Rolling Thunder (person)


Rolling Thunder was a hippy spiritual leader who self-identified as a Native American medicine man. He was raised in Oklahoma and later moved to Nevada.

In print

John Pope has been the subject of several books, notably Rolling Thunder, by American journalist and author Doug Boyd, and the book Rolling Thunder Speaks: A Message for Turtle Island, a narrative edited by his second wife, Carmen Sun Rising Pope. He also figures prominently in Mad Bear, Boyd's follow-up book to Rolling Thunder, which chronicles the life of Mad Bear Anderson, who Boyd says was a peer and mentor to Rolling Thunder.

In music

Pope appears on Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart's 1972 album Rolling Thunder. His voice is heard on the first track of Side A: "Rolling Thunder/Shoshone Invocation". In 1975/76, Bob Dylan organized and headlined a nationwide series of concerts called the Rolling Thunder Revue. In the film Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese, Bob Dylan states “This tour was named after chief Rolling Thunder”.

On audio cassette

Rolling Thunder appears in taped interviews with John Trudell and Michael Chosa in which he describes the contemporary treatment of Native Americans.

Life and legacy

In 1975 he and his wife Spotted Fawn founded a non-profit community on of land in north-eastern Nevada that they named Meta Tantay. It operated until 1985; visitors over the years included Mickey Hart.

Death

Rolling Thunder died in 1997 from complications associated with diabetes. He also suffered from emphysema in the later years of his life.

Controversy

Rolling Thunder's given name was John Pope. At times he claimed to be part Cherokee and at other times Shoshone or Hopi. He never provided proof of any Native heritage. He has been accused of cultural appropriation and cited as an example of a non-Native who taught fraudulent, "Native-style" ceremonies, often for money. He often claimed to represent the Western Shoshone Nation.

Discography