Rolling Thunder (person)

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Rolling Thunder
RollingThunderShaman.jpg
Born
John Walter Pope

(1916-09-10)September 10, 1916
Stamps, Arkansas, US
DiedJanuary 23, 1997(1997-01-23) (aged 80)
Elko, Nevada, US
NationalityAmerican
Known forNew Age spiritualist
Spouse(s)
Spotted Fawn
​
(died 1984)​
[1]
Carmen Sun Rising
​
(his death 1997)​
[2]
ChildrenMala Spotted Eagle
Buffalo Horse
Ozella Morning Star
Patty Mocking Bird[1]

Rolling Thunder (birth name: John Walter Pope, 1916–1997) was a hippie spiritual leader who self-identified as a Native American medicine man. He was raised in Oklahoma and later moved to Nevada.[3][better source needed] He has been considered an example of a plastic medicine man.

Controversy[]

Rolling Thunder's given name was John Pope, not Rolling Thunder.[4] Rolling Thunder appears in taped interviews with John Trudell and Michael Chosa in which he describes the contemporary treatment of Native Americans.[5] At times he claimed to be part Cherokee,[4] at other times Hopi, and at other times Shoshone and that he could represent the Western Shoshone Nation.[6] He never provided proof of any Native heritage, nor have any Native people claimed him. He has been cited as an example of a plastic medicine man.[7][8][9] Rolling Thunder is mentioned in a number of books on the New Age, 60's counterculture, cultural appropriation, cultural imperialism, and neoshamanism.[10][11]

Death[]

Rolling Thunder died in 1997 from complications associated with diabetes. He also suffered from emphysema in the later years of his life.[3][better source needed]

Legacy[]

In 1975 he and his wife Spotted Fawn founded a non-profit community on 262 acres (1.06 km2) of land in north-eastern Nevada (just east of the town of Carlin) that they named Meta Tantay. It operated until 1985; visitors over the years included Mickey Hart.[12]

Bibliography[]

  • Native Healer: Initiation Into an Ancient Art by Bobby Lake-Thom and Robert G. Lake – 1991 (Foreword by Rolling Thunder) Quest Books ISBN 978-0-8356-0667-7

Discography[]

  • Rolling Thunder – Mickey Hart (1972)
  • Rolling Thunder Speaks: the Owyhee Confrontation (Audio Book)
  • From Alcatraz to Chicago - with John Trudell and Michael Chosa (Audio Book)

Video[]

Filmography[]

  • Rolling Thunder: Healer of Meta Tantay – UFO TV – DVD Release Date: February 22, 2005

Notes[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Laszlo, Ervin (February 12, 2009). The Akashic Experience: Science and the Cosmic Memory Field. Inner Traditions. ISBN 978-1594772986.
  2. ^ The Shamanic Powers of Rolling Thunder: As Experienced by Alberto Villoldo, John Perry Barlow, Larry Dossey, and Others. Bear & Company. 15 November 2016. ISBN 978-1591432272.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Rolling Thunder Speaks
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b Panther-Yates 40
  5. ^ http://www.worldcat.org/title/from-alcatraz-to-chicago/oclc/5578494
  6. ^ Rolling Thunder speaks : the Owyhee confrontation
  7. ^ Churchill, Ward (June 2003). "Spiritual Hucksterism:The Rise of the Plastic Medicine Men". Cultural Survival Quarterly Magazine. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  8. ^ Chidester, David, Authentic Fakes: Religion and American Popular Culture. University of California Press; 2005; p.173: "Defenders of the integrity of indigenous religion have derided New Age shamans, as well as their indigenous collaborators, as 'plastic shaman' or 'plastic medicine men.'"
  9. ^ Aldred, Lisa (Summer 2000). "Plastic Shamans and Astroturf Sun Dances: New Age Commercialization of Native American Spirituality". American Indian Quarterly. 24 (3): 332. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  10. ^ Dream Catchers: How Mainstream America Discovered Native Spirituality By Philip Jenkins (2005) Oxford University Press ISBN 978-0-19-518910-0. 2004.
  11. ^ G. Hobson, "The Rise of the White Shaman as a New Version of Cultural Imperialism." in: Hobson, Gary, ed. The Remembered Earth. Albuquerque, NM: Red Earth Press; 1978: 100-108.
  12. ^ Mickey Hart at Meta Tantay

External links[]

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