Iron Thunderhorse facts for kids

Iron Thunderhorse is an author and a prisoner in Texas. He describes himself as a leader, historian, and spiritual guide of the Quinnipiac people, part of the ACQTC, Inc.. He also calls himself the "Hereditary Grand Sachem and Powwamanitomp (Shaman) of the Quinnipiac Thunder Clan."

Early Life and Heritage

Iron Thunderhorse was born William L. Coppola in New Haven, Connecticut, on January 29, 1950. In 1989, he officially changed his name to Iron Thunderhorse (Biwabiko Paddaquahas in Quinnipiac). He said this change was for cultural, religious, and traditional reasons, chosen by elders following Quinnipiac traditions.

His mother, Norma Patricia Brown, was a grand niece of Sakaskantawe (Flying Squirrel Woman). A writer named Evan T. Pritchard noted that Iron Thunderhorse is a direct descendant of Elizabeth Sakaskantawe, who was the last leader of the Quinnipiac's Totoket Band. These people were among the first to be forced from their lands. Thunderhorse's father was from Naples, Italy, and his stepfather was an Ojibwe from Quebec, Canada.

By the time he was 12, Thunderhorse had learned six languages from his family: English, Italian, Latin, French-Canadian, Anishinabemowin, and Quiripi. He says his passion for honoring and keeping alive his Native American ancestors' language and traditions came from spending time with Sakaskantawe. She was very old when she taught him about 100 basic words of the Quiripi language, various Quinnipiac traditions, and why it was important to learn and preserve them.

Legal Work and Activism

Early in his time in prison, Thunderhorse became a certified paralegal, which means he learned how to help with legal cases. He worked as an editor for Thunderbird Free Press, a publication focused on Native American tribes' and prisoners' rights. He also wrote columns about prison law for several magazines.

His first published legal work was a book called Breaking the Chains (1983). It was about the history of people representing themselves in court in America.

Thunderhorse was involved in a big legal case called Ruis v. Estelle, which aimed to improve prison conditions. A judge even appointed someone to check on how the prison treated "jailhouse lawyers" (prisoners who help others with legal issues), and Thunderhorse was one of the people interviewed.

He also wrote articles about laws and prison reform for newspapers like the Daily Texas and the Houston Post. In 1990, a reporter from the Dallas Morning News called him "one of the most formidable legal opponents" the state had ever met, a "self-taught prison lawyer of incomparable skill and persistence."

Thunderhorse also helped start The Thunderbird Alliance. This group brought together Tribes, spiritual societies, support groups, and prison circles to help Native Americans practice their religions while in prison. He was the editor-in-chief for The Thunderbird Free Press, the group's quarterly magazine.

In 2000, Thunderhorse helped a group called ECOS (the Environmental Council of Stamford) in a lawsuit. They were trying to save two parks in Stamford and Greenwich, Connecticut from becoming a golf course. Thunderhorse joined the case, arguing that the land was originally given for public use, not for a private golf course. This led to the Attorney General getting involved to protect the parks.

Later, in 2003, Thunderhorse, who is now legally blind, filed a lawsuit under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). He argued that Texas prisons were not properly set up for prisoners with disabilities. This led to an investigation into the prison conditions.

In 2004, he filed another lawsuit under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA). He claimed that prison officials had broken earlier agreements about religious practices. Even though a judge first ruled against him, a higher court later sent the case back for more review.

Artist and Writer

Thunderhorse has shared his knowledge of Native American traditional crafts through a special series of publications. His book, Return of the Thunderbeings (1990), includes chapters on Shamanic art and features many symbols and designs used in tribal arts and crafts. All his books and studies include his own drawings, maps, and charts. Some of his illustrations are in the book Voices of Native America, and he designed the cover for his only authorized biography.

His historical drawing of Tecumseh is on display at the Museums at Prophetstown State Park in Lafayette, Indiana. His masks are in private collections. Many of his original works were displayed for years at the Indian Trading Post and Powwow Museum near Indianapolis, Indiana. Other works have been shown in places like Louisville, Kentucky; New York City; and Orange, Texas. A permanent collection of his maps and portraits is at the Quinnipiac Dawnland Museum in Guilford, Connecticut. His creations have also been used as educational tools at gatherings in Connecticut, Indiana, New York, and Quebec, Canada. He has also donated paintings to help raise money and awareness for groups like the Eastern Puma Research Association.

