for the Betterment of Canadian Indians | January 13, 1970″JOHN TRUDELL: Good evening. This is John Trudell welcoming you to Indian Land Radio, Indian Land Alcatraz Island on behalf of the Indians of All Tribes. Tonight we have with us Marilyn Miracle. She’s a 21 year old Mohawk. And Mr. Earl Livermore, the coordinator of the Alcatraz movement. And we’ll be touching lightly on a visit from Mr. Robert Robertson. He’s the executive director of the National Council on Indian Opportunities. He met with us on the island yesterday and this morning, and we will have a further meeting with him Thursday morning, I believe.
Continue reading “Indian Land Radio with Earl Livermore & Marilyn Miracle | January 12, 1970”“We want the Island for Indian purposes. We haven’t got a single thing left in this country that the white society hasn’t trampled somehow. They’ve taken our land, our fishing rights, they’ve polluted our air, our water, they’ve swept us under their dirty little rugs. But we’ve got Alcatraz, and they’re not getting it back.”
“We’re gaining some, but [Secretary of the Interior Walter J.] Hickle still says he won’t negotiate with us until we leave the island, and that’s absurd. Because if we leave the island, we lose all our bargaining power.”
Continue reading ““Valley College Speaker Seeks Aid for Indians” [excerpts]| January 8, 1970″JOHN TRUDELL: Good evening and welcome to Indian Land Radio on Alcatraz Island. This is John Trudell welcoming you on behalf of Indians of All tribes. Tonight we have with us Mr. Douglas Remington, and Linda Aranaydo. They’re working with the school that we have on the island We’ll be talking with them in a couple of minutes.
Continue reading “Radio Free Alcatraz – Interview with Douglas Remmington and Linda Aranaydo | 12/31/1969 – 1/5/1970”So I’m going to start it off with this quotation by Chief Joseph in 1879. Joseph was saying this, and it still applies for today.
If the white man wants to live in peace with the Indian, he can live in peace, treat all men alike, give them all the same law, give them all an even chance to live and grow. All men were made by the same great spirit. They are all brothers. The earth is the mother of all people, and people should have equal rights upon it. We only ask an even chance to live as other men live. We ask to be recognized as men. We ask that the same law shall work alike unto all men. Let me be a free man, free to work, free to trade me, to choose my teachers, free to follow the religion of my fathers. Free to think and talk and act for myself. And I will obey every law, or submit to the penalty.
Continue reading “Indian Land Radio with John Trudell | 1970”Indian Land Radio Alcatraz live report from Alcatraz by John Trudell. Trudell briefly mentions the meeting with Bay Area Indian people where it was decided that they were going to support the Alcatraz movement.
Good evening and welcome to Indian Land Radio Alcatraz. This is John. Today I welcome you on behalf of the Indians of All Tribes. We haven’t been broadcasting for about the last two weeks because I had a small illness that I had to take care of. And so after tomorrow night, which, when we won’t be on, we will be back on our regular broadcast schedule.
Continue reading “Indian Land Radio Alcatraz with John Trudell | 1969-1970”JOHN TRUDELL: Good evening, this is John Trudell welcoming you to Radio Free Alcatraz. We had a little difficulty with the transmitter, but it’s all been taken care of. Tonight we have with us Mister Bernell Blindman, who is a Sioux from Pine Ridge, South Dakota. And I believe you’re a student at Berkeley, right?
BERNELL BLINDMAN: Yes.
Continue reading “Interview with Bernell Blindman | December 31, 1969.”JOHN TRUDELL: Good evening, this is John Trudell from Radio Free Alcatraz welcoming you to Indian Land Alcatraz on behalf of the Indians of All Tribes. And tonight we have with us Grace Thorpe, who you may remember was with us the first evening that we were on, about a week ago. And Grace Thorpe will be working in public relations for the Alcatraz movement.
Continue reading “John Trudell speaks with Grace Thorpe | December 30, 1969”John Trudell began by discussing problems with generating electricity on Alcatraz Island followed by an interview with Jonny Bearcub, a member of the Fort Peck Assiniboine Sioux Nation.
