Rolling Thunder (person)

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] He has been considered an example of a plastic medicine man.

Rolling Thunder
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
      ​
      (after 1984)​
      [2]
      ChildrenMala Spotted Eagle
      Buffalo Horse
      Ozella Morning Star
      Patty Mocking Bird[1]

      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, 1960'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]

      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
      • Rolling Thunder by Doug Boyd - 1982 (Foreword by Dee Brown) Bantam Doubleday Dell ISBN 978-0440574354

      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. 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. Rolling Thunder Speaks
      4. 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. doi:10.1353/aiq.2000.0001. JSTOR 1185908. PMID 17086676. S2CID 6012903. 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
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