John Trudell

Biography

John Trudell was an American Indian author, poet, actor, musician, and political activist. He was the spokesperson for the United Indians of All Tribes' takeover of Alcatraz beginning in 1969, broadcasting as Radio Free Alcatraz. During most of the 1970s, he served as the chairman of the American Indian Movement, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After his pregnant wife, three children and mother-in-law were killed in 1979 in a 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. He acted in three films in the 1990s. The documentary Trudell (2005) was made about him and his life as an activist and artist.

Movies & TV Shows

1. On Deadly Ground (1994) — Johnny Redfeather
2. Extreme Measures (1996) — Tony
3. Thunderheart (1992) — Jimmy Looks Twice
4. Smoke Signals (1998) — Randy Peone
5. The 11th Hour (2007) — Self
6. Reel Injun (2010) — Self
7. Powwow Highway (1989) — Louie Short Hair
8. Dark Blood (2012) — Indian #2
9. Dreamkeeper (2003) — Coyote
10. The West (1996) — Self
11. Incident at Oglala (1992) — Self - National Spokesperson, American Indian Movement
12. Trudell (2005) — Self / Narrator (voice)
13. Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World (2017) — Self
14. Lakota Nation vs. United States (2022) — Self (archive footage)
15. Vow of Silence: The Assassination of Annie Mae (2024) — Self - AIM National Chairman (archive footage)
16. A Thousand Roads (2005) — Narrator (voice)
17. No More Smoke Signals (2009) — self
18. Dreamkeeper (2003) — Coyote
19. Making a Noise: A Native American Musical Journey with Robbie Robertson (1999) — Self - Santee Sioux
20. Taking Alcatraz (2015) — Self (archive footage)
21. America's Lost Landscape: The Tallgrass Prairie (2005) — Black Hawk (voice)