Class of 2007
By DULBERT YAZZIE
SANTA FE—On May 18, the graduating class of 2007 will welcome John Trudell who will deliver a speech at the graduation ceremony. For Trudell, speaking something worthwhile to a class of graduates, should be nothing short of mesmerizing insights.
A political activist, a poet, a musician, and philosopher, Trudell has encompassed his extraordinary life into who he is today as an artist and as a human.
The Santee Sioux and Mexican-American grew up in and around the Santee Sioux reservation near his hometown of Omaha. Ever since he was a kid, Trudell said he took notice of the unfairness America had towards Native Americans. As he got older, he realized that “a deliberate act of subjugation” took place.
“To me, if anything has driven me, it was to make sense of all the injustices and unfairness we, as a people, went through,” Trudell said. Eventually, the hardships of economic and cultural deprivation became the backbone of his artistic vision in his music and poetry.
Trudell was not always a writer. His political activities, which include being the Native civil rights activists of the American Indian Movement span from the late 60’s to 1979.
In 1979, his family was killed in a mysterious fire. The day before the shocking incident, Trudell led a group to the FBI headquarters and burned an American flag. He stated that the flag was polluted with racism and injustices, and therefore, should be done away with. With the horrendous news of his family’s death, he withdrew from public life for a few years. Trudell turned to writing.
Writing as Therapy and Inspiration
“When I started writing there was a time of intense emotional rhythm to me. In my mind I was going through all this distortion. Pain, grief, and anger were welled up inside of me, and I had no way of unloading it.
“One day lines came to me. I wrote many lines. It became an outburst, an outlet. It was an opportunity to let some of those feelings out. It became my therapy,” Trudell said.
Trudell’s outlet resulted in a first book of poetry in 1981, “Living Reality.” It also spawned his debut album, “AKA Graffiti Man,” and other landmark albums such as “Fables and Other Realities,” “Child’s Voice: Children of the Earth,” and more recently, “Bone Day.” His multi-faceted talents also landed him roles in feature films such as, “Thunderheart” and “Smoke Signals.”
When it comes to young listeners who read his poetry or listen to his music, Trudell said if he is able to stimulate feelings in youths, and these feelings stimulates thinking, then that’s the results he would like to see.
“We must become thinkers and not believers,” Trudell said. He attributes the majority of our social ills to the belief system of capitalism.
“For us to be heard, we must use our intelligence as clearly and coherently as possible. We need to remember that we are human. Sometimes we get caught up in who’s Indian and who’s more Indian that we forget that we are human beings. That will help us to speak with a clear voice.
Copyright © IAIA CHRONICLE 2007
