John Trudell was a poet, recording artist, actor, civil rights activist and world-renowned speaker whose international following reflects the universal language of his words, work and message.

Columbus was lost. He didn’t have an idea what planet he was on, he didn’t have a clue where he was at. And then I think of the descendants of Columbus...they’re lost too. They don’t know where their lives are going. There’s a way to live and a way to exist. We’re here so we should be living, rather than just existing. That’s what Alcatraz and the A.I.M. were all about. We call it sovereignty, honoring treaties, but it really has to do with life.