A Plea for Leonard Peltier

Jai Oni

 A letter from Leonard Peltier 1/20/2021

Leonard Peltier [Tate Wikuwa (Wind Chases the Sun), Gwarthpeeplass (He Leads the People)] MUST BE FREED!!!

Message to National Day of Mourning 2020 from Leonard Peltier

By Leonard Peltier posted on December 1, 2020

Greetings my relatives, friends, loved ones and supporters, 

First of all, I want to thank you for the privilege of being allowed to express my feelings about this “Day of Mourning,” as we call it, and “Day of Thanksgiving,” as the rest of the U.S. calls it. Sometimes I’m at a loss for words to express all the thoughts I have going on in my head after 45 years of imprisonment. 

I do want to express my appreciation for our ancestors before us, who fought so hard that we would live today. I want to express my feelings of remembrance for the ones who were overpowered by the weapons of war coming from Europe and the pandemics they faced. Though we have been attacked by the invaders from Europe, over and over in every way possible, and everything that has been done to destroy us, our culture and traditions, we still survived until today because we are an expression of the Creator’s Will and an expression of the Creator’s Truth. We are a manifestation of that truth, that all mankind should live within the boundaries of those laws. 

There is nothing that came from Europe that has made this portion of the Earth a better place to live, but like all nature, we have survived. And nature continues to survive, though mankind is on the edge of destroying itself. The truths that our people spoke of, the need to live in harmony with each other, the Creator, the Mother Earth, and respect one another’s approach to spirituality — when expressed by non-Indians becomes a sensation around the world. We must continue to speak our truth, to live our truth and to support one another, for there lies our survival. The most powerful weapons that we can obtain are knowledge of truth and love for one another, and the practice of that truth and love. 

We must unite and work together every chance we can and embrace all others who are of like mind and willing to work to correct this worldwide pandemic of greed and selfishness that has infected the whole earth and mankind. 

On this Day of Mourning, let us again remember our relatives before us, who fought every challenge imaginable that we might survive, and in our prayers say “Thanks for not giving up. Thanks for giving your lives that we might live.” And to all of you out there, I want to say thanks for not giving up on me and my quest for freedom. May the Creator bless you in every way. Your brother always, in all ways. 

In the Spirit of Crazy Horse and Resistance, 

Mitakuye Oyasin, 

Doksha, 

Leonard Peltier

National Day of Mourning, Plymouth, Mass., Nov. 26.

 originally published:

Mundo Obrero
Workers World
https://www.workers.org/2020/12/52830/ 

“Let Us Strive for Tolerance and Respect” by Leonard Peltier

 August 21, 2020

Tribal College
Journal of American Indian Higher Education
Volume 32, No. 1 - Fall 2020
https://tribalcollegejournal.org/let-us-strive-for-tolerance-and-respect/

Greetings! In 2020, we have much to be thankful for. However, we can never lose sight of the struggles that continue to be our priority. We need to remember our history and engrave it in the minds of our young people, not only to honor and respect our ancestors who fought for our survival but to ensure history is not repeated.

I became an activist early in my life. In 1958, I sat with my father and grandfather in meetings where they discussed stopping the Termination Act. If you remember, the Menominee Nation of Wisconsin was first to be terminated. The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians in North Dakota were to be second, with the Klamath of Oregon being third. We were able to stop termination of Turtle Mountain, but unfortunately the Klamath were not as lucky. The Menominee Nation, which was one of the richest counties in the State of Wisconsin, became one of the poorest until they succeeded in their battle to overturn their termination. They are known throughout the United States for having one of the best managed forestry industries with their sustainable practices.

Knowing what happened to the Menominee Nation, and with the threat of other tribes being terminated, Native people were motivated to unite in the urban areas. One example is the Day Break Star Park, the result of the Fort Lawton takeover which I was involved in. It eventually became a culture center under the leadership of my friend and brother, Bernie White Bear. Native people relocated to the cities by the government were coming together with the cold realization of what was in store for us if we didn’t wake up and protect the coming generations.

At the age of six, I was one of more than 60,000 kids being forced into boarding schools by the government. We were stripped of not only our culture and way of life, but of loving parents and grandparents who were replaced with cold, heartless matrons, nuns, and priests. Most children were kept at the boarding schools for several years without going home. It took a presidential order to allow parents to have their children for the summer months, but few could afford the cost of transportation. When my mother heard of the order, she came as quickly as possible to take me, my sister, and our little cousin home with her.

Being around my grandparents, I remember hearing them talk of needing a special pass from the Bureau of Indian Affairs agent to leave the reservation to visit the nearest town for groceries or to look for work in other areas. At an early age, I also remember hearing about the hanging of the “38 plus 2” of our people at Mankoto, Minnesota, which included one of my uncles. Historians document December 1862 as the largest mass hanging in the united States. Of the 303 men to be hanged, President Lincoln pardoned all but the 38. Two had escaped into Canada, were brought back, and hanged—thus the “38 plus 2.” The remaining 263 were put into concentration camps to be tortured and beaten.

Out of sadness and frustration came a vision for change. A change that would put a spotlight on the many injustices my people have endured. We had to overcome many obstacles on our journey to where we are now. Education was a big one. The government, which controlled our destiny at this point, had made the decision that our people should be relocated from our homelands to the big cities and given training in jobs that were soon to be obsolete. College was a dream we did not think was attainable. From the time we were able to do manual labor, we were working with our parents during harvest time to feed our families and for basic survival.