JOHN TRUDELL: Good evening and welcome to Radio Free Alcatraz. This is John Trudell welcoming you on behalf of the Indians of All Tribes to Indian Land Alcatraz Island. And tonight there’s a little background noise here. We had a problem and we’re running our generator inside the studio. And also, we’ve been having quite a bit of hassle lately with our electricity. We had a power failure on Friday and it lasted through Friday night into mealtime. That’s why we weren’t on Friday night, because we didn’t have any lights at all or any power of any type to use. And Saturday we were kind of stranded on the island because of bad weather. Sunday, not many boats running and so today we’re giving it an attempt. Tonight we have Jonny Bearcub with us from Wolf Point, Montana who is going to offer some thanks to the doctors that have helped us, and to everyone. Jonny go ahead. You got the list there.
Continue reading “John Trudell speaks with Jonny Bearcub | December 29, 1969”JOHN TRUDELL: Good evening and welcome to Indian Land Radio from Alcatraz Island. This is John Trudell welcoming you on behalf of the Indians of All Tribes. Tonight we’ve got quite a busy evening. At seven-thirty, Congressman George Brown, the Democrat from Los Angeles, we will be speaking with him. Earl Livermore, the coordinator for the Alcatraz Movement is here, and we will be speaking with Congressman Brown about the resolution that he and ten other Congressmen introduced into Congress urging Mr. Nixon to start negotiations with the people of Alcatraz so that they can turn the island over to us. And also, there have been no further reports on the accident that happened to Yvonne Oakes. There have been no further reports on this. She is still listed in a critical condition, I believe.
Continue reading “John Trudell speaks with Vernon W. Conway prior to George Brown interview by Earl Livermore. | 1969”JOHN TRUDELL: Good evening, this is John Trudell welcoming you to Radio Free Alcatraz and I’m speaking on behalf of the Indians of All Tribes. Tonight we’ll be speaking with Mrs. Stella Leech, Mr. Gabriel Sharp and Mr. Raymond Spang. Mrs. Leech is a member of the Colville Sioux Tribe. She’s a registered nurse and a council member on the island. She runs the clinic here on the island, and she took a three month leave of absence from her job at the Well Baby Clinic in San Francisco to work with the people on the island. She’s been here with Operation Alcatraz from the very beginning. Mr. Gabriel Sharp is a Mojave and a member of the Colorado River Tribes of Parker, Arizona. His occupation is counselor for Indian high school students and assistant director of the Indian Upward Bound program at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. He’s also chairman of education for the Arizona Indian Association.
Continue reading “Alcatraz Panel with Indians from Various Tribes | December 23, 1969”JOHN TRUDELL: I stayed on the reservation until I was about six. Five or six. Then my family moved. I went back in 1961. I was fifteen years old, I think. I stayed there until the summer of 1963, then I joined the Navy and I left. I stayed in the Navy for four years. After I got out I went to work as a shoe salesman. That lasted about four months and then I quit to go to school, which I was doing when the Alcatraz movement took place. So I dropped all my studies and moved up here so I could work with this.
AL SILBOWITZ: What were you studying at the time?
Radio and television. Programming and production.
Continue reading “Alcatraz Interview with Al Silbowitz | December, 1969”Radio Free Alcatraz will start broadcasting 15 minutes a day on Monday from the former penitentiary over a Berkeley radio station. Al Silbowitz, manager of listener-owned station KPFA-FM, said Thursday. “We’re just offering them the outlet. We don’t want to crowd them and we’re not telling them what do; we want it to be their thing. John Trudell, a Santee Sioux from Nebraska who is among the American Indians who have seized the island in San Francisco Bay, will direct the program. It will include Native American culture, current events, and lessons on Indian history. The program is tentatively scheduled for 8 pm.” Silbowitz said it would also be heard over KPFA’s sister station in Los Angeles, KPFK.
SOURCE: https://www.pacificaradioarchives.org/recording/bb545701-bb545738
From November 20, 1969, the Indians of All Tribes occupied Alcatraz Island off the coast of San Francisco, California. The Alcatraz takeover was done to protest federal laws that contradicted historic land treaties with the Indians and aimed to destroy American Indian cultures, including the right of tribes to self-govern. This occupation was the first of its kind and inspired Native Americans to fight for their civil rights, as well as expose their issues to the North American public.
Radio Free Alcatraz was conceived to give a voice to the voiceless minority of Native Americans. On December 22, 1969, KPFA began its first live broadcast from Alcatraz under the direction of John Trudell with borrowed and donated radio equipment. The programs originated from the main cell block building on Alcatraz and were carried live by the Pacifica Network, which consisted, at the time, of KPFA, Berkeley; KPFK, Los Angeles; and WBAI, New York, weekday evenings at 7:15 p.m. PST.
SOURCE: https://www.pacificaradioarchives.org/recording/bb545701-bb545738