“I have thought about that short time I spent in San Bernardino and it’s almost like I planned it, but I didn’t. I had no plan and was just trying to figure out what I was going to do. Sort of killing time and waiting for my money from the G.I. bill,”
“It was a rough time economically. No one would hire someone with long hair. In San Bernardino I was gaining an emerging consciousness.”
“Some of the biggest changes have come in the cultural arts, where there are more Native American musicians, artists, and actors. It’s a whole new scene today. In the 1970’s we were a large connected movement. In the 1980’s, there were smaller movements with those wearing suits and ties. I think the younger people today understand what we did and appreciate it.”
“I learned how to write and read the news in front of a live camera. I learned camera production. Sound and lighting. I learned everything at SBVC. By the time I went to Alcatraz Island, I already knew how to talk into a microphone. It didn’t get to my head.”
“When I stopped my activism, I then took up music.”
“There is no such thing as a fair trial.” – re Wounded Knee trials.
“I had gone as far as I could go. I wasn’t being as productive and probably would have destructed somewhere. I made the transition into the arts where I feel I can emphasize more.”
“I didn’t lobby for it. I just had the ability to make sense. I was very young.” – He noted that he was only 24 when he was the national spokesman at Alcatraz and was 26 when he was voted as national chairman of the American Indian Movement.
“Spirit of the Native people is now stronger, clearer, and wiser.”
“It’s a corporate mentality where maximizing profits is important.” – Trudell said that Indian gaming was not part of the activist movement. He explained that Casino gaming procedures and profits vary from tribe to tribe, but all casino’s were structured by a non-Native American business plan.
Trudell said there are fond memories of living in San Bernardino. “That short time prepared me for a lot of the good things that just fell into my lap.” ~