*Note*
This article, part 2 of a two-part series, is based on an interview with Native American/Chicano Rocker Freddy Trujillo, from March 2003.
SP: Now tell me about how you discovered your Native American roots, and how that influenced your music.
FT: Well, I didn't really know my grandfather. He died when I was like two, or two and a half. When I moved up here that was another thing, suddenly! When I was growing up in the L.A. area, I really didn't see that much Indian culture, whereas HERE it's really RICH in it!
SP: Oh yes!
FT: And I went to this protest gathering, in support of the Klickitat Indians' treaty dispute. That was when the battle over Native American fishing rights being threatened by land developers was going on, right when it started. And there were musicians going to it, and they had just got back and wanted to talk about it. So I went down there to see it. But before those people spoke, there was this woman named Margaret Palmer who was from the Yakima tribe up in Washington. And down on the Columbia River, where they fish, they've had land treatied to them (since 1855) to have free access to the land. This is so they can continue to "Scaffold" fish (a type of net fishing). So when contractors put the Dalles Dam in there (on 3/10/57) that was the FIRST attack on Native fishing rights, as the risen water level caused the Celilo Falls to disappear!
The falls had been an important site for the Yakima tribe to fish at for over 10,000 years! So there is this area called Lyle Point (on the upper end of the Columbia River gorge), and this rich guy from Minnesota (Henry Spencer) somehow bought that land, wanting to build luxury homes there. He knew that the area had been a magnet for windsurfers for some time, allowing windsurfers easy access to the river. So anyway, this guy came there and immediately began knocking over ALL the scaffolding nets, bulldozing roads and age-old sites, which of course caused a HUGE fight between him and the Yakima tribe! So this lady (Margaret Palmer) was talking about it all, and she blew me away! So on my Spring break (from my first year in college), I went up there and volunteered. While there, I did my first "Sweat" and THAT was where I met my future wife's brothers-who were only like ten or eleven. They too were doing their first "Sweat".
SP: I see! Now tell a bit about what this "Sweat" is all about! I am familiar with it, but I'm sure MANY folks are NOT!
FT: Basically it's like a Native "church"... a place to pray. Not ALL tribes do it, but the Plains Indians (which my family hail from) DO. Basically you go in for four rounds. On the first round you welcome the spirits in. You put these rocks in the center, pour water over them and you actually SWEAT...it's really purifying! On the second round you do prayer for other people. On the third round you do prayer for yourself. On the fourth round you let the spirits go out. So you go in and out, doing each round. And some people do a "Warrior" round, which is a FIFTH round-it's a REALLY HOT one! I haven't done it in awhile, so I'm not like an EXPERT on it!
Through my wife's family I've learned a lot! They're "Urban" Indians, and it's surprising HOW MUCH we have in common! You know, I really think that not many Chicanos and Native Americans realize just HOW MUCH they have in common! I guess cause of the politics behind it: some people see more of the SPANISH than INDIAN in it!
SP: Yes! The politics become involved, don't they Freddy? I see much of that here where I live (Central California). That's a very valid point!
FT: And so, you know, to me that's when I made my discovery! Getting all this Chicano history, I started realizing me as a "Mesquito": a Spanish/Indian mix! THAT's what I was hoping to get across in my record. Having a little bit of Indian and a little bit of the Mexican thing. I may be too confusing for some, but ... (laughs)! Plus making it a "Pop" sounding record, it may seem like I'm all over the place!
But to ME, it's just basically the way I am! I'll be at Rock shows, I'll go to Pow-Wows, be a high school mentor for Mexican kids studying Chicano studies, etc. I like to spread myself around like that, you know.
SP: So you left Southern California, and came to the lovely Pacific Northwest. At that point you began to pick up NEW experiences and values. You also rediscovered ones that WERE there, like doors you hadn't opened yet, so to speak.
FT: Yeah, it's to say like...took for granted, and things I just didn't think about. And I made a REALLY WEIRD discovery here too! All in the SAME week! I had such an uplifting, weird, spiritual week! At the time, I hadn't gone to church in awhile, kinda drifted from the Catholic thing-didn't feel like I belonged. I wasn't getting much out of it. But then when I did that "Sweat" and went to that church Pow-Wow THAT was when I met my wife! I met her at an all-Indian school in Salem, Oregon.
SP: Salem, Oregon! I know the area well!
FT: Yeah, there's an all-Indian high school there.
SP: I think I REMEMBER that! That was where the madrone trees grow WILD there!
FT: Right! That was where the relationship with her family REALLY got started! I had this eye-opening experience to Indian culture! So anyway..a week later I started asking my aunt because I knew she was trying to track down the genealogy on her dad's side.
SP: Now is this your maternal or paternal aunt?
FT: My Dad's side.
SP: I see.
FT: We knew he was Indian. So she sent me all this stuff, and in there I found out that my grandfather was part of an Indian relocation program!
SP: Wow!
FT: And we just recently discovered he's Comanche, and he'd always said he was Osage! So, we're not really clear; he could be BOTH! We really don't know much about his REAL dad-that's the hard thing. He took on the name "Trujillo" from his step-dad, you see. The name I inherit from him is his step-dad's.
SP: I see!
FT: An "Antonio Trujillo".
SP: I see.
FT: His mom was a Geranama Zamora. I think she was Comanche. So maybe it was his dad who was Osage. But anyway, in that stuff she sent me, there's a check stub from the '30's that was paid to my grandfather. He was relocated to Oregon. So I thought "Wow! I didn't know he spent ANY time up here, and now here I AM!" And there's a check stub for him, for helping to build that school!
SP: Oh!
FT : In the thirties, during The Depression. All of $13.00(laughs)!
SP: Don't spend it all in one place, right? (laugh)
FT: So that was pretty crazy, you know? Finding THAT out!
SP: Coming full-circle!
FT: Not realizing I had ANY connection to Oregon-thought I was pure Californian! So anyway, I kept in touch with her (wife's) family. My wife is a little bit younger than me. At the time I was 23 and she was 18. I think we were world's apart but as we got older...you know. She almost got married and moved to New Mexico. Then we entered a time when neither of us had anyone, and we started going out. Anyway ... so that was a strange thing!
SP: Very interesting! How everything just kind of came full-circle familial-wise, and you ended up inadvertently tracing your family's roots back to where they were! You didn't realize at the time. Very interesting!
FT: Yeah! It even got me MORE into finding out about my Grandma! Grandma finally gave me a break-down about my dad's mom. She was born in Gilroy, California. It's called "The garlic capital of the world". It's by San Jose. Her family had originally come from Spain and settled near Monterey. Married an Indian woman from a tribe I've never heard of! I can't remember what the tribe's name was. They are almost like Hawaiians. One of the Coastal tribes there.
SP: Yes. From what I understand, MANY of those Coastal tribes have an almost Polynesian flavor to their culture! Not just the diet, but their housing and EVERYTHING! Their cultures, their beliefs and many of their gods are similar. Yeah, that's interesting!
FT: I started digging in on that stuff! And realized the border crossed US: they were there BEFORE the Treaty Of Guadalupe. The center of who I am is from THERE, not from Mexico. It's interesting. I think it contributed to it – me moving AWAY from it. Not taking that stuff for granted. Longing for that kind of stuff.
