Category: Interviews

EARTH FIRST JOURNAL: Earth First! has changed a lot since it hit the scene in late 1979. Then it was about property  destruction or monkeywrenching and less popular redneck-type wilderness politics. Since the late ’80s, EF! has moved strongly toward a strategy of above- ground nonviolent direct action — basically a lot of civil disobedience. Some EF! groups even publicly denounce monkeywrenching now. What do you think EF!’s role should be in the environmental movement today?

JOHN TRUDELL: To always promote and keep alive the consciousness of the Earth. I think that is what it should be about, regardless of what the difference of opinion may be about whether it is spiking trees or sitting in trees, these are just tactics that people are working out to accomplish the one thing that Earth First! needs to stick by and that is protecting the Earth. I think that one thing for people to remember is that all things on this planet are different. It is how all the different things work together that makes the balance. So, within Earth First! there must be an understanding that there are different ways to get things done. If nothing else, whether or not people agree with the differences at this point, I would say that every idea should be respected. 

This interview with WOJB’s Lori Townsend took place on Feb. 28, before Trudell performed in concert in Kyle, South Dakota, part of the 25th Anniversary of Wounded Knee:

JOHN TRUDELL: Being here, to me it’s partly about acknowledging the other Wounded Knee occupation 25 years ago, but I think in a larger sense, it’s an opportunity to get back with the community. Most of the people here are from those days, from those times. We don’t get to see each other a lot any more because a lot of things have happened. In a way it’s like a family reunion to me. It’s nice to know I can come back to a nice safe place. Safe, like this is family and an opportunity to see everybody. I’m not here so much for the politics or anything. I have a lot of friends, a lot of relations from those times. And it’s also good to acknowledge the struggle itself. But I don’t know that I’m here to acknowledge the struggle, as much as to see the people again.

LORI TOWNSEND: I know that people have said, this is to commemorate a time of healing, from that time when there was a lot of division. People were separated by the very nature of the struggle. What have you seen in 25 years, as people come together, being able to heal from that time?

NATIVE AMERICAS: John, I see from your performance the other night that you are still reaching for your truth about what’s going on in the world. You travel a lot, you deal with young people, that youthful energy of the music business. How is the new generation different from our generation, and how is it similar?

JOHN TRUDELL: That is hard to answer because in many ways when I’m not working I’m pretty reclusive. But when I’m out in the world, I think that the energy is the same for the youth now as when we were young. The technology is a little different and the information that new technology brings is a little different, but I think that what is really the essence of us, from our youth to the youth now, that essence is still there. In fact, I think that this essence is part of the fuel that runs America. 

ALIBI: You’ve lived many lives so far during this earthly lifetime. You’ve been a Marine during Vietnam, an AIM member, you’ve been involved in battles with the federal government and have endured subsequent personal tragedies. You’ve been in documentaries and have acted in movies. You’re a poet/musician and now you’ve just published a book of conversation, lyrics and poetry. Where do you think this continuum of experiences is taking you? 

JOHN TRUDELL: Into madness. I mean, don’t rule it out, right? I’m not really sure. In my own mind I’m headed in a direction. I can’t really define that direction. It just seems that all of these things are consistent. These are just like worlds I’ve been through. But each world seems to put me dead center in the next one. In reality, we, at this given moment in time, are an accumulation of all of our experiences. That is a part of our physical identity within this life. We’re all affected differently by our experiences. But in the end that’s what we are, a continuum of every experience we’ve had since we entered into this life and probably, way in our DNA, a continuum of other experiences.

ALIBI: You’ve lived many lives so far during this earthly lifetime. You’ve been a Marine during Vietnam, an AIM member, involved in battles with the federal government and have endured subsequent personal tragedies. You’ve been in documentaries and have acted in movies. You’re a poet/musician and now you’ve just published a book of conversation, lyrics and poetry. Where do you think this continuum of experiences is taking you? 

JOHN TRUDELL: Into madness. I mean, don’t rule it out, right? I’m not really sure. In my own mind I’m headed in a direction. I can’t really define that direction. It just seems that all of these things are consistent. These are just like worlds I’ve been through. But each world seems to put me dead center in the next one. In reality, we, at this given moment in time, are an accumulation of all of our experiences. That is a part of our physical identity within this life. We’re all affected differently by our experiences, but in the end that’s what we are: a continuum of every experience we’ve had since we entered into this life and probably, way in our DNA, a continuum of other experiences.

