After his pregnant wife, three children and mother-in-law were killed in 1979 in a suspicious fire at the home of his parents-in-law on the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes Duck Valley Indian Reservation in Nevada, Trudell turned to writing, music and film as a second career.
"[This quote needs a citation] He spoke for the many Indigenous people who believed they did not fit in with the majority of European-American population of the nation.
After the failure of the federal government to meet demands of the protesters at Alcatraz, Trudell joined the American Indian Movement.
It had been established in 1968 in Minneapolis among urban American Indians, first to deal with alleged police harassment and injustice in the law enforcement system.
[3] On February 12, 1979,[4] Trudell's wife Tina Manning, their three children and his mother-in-law, Leah Hicks-Manning, died in a suspicious fire at the home of his parents-in-law on the Duck Valley Indian Reservation in Nevada.
[6] The house fire that killed Trudell's family happened within 24 hours of him burning a US flag on the steps of the FBI building in Washington D.C. in protest of the government's treatment of Native Americans and the Sioux Nation.
[8] The FBI has been implicated in wrongdoing in Pine Ridge and other reservations during this period, which included offering monetary support to Dick Wilson's Guardians of the Oglala Nation (GOONS).
On March 2, 2005, the Native Youth Movement Vancouver announced a boycott of Trudell's music and poetry in retaliation for his testimony and alleged that the FBI had killed Aquash.
Hempstead Project Heart is dedicated to raising awareness about the environmental, social, and economic benefits of legalizing industrial hemp in America.
In February 1979, Tina (who was pregnant), the children and her mother Leah Hicks-Manning were all killed in a fire at her parents' house on the Duck Valley Reservation.
[15] His death was prematurely announced on the evening of December 4, 2015; his publicist asked for a retraction and the stories were largely removed from the websites where they had been posted.
Trudell recorded an album AKA Grafitti Man ("graffiti" was misspelled in the title) with Kiowa guitarist Jesse Ed Davis that was originally available on cassette tape format only.
In 1992, Trudell remade and re-released AKA Grafitti Man as an audio CD to substantial critical and popular acclaim.
Arguably his greatest musical success came with the 1994 album Johnny Damas & Me that was described as "a culmination of years of poetic work, and an example of a process of fusing traditional sounds, values, and sensibilities with thought-provoking lyrics, this time with urgent rock and roll.
"[19] His musical releases (many with his band Bad Dog) include A.K.A Grafitti Man (1986), Heart Jump Bouquet (1987), Blue Indians (1999), Descendant Now Ancestor (2001), Bone Days (2001), Live A Fip (2003), Madness and The Moremes (2007), Crazier Than Hell (2010), Wazi's Dream (2015).
Popular Music critic Neal Ullestad said of Trudell's live performances, "This isn't simply pop rock with Indian drums and chants added.
Various impromptu videos of Trudell in live concert appearances or addressing political, social, indigenous rights and educational groups are posted on YouTube, and although he was sought after by various print and broadcast media outlets for "sound byte commentary," Trudell preferred to speak in a less frenetic style directly to gatherings assembled for specific causes that he supported (e.g., advocating on behalf of re-legalizing hemp cultivation for its many beneficial uses, including sustainable paper pulp).
[citation needed] Trudell also toured in 1993 with Peter Gabriel's global WOMAD (World Music and Dance) production.
A kind of companion piece to the fictional Thunderheart, the 1992 documentary explores facts related to the 1975 shooting of two FBI agents at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, for which Leonard Peltier was convicted in 1977.
[citation needed] The song used at the end of the film is "Johnny Lobo" about Trudell by Kris Kristofferson, from his 1995 album A Moment of Forever.
[23][24] John Trudell has appeared on the following albums:[25] His music draws from a blend of styles, including rock, blues and native beats, pop and political protest songs.