Iron Thunderhorse
Encyclopedia
Iron Thunderhorse, Biwabiko Paddaquahas, is CEO and Legal Sovereign of ACQTC, Inc.
, and Hereditary Grand Sachem and Powwamanitomp (Shaman) of the Quinnipiac
Thunder Clan.
on January 29, 1950, as William L. Coppola. In 1989, he legally changed his name to Iron Thunderhorse (Biwabiko Paddaquahas in Quinnipiac), citing cultural, religious, and traditional reasons. Reportedly in keeping with Quinnipiac tradition, Thunderhorse says this name was chosen by four elders, including Slow Turtle (John Peters).
Thunderhorse’s mother was Norma Patricia Brown, a grand niece of Sakaskantawe (Flying Squirrel Woman). In ALGONQUIN EAGLE SONG: An Informal "Honor Roll" of Great Algonquins, Evan T. Pritchard writes, "Iron Thunderhorse is a direct descendant of Elizabeth Sakaskantawe [Mahweeyeuh/Brown] (the last matriarch of the Quinnipiac's Totoket Band) of the people of southwestern Connecticut, who were among the first … to be driven from their land." Thunderhorse's father was an immigrant from Naples, Italy, and his stepfather was an Ojibway from Quebec, Canada.
By age 12, Thunderhorse reports he had been exposed to six languages (English, Italian, Latin, French-Canadian, Anishinabemowin, and Quiripi) by his relatives. Thunderhorse traces his passion for honoring and preserving the language and traditions of his Native American ancestor to his childhood time with Sakaskantawe. She was in her mid-90s to early 100s when she taught Thunderhorse 100 basic words of the Quiripi language, various Quiripi traditions, and the importance of learning and preserving them.
Thunderhorse was active in the RUIZ VS. ESTELLE prison reform litigation as a class Plaintiff
. In 1981, the presiding Judge, William Wayne Justice
, appointed Vince Nathan as Special Master to monitor compliance with the court’s mandates. Mr. Nathan was to study official retaliation against “jailhouse lawyers” and Thunderhorse was one of those interviewed by him at the Ellis Unit. Texas Department of Criminal Justice
(TDCJ) officials declined to release Iron’s central file and Mr. Nathan had to petition the Court for sanctions against TDCJ.
Thunderhorse has written columns about legislation and prison reform in the Daily Texas (UT-Austin Law School paper) and the Houston Post
In 1990, Dallas Morning News reporter Mark McDonald wrote that “the state also knows Mr. Coppola [Thunderhorse] as one of the most formidable legal opponents it has ever encountered, a jailhouse Clarence Darrow
, a self-taught prison lawyer of incomparable skill and persistence.”
Thunderhorse also co-founded The Thunderbird Alliance, a coalition of Tribes, Medicine Societies, Support Groups, and prison circles to address the many problems faced by Native American religious adherents behind prison walls. He served as Editor-in-Chief for The Thunderbird Free Press, the quarterly forum for the Thunderbird Alliance. Humanity & Society, a forum for humanist psychology, published a special issue about Native American struggles and two Thunderbird Alliance Advocates (one of whom was Thunderhorse), which included an essay on the legacy of the Thunderbird Alliance, from its tribal roots.
In 2000, ECOS (the Environmental Council of Stamford) was losing a lawsuit against the cities of Stamford
and Greenwich, Connecticut
in an effort to save the Rosa Hartman Park and Laddin’s Rock Park from becoming a golf course. ECOS requested assistance from ACQTC, Inc. and Thunderhorse filed a Motion to Intervene as the Legal Sovereign of ACQTC, Inc., and submitted an 86-page multidisciplinary study about the sites. Eventually, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal indicated he would file for a permanent injunction after Thunderhorse pointed out that the original donors of the land did so with the stipulation that the Parks be used for the public (precluding a golf course for the wealthy).
In 2003, Thunderhorse, who is now legally blind, filed a Pro Se litigation under the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) about the conditions in Texas prisons, because they reportedly did not adequately accommodate disabled prisoners. This led to an investigation by ADVOCACY, Inc.
In late 2004, Thunderhorse filed suit in Pro Se under the RLUIPA (Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act
) after TDCJ defendants reportedly violated three previous out-of-court settlements. When the U.S. Magistrate Judge ruled against Thunderhorse, he appealed to the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. In a four-page PER CURIAM OPINION, the 5th Circuit vacated the District Court’s ruling and remanded the case for “further proceedings.”
