Talk - Extremely Eloquent, Therefore Extremely Dangerous

Spoken Word Tour – Evergreen State College – Olympia, WA. | 1994

I’d like to first of all thank you for being here. I’m glad I’m here. And if I say anything that you don’t agree with, let’s just leave it at that. It’s not about anything other than whatever comes out, comes out. I’m gonna start with some poems.

[John Trudell reads one of his poems]

Just so we have an understanding. I come from the tribes, I have that much of my identity. And when I look at what’s happening here, in the Western Hemisphere, I can’t forget that tribal memory. I may not know the language, I may not know many things, but I do know many things also. But what I remember with my genetic memory, which is the basis of many of my realities, is that the way that people need to live with this hemisphere, with the earth in reality, but with this hemisphere, is the people need to live with the earth. Not on it. Not from it. With it. To me democracy is the enemy of the tribes. To me, technologic industrial civilization is the enemy of the tribes. It is the enemy of the natural world, to me. The concept of male dominating gods, to me is the enemy of the natural world.

California State University/ Hayward | 1994

“We’re all children of earth. It’s about the DNA, the ancestors and the descendants. Us. We have the responsibility to take care of the life that this planet is.”

“We’re not here to run high tech economic slave states, and pretend that that’s not what’s going on. We’re not here to mentally beat one another up, or be abusive towards one another, or ourselves. That’s not why we’re here. We’re here to take care of life. We need to understand about our spirit. We have a spirit. We are Spirit. But see, the religious mindset of the male-dominating god doesn’t recognize spirit. It recognizes religion. And authority. And chain of command. And obedience. But it doesn’t recognize spirit.”

Before We Were Indians | Early Autumn, 1975

This statement is by John Trudell, national chairman of the American Indian Movement, issued in September, 1975.

We are human beings. Alcohol makes us drunks. Pride and history make us “The People.” I wish everyone would think about this. Before we were “Indians”, we were “The People.” For the Europeans to justify with their humanitarian beliefs the oppression that they have put on our people, they had to create a false label for us. They had to call us something that was not human. Something other than what we actually were. When Columbus came here and thought he was in India, he called us ” Indians” and so we have been “Indians” for only a brief period of time in the history of our people. Our people have been on this land for thousands and thousands and thousands of years. Our people are the product of this land. We can refer to ourselves as the indigenous, the sovereign people, the native people, or native Americans, but we are “The People” as we relate to being “The People”, as long as we act accordingly.

Graduation at the Institute of American Indian Arts | June 8, 1972

I want to thank the graduating class for inviting me. Personally, one of my main concerns is education, and to narrow it down further, it’s BIA education. To start this off I’m going to read a statement that was used last December at Chilocco Indian School. This statement was issued by the Native American Rights Movement in Oklahoma.

Press Conference/Speech with John Trudell And Lanada Means Reflecting on Native American Treatment and Protest | November 20, 1970

JOHN TRUDELL: November 20, 1969 we came with 89 people to Alcatraz for the purpose of taking the island for all Indian people to have a place we could call Indian land. This tiny island represents freedom for all Indian people living in the Americas known as Canada, the United States, Mexico and South America. These are all our great lands of the Indian peoples now held in bondage by alien governments. We have been here one year occupying this island which represents our fight to live as free people in our own country. Our fight for this island representing freedom for all Indian peoples is nonviolent. We came to this island unarmed prepared to give our lives if necessary.

Racism and Political Power | October 18, 1970

The program is The Associated Students of the University of Oregon Presents Racism. Taped at the University of Oregon by KBO-FM Portland, during the week of October 18th, 1970. This program includes the first part of a panel Wednesday morning during a week long symposium sponsored by the associated students, with the moderator, Art Jenkins, Gloria Gonzalez of the Chicano Student Union, Frank Martinez, of the Valley Migrant League, John Trudell, of Indians of All Tribes at Alcatraz Island, Kent Ford, from the Black Panther Party in Portland, Charles Evers, mayor of Fayette, Mississippi, and David Sanchez, Prime Minister of the Brown Berets from Los Angeles…The next speaker is John Trudell, from Indians of All Tribes on Alcatraz Island…

John Trudell: Radio Free Alcatraz | April 30, 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.

Radio Free Alcatraz | March, 1970

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.

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 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.

Indian Land Radio with John Trudell | 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.

Indian Land Radio Alcatraz with John Trudell | 1969-1970

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.