Stickman: Poems, Lyrics, Talks, A Conversation

by John Trudell, Paola Igliori (Editor)

writings & talks by Native activist/songwriter

Genres: Poetry, Native Americans, Nonfiction, History, Native American

168 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1994

About the author

John Trudell was an acclaimed poet, national recording artist, actor, and activist whose international following reflects the universal language of his words, work, and message. Trudell (Santee Sioux) was a spokesperson for the Indian of All Tribes occupation of Alcatraz Island from 1969 to 1971. He then worked with the American Indian Movement, serving as chairman from 1973 to 1979. In 1982, Trudell began recording his poetry to traditional Native music, and in 1983 he released his debut album, Tribal Voice. Since then, he has released ten more albums, including AKA Graffiti Man, which was dubbed the best album of the year by Bob Dylan. In addition to his music career, Trudell has played roles in a number of feature films, including a lead role in the Mirimax movie Thunderheart and a significant part in Sherman Alexie's Smoke Signals.

Reviews

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gifted to me by my dear friend John Trudell. A cherished sacred treasure!

[Tyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Trudell is a unique artist-philosopher, a power political activist and a modern prophet. It is interesting to see him transition and merge the different roles he took on over the years -- especially in his poetry. While many know him for his role in the American Indian Movement, his body of work in this collection is expansive. Highly recommended.

[HZar Worth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This man's life story is remarkable.

[Harry O · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't think I've ever read anything as emotionally explosive as this book. John Trudell was so careful with words and how they influence our individual actions and perceptions of those around us, he speaks about that extensively in the interviews collected here. My favorite example is when the interviewer named Trudell a warrior for truth, peace, justice, Native rights etc. and he chose to distance himself from the title due to its root word of WAR. Some quotes I found powerful:

"We'd better think real hard how we misuse ourselves because we are energy"- John Trudell

"We must not act out of hatred against those who have no sense."- John Trudell

"To me the reality is that for love to truly work it has to be based upon caring, there has to be the caring first, but caring is separate from desire and I think that caring is the essence..."- John Trudell

"I think that we're in a time about responsibility-see we have a responsibility to the future, we have a responsibility to ourselves, and we have a responsibility to our ancestral past, and we have a responsibility to earth, we have a responsibility to life-Now I place all these responsibilities before the responsibility to democracy or capitalism or communism or facism or socialism or any of these other controlling things. To see and deal with reality-see we have this responsibility-and we have the ability and we have the right to decide within each generation how we will live with the earth and how we will live with this planet so that we can make sure that our own descendants have a place to live."- John Trudell in 1992

[Bryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trudell's spoken word performance don't translate well onto the page, but worth reading if you are a fan of his work or a kindred spirit.

[Mary Shanley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poetic document by a true Native American survivor. His wife and children killed by government.