John Trudell (Santee Dakota) walked on in December, 2015. His last words: My ride showed up. Celebrate love, celebrate life. I still haven’t come to terms with this entirely. John Trudell touched so many lives, he was the voice for so many people, a lot of them voiceless. He was a part of my life from childhood and the occupation of Alcatraz. I’ve listened to him throughout my life, heard his words, sang his words, read his words, his words have inhabited my heart. So, what to share? Once again, I’ve been listening to the words that have been part of my skin for many decades, how can I decide? Maybe you’ll go look for yourself, find those words that speak to you, that find their way to your heart. For me, I guess it will always come back to one of JT’s central messages, that human beings were losing their understanding of being human. So, Bone Days it is, specifically, 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 sayToo 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 chain that binds
Mirrors gold, the people lose their minds
Crazy Horse
We Hear what you sayOne 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 liveCrazy 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 airCrazy Horse
We hear what you say
Crazy Horse
We hear what you say
We are the seventh generation
We are the seventh generationJohn Trudell, Bone Days.
Extremely touching poetry, spoken over a really good mix of music. I will explore more of his work.
I’ve talked about Trudell enough over the last 30something years. You should remember some.
The music was done by Quiltman (Milton Sahme). Quiltman, Mark Shark, Chris Miller, and Wallace Deerskins have tributes to JT:
You Were and See the Woman.
In the second video, Quiltman is the one in the white coat.
Celebrate Love, Celebrate Life” Honoring John Trudell -- Crazy Horse.
“Celebrate Love, Celebrate Life” Honoring John Trudell -- Good Thoughts.
“Celebrate Love, Celebrate Life” Honoring John Trudell -- Beauty In A Fade.