“First Voices Radio” digs deep into our 30-year-old archive. The words of the late John Trudell are from 1980 but his observations have stood the test of time and still ring true. John (1946-2015) was a poet, a fighter for Native American rights, an agitator, and many other things. But if you were to have asked him which of these descriptions best suits him he would have refused to be pinned down. “Actually I don’t consider myself to be any of those things. They’re things that I do…but they’re parts of me. They’re not the total.” Indeed, Trudell was the complex sum of all that he saw, endured and accomplished during his 69 years, a time when he experienced more than most people might in several lifetimes. More information about John Trudell can be found at https://www.johntrudell.com/.

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Music selection

1. Song Title: Tahi Roots Mix (First Voices Radio Theme Song)

Artist: Moana and the Moa Hunters

Album: Tahi (1993)

Label: Southside Records (Australia and New Zealand)

(00:00:22)

 

2. Song Title: Caravan of Fools

Artist: John Prine

Album: The Tree of Forgiveness (2018)

Label: Oh Boy Records

(00:02:15)

 

3. Song Title: The Cleansing / Red Earth Song

Artist: John Trudell

Album: Tribal Voice (1983)

Label: Effective Records

(00:29:10)

 

4. Song Title: Wildseed

Artist: John Trudell - KWEST

CD: Through the Dust (2014)

Label: Dialect Records

(00:44:50)

 

5. Song Title: The States I’m In

Artist: Bruce Cockburn

Album: Bond on Bone (2017)

Label: True North

(00:49:50)

 

6. Song Title: Tell Me a Tale

Artist: Michael Kiwanuka

Album: Home Again (2012)

Label: Polydor Records

(00:55:17)