Today, we are proud of the high numbers of college graduates, supported by our Native nations. We are proud to have tribal members educated in the fields of medicine, science, law, and business. We have tribal members who are educators, mentoring and guiding our young people with the latest technology. We are nations with successful business owners and professionals. In my family, I am proud to have an aunt who worked as a school administrator in California, with her daughter becoming a scientist for NASA. My grandfather on my Ojibwe side was a mapmaker all through Alaska. Some of our families were able to adapt, but as you can imagine, the change didn’t happen overnight and wasn’t easy.

We must recognize the members of our communities who knew we had to overcome the paternalistic system of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and who made a stand, with our elders and treaties leading the way. They encouraged the young people to have the strength and courage to change the direction of our future and to have confidence in the leaders who were blazing a new trail. Thus, the birth of the American Indian Movement.

We were called misfits, thugs, and troublemakers who were hated because of the color of our skin and, yes, because we had the audacity to say we were no longer willing to be on our knees. We exposed some of the horrific history that the government would rather have kept buried. For example, very few people know that through the direction of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, over 60,000 Native men and women were sterilized without their knowledge or consent. The devastation to the individuals was unrepairable. When confronted with the facts, some of the victims committed suicide, others masked their pain with alcohol and drugs.

We have a big uphill fight and it still isn’t won. The effects of boarding schools, knowledge of forced sterilization, lack of education and job opportunities, and spiritual poverty are all barriers we face. We may have been standing in our graves, but we were willing to challenge the giant standing in the way of progress. We put our lives on the line for our people to have a better way of life.

We have a responsibility to document and share this history. We are on a journey where many of our people lost their freedom and some paid with their lives. I personally have spent the past 44 years in prison. I was arrested and sentenced to a double life sentence in prison by an all-white jury after being presented with false evidence. Through documents now available through the Freedom of Information Act, prosecutors stated they would “put the full weight of the American government on Leonard Peltier, as this is our last chance to get a conviction.”

I remain an activist out of necessity. Brown people throughout the world suffer from lack of equality and justice. We need to stand in support of each other. Our way of life is forever a threat to those who don’t understand. I stand with those who are willing to give their lives to protect the environment, of which we are all a part. Without clean water and clean air, we cannot live. Without our way of life, we fail to exist.

Let us look beyond the color of our skin, the way we choose to worship, and the idea that some of us have more worth than others. We are all related, the two legged, the four legged, those that fly, and all life-giving plants and animals. let us strive for tolerance and respect. let us move forward with a positive mind while bringing our history with us. Our promise to our ancestors is that we will NEVER forget!

I am Tatewikuwa, Wind that Chases the Sun, proud of the Miniconjou Lakota-Ojibwe blood that runs through my veins, also known as Leonard Peltier.

Leonard Peltier (Lakota/Ojibwe) is an activist currently imprisoned at the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex in Florida.

Request to POTUS for Clemency for Leonard Peltier Sample Letter

Painting by Leonard Peltier
from New Observations magazine interview

 

Please send your letters to Leonard, to the following addresses

Federal Bureau of Prisons
320 1st St NW
Washington, DC 20534

President of the United States 

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

======================================================

Your contact information, Name, Address

President of the United States                                         DATE
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500

To NAME, President of the United States:

PLEASE GRANT EXECUTIVE CLEMENCY TO LEONARD PELTIER

WHO IS LEONARD PELTIER?
An innocent man, Leonard Peltier is a Native American activist who was unfairly and illegally tried and convicted for his participation in a firefight on the Pine Ridge Reservation in 1975. This event took place amid the high tensions and extreme violence known as the “Reign of Terror” and left one Native American and two FBI agents dead. After a trial the following year, in which two other firefight participants were acquitted on the grounds of self-defense, the FBI went to extraordinary lengths to get Leonard Peltier — someone had to pay.

THE CASE
Leonard Peltier was illegally extradited from Canada to face a trial filled with Constitutional violations. Since his sentencing, documents proving FBI misconduct that included the fabrication and suppression of evidence, have been revealed. During subsequent oral arguments, the US Prosecutor admitted “...we can’t prove who shot those agents.”
Leonard Peltier remains in prison.

CONSTITUTIONAL VIOLATIONS
“The FBI used Mr. Peltier as a scapegoat and they continue to do so today.”
— Don Edwards, Former FBI Agent/US Congressman
> Illegally extradited from Canada
> Thousands of documents withheld during trial
> Egregious trial conditions
> Coerced testimonies
> Fabricated affidavits

CURRENT STATUS
To the international community, Leonard Peltier’s imprisonment is a stain on the United States’ human rights record. Many human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, consider him a political prisoner and demand his immediate release. Now in prison for over 44 years, Leonard continues to struggle with ailing health. As a father, grandfather, and great grandfather, he would like to be able to spend the remainder of his life with his family and his people. Leonard is also an author, artist and a humanitarian who has been nominated several times for the Nobel Peace Prize.

INTERNATIONAL LEONARD PELTIER DEFENSE COMMITTEE
CONTACT
Email: contact@whoisleonardpeltier.info
Phone: (218-790-7667)
www.whoisleonardpeltier.info

Sincerely,
Your name

Stubbie Rest In Peace

Stubbie

Stubbie, Stubberman, Stubbs.  You were the sweetest dog ever.  We love you forever.