Rolling Thunder (person)

Rolling Thunder (birth name: John Pope; 1916–1997 was a spiritual leader who self-identified as a Native American medicine man. He was raised in Oklahoma and later moved to Nevada. He has been called "the legal advisor and medicine man for the Western Shoshone Nation".

John Pope has been the subject of several books, notably Rolling Thunder (1974), by American journalist and author Doug Boyd, and the book Rolling Thunder Speaks: A Message for Turtle Island (1998), a narrative edited by his second wife, Carmen Sun Rising Pope. He also figures prominently in Mad Bear (1994), 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.

Rolling Thunder had bit parts in Billy Jack (1971), The Trial of Billy Jack (1974) and Billy Jack Goes to Washington (1977).

Rolling Thunder appears on Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart's album Rolling Thunder, a 1972 release. In 1975/76, Bob Dylan organized and headlined a nationwide series of concerts called the Rolling Thunder Revue (named for thunder itself, according to Dylan.)

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

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.

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

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 in that context mentioned as an example of people who teach Native-style ceremonies to non-Natives, often for money. His affiliation with the Western Shoshone Nation generally gives dis-merit to the claim of cultural appropriation, as well as his lack of need for income by such appropriation.

He claimed the movie Billy Jack was loosely based on his life; he was a bit player in the film.

• 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)

• Rolling Thunder: Healer of Meta Tantay – UFO TV – DVD Release Date: February 22, 2005
• Billy Jack (1971)
• The Trial of Billy Jack (1974)
• Billy Jack Goes to Washington (1977)