ANDRE TABABOO: You have been involved with the American Indian Movement since the early 1970s. What has been your experience? Where do you see us now?

JOHN TRUDELL: We are part of an evolution. The cultural spirit is still very strong amongst the people and I think we are still quite active. The Movement is about consciousness. Political structures, they’re at different levels and forms, you use them for a while, then you use another one. It’s the spirit I’m concerned about.

“As we take on these labels, we must remember that they describe what we do, not who we are. We are the People—we are human beings—that’s who we are. We have to accept all the parts of us as being part of a whole. When I called myself a ‘political activist’ and started saying that’s who I was, then that’s all I saw. I didn’t see a lot of important things, and I missed a lot of things. I was locked in there and looked at only a part of me as being the total. It’s the same with the label ‘writer’ or any other label. It limits us if we confuse what we do with who we are. At the basic core of reality, we’re human beings. If we don’t forget that, it will help make our way a little better. We are the People. Our ancestors and the ancient ones were the People. And I am just one of the People, doing the best I can with the best I’ve got.” – On being labeled a radical, militant, political activist, visionary, subversive, poet and writer.

IINTERVIEWER: On the notion of the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ first voyage to the New World being an opportunity to re-evaluate the history of the Americas.

JOHN TRUDELL: Among indigenous peoples, we don’t need to re-evaluate. This predatory energy arrived on our hemisphere 500 years ago and there’s only one evaluation…it has been genocidal and destructive to all living aspects of the hemisphere. And that behavior has not changed at all. It still continues on its destructive path. Many indigenous peoples will protest this anniversary and tell their truths. I haven’t found many people in the circles I move in who endorse it or find anything to celebrate.

Phone Interview: 

JOHN TRUDELL: I’ve not agreed with them about that. I’ve felt that people are open to hearing much more than they’re allowed to hear, and that people have a right to hear these things and make up their own mind. So I feel vindicated in some ways.

INTERVIEWER: There’s a line in Baby Boom Che: “Rock ‘n’ roll is based on revolution.” Tell me about your Influences, as far as rock ‘n’ roll goes — when you started listening, some of the artists, and why. 

I started listening to Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Bo Didley, the Everly Brothers and Brenda Lee way back when all this first started. When I came in contact with this phase of music I sure liked it a lot more than the music I had been hearing before.

INTERVIEWER: You claim that the fire that killed your family was set on purpose by the US government. Do you have any evidence to support that? 

JOHN TRUDELL: The fire wasn’t an accident. When the fire happened on Feb. 12, 1979 the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the government — whoever their federal fire people are — had stated the fire was an accident, that it had started in the fireplace. This was not true. When I came back home, I had some other people look at it and they said it was physically impossible that the fire was an accident, but I can’t discuss the particulars right now. In good time, it will be settled, because this was mass murder. 

Faye Brown/Dale Kakkak: You began writing in 1979, writing words down on paper. How did this evolve into producing music?

John Trudell: I started writing poetry in ’79 but prior to that, I used to write a lot of statements for press releases and political things. When I started writing poetry, I was spending a lot of time around musicians and it wasn’t a conscientious effort on my part. I just started writing poetry. It turned out that I was in this world of musicians and I was spending a lot of time with Jackson (Browne) and so maybe after a couple of years I just got the notion to put poetry to music. I thought it would work and that’s what turned into my first release, Tribal Voice.

KATHY (BHA): Why did you decide to request political asylum in Canada instead of somewhere else?

JOHN TRUDELL: We came to Canada because Leonard Peltier came to Canada in 1976 asking for political asylum. Members of the Canadian Justice Department, in collusion with members of the FBI and United States Justice Department, illegally extradited Leonard Peltier back to the U.S.

They were able to do this because they could hide behind the criminal charges that Leonard had filed against him. Now, in order to extradite Leonard back to the U.S., in violation of extradition law, the FBI committed perjury within the Canadian Court System. And this was done with the knowledge of some Crown attorneys. Extradition attorneys. When we come to Canada ourselves, we want to bring this issue back up. That not only has Peltier been illegally convicted in the U.S., he was illegally sent back to the U.S. by the Canadian Government that was in power at that time. We wish to bring this issue back up in front of the Canadian people on the whole Peltier case, Daryl and myself.