Saturday, December 15, 2007

RED CROW, father of TALL BEAR

 RED CROW (Floyd Westerman) 2 DSCN8469
A nice man I met years ago, & talked to occasionally, has passed on. Strangely, I had a dream about him about a month ago. The next morning, while driving here in Malibu, I spotted Max Gail, a long time friend of this man & also a casual acquaintance of mine.
I parked my truck, & went across the street to talk to Max, & to recount that I had dreamt about Red Crow, & asked how he was. Max told me he was fine. He always asks about my daughter, & after a little small talk we said goodbye.
The End.
Today I read that Red Crow had died on Thursday. Here`s a link to a bio of
Floyd Red Crow Westerman.
I`m including a few quotes of his also. He was an American Indian activist, a songwriter, an actor & all around good guy.
http://delafont.com/music_acts/Floyd-Westerman.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floyd_Red_Crow_Westerman

"And I told them not to dig for uranium, for if they did, the children would die. They didn't listen, they didn't listen, they didn't listen to me. And I told them if the children die, there would be no keepers of the land. They didn't listen. And I told them if they destroy the sky, machines would come and soon destroy the land. They didn't listen... And I told them if they destroy the land, man would have to move into the sea. They didn't listen... And I told them if they destroy the sea -- they didn't listen..." -From the Floyd Westerman song "They Didn't Listen" as Westerman recited the lyric concluding his testimony in 1992 at the World Uranium Hearings in Salzburg, Austria[1].

"There is an ancient Indian saying that something lives only as long as the last person who remembers it. My people have come to trust memory over history. Memory, like fire, is radiant and immutable while history serves only those who seek to control it, those who douse the flame of memory in order to put out the dangerous fire of truth. Beware these men for they are dangerous themselves and unwise. Their false history is written in the blood of those who might remember and of those who seek the truth." -Floyd Westerman as Albert Hosteen in The X-Files episode "The Blessing Way"

10 comments:

Unknown said...

Re: Floyd Red Crow Westerman;

Fascinating that you knew such a man.

He obviously had quite a life and career, much more extensive than I realized. I do remember seeing him in a number of those movies. His delivery of those wryly humorous lines in Dances... was great. He's one of those you wish could have lived to 150, or more.

We going to need more statesman such as him.

Now I've gotta go look at the large version of tonight's image... delve futher into the mystery of it.

Unknown said...

Hey, that moon is in the red eclipse we photoed a few months back. 'Fits well with the native artifacts.

Knucklehead said...

NDD,
You may want to include "Death Of A Shaman" on BoomanTribune in your search.
In the post, I included the Lunar Eclipse in the image.

Knucklehead said...

NDD, Yes, see my post above this & below yours. Hah, Great minds think alike, & fools never differ.

Evangeline said...

Hi KH,

I recognized your friend as I've seen him in a few movies and, of course, in the Lakota spot. I didn't know of his other activities, though. Sounds like a very interesting human being. A little in the spirit of what Ndd says about him, it seems that there are less and less people of his calibre around.

Evangeline said...

Hey KH,

I witnessed a really strange thing today in Montréal, and I know you would have loved to capture it on video: imagine thunder and lightening in the middle of a big snowstorm. At first, I thought a power transformer had blown out close by, but then the thunder rolled across the sky. Apparently, it's quite rare, but it does happen in winter the same way it happens in summer storms.

Knucklehead said...

Evengeline,
I remember one instance of Snow Thunder, goig back to school after lunch walking from home to St. Mary`s just before Le P`tit Cafe.
A full blizzard with thunder & lightening. I may have mentioned it to you before. It is very unusual. I`m glad at least you got to experience it. It one of those things that, as they say, "you had to be there".

Knucklehead said...

Evangeline,
"it seems that there are less and less people of his calibre around."
The strange thing about that statement, is that as there are less & less, we seem to need them more & more.
A big loss for sure. My friend Max Gail, is the Polish cop in "Barney Miller", Wojo, for wojcwowictz(sp?).
He`s another activist along with Martin Sheen. They all live right around any corner here.

Evangeline said...

“going back to school after lunch walking from home to St. Mary`s just before Le P`tit Cafe...” I can see it as clear as day!

“The strange thing about that statement, is that as there are less & less, we seem to need them more & more.” How true.

“My friend Max Gail, is the Polish cop in "Barney Miller", Wojo, for wojcwowictz(sp?)” I loved that show, especially when Fish was present. Wojo was great too.

Have a real nice day, okay?

Family Man said...

Head I read this a couple of times yesterday, but I didn't really know what to say.

I didn't know him, but I know him. Floyd Red Crow Westerman sounded like a very kind and intelligent man. You were lucky to have known him.