The Biography

John Pope (1916–1997), more widely known as Rolling Thunder, was an American New Age spiritualist and medicine man who claimed to have Cherokee and Hopi ancestry. He gained popularity during the 1960s and '70s due to his association with artists like musician Bob Dylan and Santee Dakota poet and actor John Trudell. He has been accused of being a "pretendian" and a plastic medicine man, with little or no genuine connection to the culture or religion he claimed to represent or study.