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.
How will it be settled? Do you plan to seek litigation of any kind?
I plan not to let it pass. This was mass murder, this was women and children. If the American government had a quarrel with me, well, that was me. What did that have to do with my family? What kind of litigation I might seek out, I don’t know. I won’t sue for money, because money won’t bring them back. That’s not Justice. There’s something wrong with this whole practice, this supposed system of democracy, when things like this can happen. There are some individuals I hold personally accountable for this, and it will not pass. But I can’t be any more specific than that at this time.
Do you feel that Thunderheart as a film, sends a political message?
I don’t look at it as sending a political message. I see it as telling the story of a people. Obviously, there are scenes that will be perceived and defined as sending political messages, but there are also social and environmental implications and a story being told.
I felt that the politics of “Thunderheart” were a bit confused. It took on the plight of the Native American, but the Val Kilmer character was really just another variation of the white superman/hero theme of years past. In the end. it took a white man to save the Indians, not themselves.
Well, it’s a movie man, it’s a movie (laughs). But it’s a movie that points out that there are genocidal actions being taken against a culture, a race and a class of people in this time and generation. That, to me, is the story being told. Whether or not Val Kilmer is the super white hero is irrelevant to me because of the story being told here, about what is happening to a people in a land that declares democracy.
So you feel the movie’s message transends its Hollywoodization of the central character?
Yes, because it is a movie, and I don’t expect that Hollywood can or will correct the untruths of the society. The political system doesn’t do it, so I’m not going to hold Hollywood responsible. I do think that the story is told in a respectful way, the people are very conscientious about the telling of the story. I understand why you could feel that way about the Val Kilmer character, but I’m pleased with the way the movie came out. America did some terrible things to the Indian people, and all the Indian people want is justice, their rights. They want America to act in a legal manner. Beyond even a question of morals, they want America to stop breaking its own laws. ~
SOURCE: North County Blade Citizen