John Trudell, Warrior Poet Passes

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TRIBUTE
=By= Rowan Wolf

John Trudell: ccreen capture from “Mining Our Minds For the Machine.”

John Trudell, life-long activist for the oppressed, First Nations, and our mother Earth has passed. John was an amazing person who had experienced personally just how horrid this government can be when his wife (who was pregnant), three children, and mother in law were murdered in an attempt to threaten him and his wife for their activism. A lesser person might have let bitterness ruin his life. John embraced life and became even more committed to bringing us to our senses.

Below is one of his last public messages earlier this year. While clearly ill, the fire is there and so is the love. If you have never been exposed to the work of John Trudell, I highly encourage you embrace it now. He had a way of seeing into the morass of this society and illuminating the mechanisms of power and deception for the rest of us.

Often he spoke through that cross of poetry and music. “Crazy Horse” is one of his best known pieces.

Lyrics to “Crazy Horse” by John Trudell/Sahme (aka Quiltman)

Crazy Horse
We Hear what you say
One earth one mother
One does not sell the earth
The people walk upon
We are the land
How do we sell our mother
How do we sell the stars
How do we sell the air
Crazy Horse
We hear what you say

Too many people
Standing their ground
Standing the wrong ground
Predators face he possessed a race
Possession a war that doesn’t end
Children of god feed on children of earth
Days people don’t care for people
These days are the hardest
Material fields material harvest
decoration on chains that binds
Mirrors gold the people lose their minds
Crazy Horse
We Hear what you say
One earth one mother
One does not sell the earth
The people walk upon
We are the land
Today is now and then
Dream smokes touch the clouds
On a day when death didn’t die
Real world time tricks shadows lie
Red white perception deception
Predator tries civilising us
But the tribes will not go without return
Genetic light from the other side
A song from the heart our hearts to give
The wild days the glory days live

Crazy Horse
We Hear what you say
One earth one mother
One does not sell the earth
The people walk upon
We are the land
How do we sell our mother
How do we sell the stars
How do we sell the air

Crazy Horse
We hear what you say
Crazy Horse
We hear what you say
We are the seventh generation
We are the seventh generation

Crazy Horse Credits
John Trudell spoken word, Quiltman Traditional Vocals, Mark Shark slide guitar and percussion, Ricky Eckstein Keyboards and percussion, and Billy Watts Electric guitar [From the album “Three Sisters.”]

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