Iron’s artistic work has been collected by tribes, museums, and private collectors in the US, Canada, and abroad. His historical pictographic portraiture of Tecumseh
is on display at the Museums at Prophetstown
in Lafayette, Indiana
. His masks are in the private collections of Barbara Hand Clow, David Wagner, and Yehwehnode. At the Indian Trading Post and Powwow Museum, just south of Indianapolis, Indiana
, many Thunderhorse originals were on display for several years. Other works have been on display in Louisville, Kentucky
; New York City
; Orange, Texas
; and elsewhere. A permanent exhibit of Iron’s maps and portraits reside at the Quinnipiac Dawnland Museum in Guilford, Connecticut
, while a large collection of his work remains at the ACQTC National Office in Milltown, Indiana
. At gatherings, his creations have been used as educational tools in CT, IN, NY, and Quebec, Canada. To help raise funds and awareness, he has donated paintings to worthy groups such as the Eastern Puma Research Association in Baltimore, Maryland.
language dialects and has published many scholarly papers on linguistics in the Dawnlander, the ACQTC Literary Journal (annual).
In 2000, Thunderhorse developed a 100-page Quiripi language guide. In 2006 he published a 295-page revised and expanded edition, A Complete Guide for Learning, Speaking, and Writing The PEA-A Wampano-Quiripi R-Dialect (QTC Press, ACLI Series).
See the list below for other published books, articles, and unpublished manuscripts concerning Native American languages and writing systems.
Some of Thunderhorse's published and unpublished works can be found 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
.
Algonquian Confederacy of the Quinnipiac Tribal Council
The Algonquian Confederacy of the Quinnipiac Tribal Council is an alliance dedicated to the history and culture of the Quinnipiac, the aboriginal peoples of the North American region now known as Connecticut. ACQTC, Inc...
, and Hereditary Grand Sachem and Powwamanitomp (Shaman) of the Quinnipiac
Quinnipiac
This article is about the Native American nation. For the university, see Quinnipiac University.The Quinnipiac — rarely spelled Quinnipiack — is the English name for the Eansketambawg a Native American nation of the Algonquian family who inhabited the Wampanoki This article is about the Native...
Thunder Clan.
Ancestry and childhood
Iron Thunderhorse was born in New Haven, ConnecticutNew Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
on January 29, 1950, as William L. Coppola. In 1989, he legally changed his name to Iron Thunderhorse (Biwabiko Paddaquahas in Quinnipiac), citing cultural, religious, and traditional reasons. Reportedly in keeping with Quinnipiac tradition, Thunderhorse says this name was chosen by four elders, including Slow Turtle (John Peters).
Thunderhorse’s mother was Norma Patricia Brown, a grand niece of Sakaskantawe (Flying Squirrel Woman). In ALGONQUIN EAGLE SONG: An Informal "Honor Roll" of Great Algonquins, Evan T. Pritchard writes, "Iron Thunderhorse is a direct descendant of Elizabeth Sakaskantawe [Mahweeyeuh/Brown] (the last matriarch of the Quinnipiac's Totoket Band) of the people of southwestern Connecticut, who were among the first … to be driven from their land." Thunderhorse's father was an immigrant from Naples, Italy, and his stepfather was an Ojibway from Quebec, Canada.
By age 12, Thunderhorse reports he had been exposed to six languages (English, Italian, Latin, French-Canadian, Anishinabemowin, and Quiripi) by his relatives. Thunderhorse traces his passion for honoring and preserving the language and traditions of his Native American ancestor to his childhood time with Sakaskantawe. She was in her mid-90s to early 100s when she taught Thunderhorse 100 basic words of the Quiripi language, various Quiripi traditions, and the importance of learning and preserving them.
Human Rights Advocate
After his military service, Thunderhorse became a certified paralegal. He served as Editor for Thunderbird Free Press (Native American tribes’ and prisoners’ rights), and as Briefing Editor for the Prison Law Monitor. His first published work in legal forums was Breaking the Chains (Inside/Out Press, Fresno, CA, 1983) about the history and jurisprudence of self-representation in America. He wrote exclusive columns on prison law in Easyriders, Biker Lifestyle, Iron Horse, Guild Notes, and Voice for the Defense.Thunderhorse was active in the RUIZ VS. ESTELLE prison reform litigation as a class Plaintiff
Plaintiff
A plaintiff , also known as a claimant or complainant, is the term used in some jurisdictions for the party who initiates a lawsuit before a court...
