A small, quiet crowd of people gathered in the Memorial Union Theater Monday night. They didn’t laugh a lot, they didn’t boo or hiss, and they stayed quiet, reflective and respectful until the end of the presentation when they rose in a standing ovation. After all the action the speaker had seen in his lifetime, that’s probably just the way he would have wanted it.

Introduced by English professor Sean Teuton as a “word healer,” the Distinguished Lecture Series presented poet and singer John Trudell to an audience enraptured with his spoken verse and personal philosophy on a wide, rambling range of issues.

“I gotta tell you, straight up,” Trudell began, “I’m crazy. That’s your out. I’m not exactly sure what’ll be said tonight. I’ll try to be coherent as long as I can.”

Trudell’s life has been long and multifaceted. He was the national spokesperson during the Indians of All Tribes Occupation of Alcatraz Island in 1969. He also served as the chairman of the American Indian Movement from 1973-1979. Arguable speculation contends that he was forced to quit the position after the death of his wife and children in a suspicious fire. Since this tragedy, Trudell has worked primarily in music, with excursions into poetry and film.

“I never strayed into heaven,” Trudell read from his poetry. “It was hard enough getting past hell. I ran with the wolves and got lost from the pack. Imagine running out of imagine.”

However, rather than a radical, fiery speaker shouting into the microphone, Trudell delivered his impromptu speech in a soft, lulling voice that made the theater seem to be more of a living room than a forum. Only occasionally did Trudell’s voice quicken with emotion, and he seemed overwhelmed by the support of the audience.

Trudell spoke mainly on the role of people in today’s society.

“We’re human beings,” he said. “The ‘human’ elements of us are metals, minerals and liquids. The ‘being’ is the connection to the sun, the universe and the earth. The purpose of technology, religion and civilization is like a mining thing.”

Comparing the energy of the human race to uranium ore, Trudell said that modern day civilization “mines the ‘being’ part of being human.”

“Did you ever feel like something’s missing from your life?” he asked. “Those fears, doubts and insecurities — that’s toxic waste.”

Trudell also spoke of his personal political philosophy.

“I don’t vote,” he explained. “I didn’t encourage any of them. The largest political party in America is the non-voters.”

In his analysis of American history, Trudell observed that “majority-rule” democracy was actually begun by another minority: white landowners.

“They just called the majority the enemy,” he said, referring to blacks, Indians, women and poor whites. “Then democracy showed up and committed mass murder against me and my people.”

Trudell took this theory further to explain current events.

“I don’t really think what’s going on is a war on terror,” he said. “This is democracy working the way it’s supposed to. If it was a war on terrorism then these corporations that just robbed all these people would be called economic terrorists.”

“America’s a concept,” Trudell said later. “The concept’s less than 500 years old. My lineage is much older than that. We’re older than the concept. Being called ‘Native American’ doesn’t reflect the reality of who we are.”

As he wrapped up, Trudell seemed almost apologetic about his ideas.

“Whatever you get out of it, I’m glad you got,” he said of his remarks. “If I didn’t make any sense to you, that’s all right because you probably wouldn’t make any sense to me. My mama didn’t bring me into this world to let it eat me up.”