Thunderhorse has written poetry in different Algonquian dialects. He has also published many scholarly papers about languages in the Dawnlander, the ACQTC Literary Journal. In 2000, he created a 100-page guide to the Quiripi language. In 2006, he published a much larger, updated edition called A Complete Guide for Learning, Speaking, and Writing The PEA-A Wampano-Quiripi R-Dialect.

Published Works

• Breaking the Chains: A History of Self-Representation in America, Inside/Out Press, Fresno, CA, 1983.
• Paradox, A Psychic Journey, Abbetira Publishing, 1984. ISBN: 0-913407-01-1
• Medicine Visions (Poetry chapbook), Thunderbird Free Press, 1985.
• Relocation, Crimes Against Nature, Thunderbird Free Press, 1986.
• Thunderbird Voices Speaking, Thunderbird Free Press, 1987.
• Return of the Thunderbeings, with Donn Le Vie, Jr., Bear & Company, Santa Fe, NM, 1990. ISBN: 0-939680-68-8
• Learning All About Suckerfish Writing: The Micmac's Glottographic Writing System, QTC Press, 2000.
• A Complete Language Guide & Primer to the Wampano/Quinnipiac R-Dialect of Southwestern New England, QTC Press, 2000.
• There's More Than Rocks, Trees, and Streams in the Woods, QTC Press, 2000.
• We the People Called Quinnipiac, QTC Press, 2001-2002 (available only in electronic format, PDF on CD, from ACQTC).

Articles and Columns

• "The Freedom Fighters" (as William "Crazy Horse" Coppola) in Easyriders Issue 102, December 1981.
• "Algonquian and Iroquoian Influence on the American System of Democracy" in TURTLE QUARTERLY, Winter 1988.
• "The Thunderbird Alliance: Reclaiming the Legacy of Tribal Democracy," Humanity & Society, 1989 (reprinted in Humanity & Society Special 25th Anniversary Issue, Part One, Volume 27, No. 3, August 2003).
• "Dreams Visions and Prophecies of the Anishinaabe" in AMERICAN INDIAN REVIEW, UK, 1992.
• "Pride, Protest, and Prejudice in the Arts" in TURTLE QUARTERLY, Fall-Winter, 1994.
• "She Who is Alone" (A Texas Indian Legend About the Bluebonnet Wildflowers), in WILD WEST, Oct. 1996.
• "The Dawnstar Carved in Stone," in NEARA JOURNAL, Volume xxxi, No. 1, Spring 1997.
• "Sharing the Good Message: The Art of Storytelling in the Poetry of Joseph Bruchac" in PAINTBRUSH, A Journal of Poetry and Translations, Truman State University, Vol. XXIV, Autumn 1997.
• "Native American Picture-Writing: A Lost Art Currently Being Revived in Indian Country," in Whispering Wind, Vol. 29, No. 1, 1998.
• Arts & Crafts Columns in Country Road Chronicles, Mar, Apr, May, June, July, Aug, and Sept of 1999.
• "The Quinnipiac of New England," in Whispering Wind, Vol. 32, No. 5, 2002.
• "Algonquian Influence on Shaping of America," in WILD WEST, June 2002.
• "Algonquian Influence on Powwow Culture," in Whispering Wind, Vol. 33, No. 3, 2003.
• Columns and Features in ANCIENT AMERICAN, Numbers 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19–20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 36, 37, 43, 44, and 48.
• 100 Columns in Branford Review, Nov. 2001 through Dec. 2004.

Manuscripts

• The Complete Guide for Learning, Speaking, and Writing the PEA-A Wampano-Quiripi R-Dialect, 2006.
• Sacred Pathways of our Indian Ancestry, 2000.
• Graphical Writing Systems: An Introduction to the Study of Native American Indian Languages, 1996.
• Quinnipiac: Land Where the People, Rivers, Mountains, and Trails Converge, 1995.
• Sacred Cultural Landscapes: The Ways of Algonquian Sachemdoms – and – Implications of a Thunder Clan Shamanic Complex in Western Connecticut, 2000.

Further Works

You can find a more complete list of works by Thunderhorse (from about 1985 to 2005) in the book Following the Footprints of a Stone Giant: The Life and Times of Iron Thunderhorse (2007). Some of his published and unpublished works are kept at the Beineke Rare Books (Yale University) Library in New Haven, Connecticut; at the Connecticut Historical Society in Hartford, Connecticut; at the Mashantucket Pequot Research Center in Mashantucket, Connecticut; at the Center for Algonquian Culture in Woodstock, New York; and at the Quinnipiac Dawnland Museum in Guilford, Connecticut.