Leonard Peltier
In this feature we travel to the U.S. to profile a native activist whose case exposes deep prejudices at the heart of the American legal system...
Leonard Peltier has spent the last 28 years in prison as a result of a shoot out between FBI agents and American Indian Movement supporters. The tragedy took place on Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota back in 1975. 2 FBI agents and one Native American were shot dead. Peltier was convicted under extremely dubious evidence.
Amnesty International considers him a political prisoner who should be "immediately and unconditionally released". Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Tutu, Rev. Jesse Jackson, the European Union and the Dalai Lama have all called for his release.
Leonard's early life
Leonard Peltier was born in 1944 on the Chippewa Turtle Mountain reservation in North Dakota. He grew up with great hardship and personally experienced US Government policies to assimilate Native Americans at that time. At the age of 8 he was sent to a boarding school where students were forbidden to speak their native languages and many suffered physical and mental abuse.
When Leonard was a teen he returned to live with his father at the Turtle Mountain reservation and it was there that he witnesses first hand the Government's 'termination' policy to drive native people off selected reservations and into the big cities. During these years Leonard was introduced to activism and resistance through protests organised by tribal members. In 1965 Peltier moved to Seattle. He opened up a small business, employing native people and also became a community volunteer working on native land claim issues and as an alcohol abuse counsellor.
The 'Trail of Broken Treaties'
In 1972 Leonard Peltier participated in the 'Trail of Broken Treaties' which took him to Washington D.C. where they occupied the Bureau of Indian Affairs building in an attempt to make people and Government more aware of the plight of Native Americans. They also called for land including the sacred Black Hills of Dakota to be returned to tribal ownership.
Following the siege at Wounded Knee in the Spring of 1973, which grabbed worldwide attention and helped build popular support for the struggle for Native American rights, Government agencies and pro-Government Indian militia embarked on a 'reign of terror' on the Pine Ridge Reservation. At least 64 AIM members and sympathisers were murdered.
In response and to show support, many Native American AIM members travelled to the reservation to support the Lakota people. On Pine Ridge Reservation Leonard Peltier helped to organise traditional religious ceremonies and self-sufficiency programs. He also helped to organise security against further attacks.
On June 26th 1975, Leonard Peltier was involved in a shoot out on Jumping Bull Ranch in South Dakota. Over 300 heavily armed FBI agents, SWAT teams, police and local militia surrounded about 30 men, women and children. The gun fight that followed cost the lives of a Native American man and 2 FBI agents who were shot at close range. Leonard Peltier was charged with the murders despite the lack of forensic evidence and the fact that crucial witnesses claimed they were threatened by FBI agents.
Despite the harsh conditions of his imprisonment at Leavenworth Penitentiary, he has continued to lead an active life. From prison he has helped to establish scholarships for Native students and special programs for native youths. He has written poetry, prose, published a biography and promoted an arts program for prisoners.
Leonard Peltier has come to symbolise the continuing struggle and repression that Native American's endure. He is respected around the world as an inspiring voice for indigenous people and a political prisoner who has refused to be broken.
More info: www.leonardpeltier.org and www.freepeltier.org
By: Keith Corcoran
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