. In 1981, the presiding Judge, William Wayne Justice
William Wayne Justice
William Wayne Justice was an American jurist. He served as a United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Texas and a Senior United States District Judge for the Western District of Texas....
, appointed Vince Nathan as Special Master to monitor compliance with the court’s mandates. Mr. Nathan was to study official retaliation against “jailhouse lawyers” and Thunderhorse was one of those interviewed by him at the Ellis Unit. Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice is a department of the government of the state of Texas. The TDCJ is responsible for statewide criminal justice for adult offenders, including managing offenders in state prisons, state jails and private correctional facilities, funding and certain...
(TDCJ) officials declined to release Iron’s central file and Mr. Nathan had to petition the Court for sanctions against TDCJ.
Thunderhorse has written columns about legislation and prison reform in the Daily Texas (UT-Austin Law School paper) and the Houston Post
Houston Post
The Houston Post was a newspaper that had its headquarters in Houston, Texas, United States. In 1995, the newspaper was absorbed into the Houston Chronicle.-History:The newspaper was established on February 19, 1880, by Gail Borden Johnson...
In 1990, Dallas Morning News reporter Mark McDonald wrote that “the state also knows Mr. Coppola [Thunderhorse] as one of the most formidable legal opponents it has ever encountered, a jailhouse Clarence Darrow
Clarence Darrow
Clarence Seward Darrow was an American lawyer and leading member of the American Civil Liberties Union, best known for defending teenage thrill killers Leopold and Loeb in their trial for murdering 14-year-old Robert "Bobby" Franks and defending John T...
, a self-taught prison lawyer of incomparable skill and persistence.”
Thunderhorse also co-founded The Thunderbird Alliance, a coalition of Tribes, Medicine Societies, Support Groups, and prison circles to address the many problems faced by Native American religious adherents behind prison walls. He served as Editor-in-Chief for The Thunderbird Free Press, the quarterly forum for the Thunderbird Alliance. Humanity & Society, a forum for humanist psychology, published a special issue about Native American struggles and two Thunderbird Alliance Advocates (one of whom was Thunderhorse), which included an essay on the legacy of the Thunderbird Alliance, from its tribal roots.
In 2000, ECOS (the Environmental Council of Stamford) was losing a lawsuit against the cities of Stamford
Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 122,643, making it the fourth largest city in the state and the eighth largest city in New England...
and Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 61,171. It is home to many hedge funds and other financial service companies. Greenwich is the southernmost and westernmost municipality in Connecticut and is 38+ minutes ...
in an effort to save the Rosa Hartman Park and Laddin’s Rock Park from becoming a golf course. ECOS requested assistance from ACQTC, Inc. and Thunderhorse filed a Motion to Intervene as the Legal Sovereign of ACQTC, Inc., and submitted an 86-page multidisciplinary study about the sites. Eventually, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal indicated he would file for a permanent injunction after Thunderhorse pointed out that the original donors of the land did so with the stipulation that the Parks be used for the public (precluding a golf course for the wealthy).
In 2003, Thunderhorse, who is now legally blind, filed a Pro Se litigation under the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) about the conditions in Texas prisons, because they reportedly did not adequately accommodate disabled prisoners. This led to an investigation by ADVOCACY, Inc.
In late 2004, Thunderhorse filed suit in Pro Se under the RLUIPA (Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act
Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act
The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act , , codified as et seq., is a United States federal law that prohibits the imposition of burdens on the ability of prisoners to worship as they please, as well as giving churches and other religious institutions a way to avoid burdensome...
) after TDCJ defendants reportedly violated three previous out-of-court settlements. When the U.S. Magistrate Judge ruled against Thunderhorse, he appealed to the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. In a four-page PER CURIAM OPINION, the 5th Circuit vacated the District Court’s ruling and remanded the case for “further proceedings.”
