Extremely Eloquent, Therefore Extremely Dangerous
John Trudell: In His Own Words
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