Artist
Thunderhorse has published a special series teaching the basics of many Native American traditional crafts. His book, Return of the Thunderbeings (by Iron Thunderhorse and Donn LeVie, Jr., Santa Fe, Bear & Co., 1990, ISBN 0-9396-8068-8), has chapters on Shamanic art and is full of symbols and designs used as iconography in tribal arts and crafts. All of Thunderhorse’s books, booklets, and scholarly studies contain his line drawings, maps, and charts. Four of his illustrations appear in Voices of Native America and he designed the cover for his only authorized biography, Following the Footprints of a Stone Giant: The Life and Times of Iron Thunderhorse.Iron’s artistic work has been collected by tribes, museums, and private collectors in the US, Canada, and abroad. His historical pictographic portraiture of Tecumseh
Tecumseh
Tecumseh was a Native American leader of the Shawnee and a large tribal confederacy which opposed the United States during Tecumseh's War and the War of 1812...
is on display at the Museums at Prophetstown
Prophetstown
Prophetstown may refer toIn Illinois, USA:* Prophetstown, Illinois* Prophetstown Township, Whiteside County, Illinois* Prophetstown State Recreation AreaIn Indiana, USA:...
in Lafayette, Indiana
Lafayette, Indiana
Lafayette is a city in and the county seat of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, northwest of Indianapolis. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 67,140. West Lafayette, on the other side of the Wabash River, is home to Purdue University, which has a large impact on...
. His masks are in the private collections of Barbara Hand Clow, David Wagner, and Yehwehnode. At the Indian Trading Post and Powwow Museum, just south of Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
, many Thunderhorse originals were on display for several years. Other works have been on display in Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
; New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
; Orange, Texas
Orange, Texas
Orange is a city in Orange County, Texas, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 18,643. It is the county seat of Orange County, and is the easternmost city in Texas. Located on the Sabine River at the border with Louisiana, it is part of the Beaumont–Port Arthur...
; and elsewhere. A permanent exhibit of Iron’s maps and portraits reside at the Quinnipiac Dawnland Museum in Guilford, Connecticut
Guilford, Connecticut
Guilford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, that borders Madison, Branford, North Branford and Durham, and is situated on I-95 and the coast. The population was 21,398 at the 2000 census...
, while a large collection of his work remains at the ACQTC National Office in Milltown, Indiana
Milltown, Indiana
Milltown is a town in Blue River and Spencer townships in Harrison County and Whiskey Run Township in Crawford County, Indiana, United States. The population was 818 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Milltown is located at ....
. At gatherings, his creations have been used as educational tools in CT, IN, NY, and Quebec, Canada. To help raise funds and awareness, he has donated paintings to worthy groups such as the Eastern Puma Research Association in Baltimore, Maryland.
Linguist
Thunderhorse has written bilingual poetry in numerous AlgonquianAlgonquian languages
The Algonquian languages also Algonkian) are a subfamily of Native American languages which includes most of the languages in the Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthographically similar Algonquin dialect of the Ojibwe language, which is a...
language dialects and has published many scholarly papers on linguistics in the Dawnlander, the ACQTC Literary Journal (annual).
In 2000, Thunderhorse developed a 100-page Quiripi language guide. In 2006 he published a 295-page revised and expanded edition, A Complete Guide for Learning, Speaking, and Writing The PEA-A Wampano-Quiripi R-Dialect (QTC Press, ACLI Series).
See the list below for other published books, articles, and unpublished manuscripts concerning Native American languages and writing systems.
Author
A more complete bibliography of works written by Thunderhorse (c. 1985-2005) appears on pages 94–103 of Following the Footprints of a Stone Giant: The Life and Times of Iron Thunderhorse (by Ruth Mahweeyeuh Thunderhorse, Infinity Publishing.com, 2007. ISBN 0-7414-3977-8). Included here is an excerpt from that bibliography.Some of Thunderhorse's published and unpublished works can be found at the Beineke Rare Books (Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
) Library in New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
; at the Connecticut Historical Society in Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
; at the Mashantucket Pequot
Mashantucket Pequot Tribe
The Mashantucket Pequot are a small Native American tribal nation of the Algonquian language community in the state of Connecticut. Within the tribe's Reservation, in Ledyard, New London County, Connecticut, the Mashantucket Pequot operate Foxwoods Resort Casino, the world's largest resort...
Research Center in Mashantucket, Connecticut; at the Center for Algonquian Culture in Woodstock, New York
Woodstock, New York
Woodstock is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 5,884 at the 2010 census, down from 6,241 at the 2000 census.The Town of Woodstock is in the northern part of the county...
; and at the Quinnipiac Dawnland Museum in Guilford, Connecticut
Guilford, Connecticut
Guilford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, that borders Madison, Branford, North Branford and Durham, and is situated on I-95 and the coast. The population was 21,398 at the 2000 census...
.
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 0-9134-0701-1
- 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 0-9396-8068-8
- 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
- “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
These manuscripts are available for viewing by appointment at the ACQTC national office in Milltown, Indiana.- 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.