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For the children in exile

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DLN Issues : Leonard Peltier

circa 1981 "Peltier Run for Freedom"

On June 26, 1975, in the late morning, two FBI agents drove onto Indian land near Oglala, South Dakota, a small village on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Here a shoot-out occurred in whith both agents and an Indian man were killed. Although large numbers of FBI agents, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) police, state trooopers, sheriff's deputies and vigilantes surrounded the property within an hour of the first shots, the numerous Indians involved in the shoot-out escaped into the hills.

The death of the agents inspired the biggest manhunt in FBI history. Of the four men eventually indicted for the two killings, one was later released because the evidence was 'weak', and two others were acquitted in July 1976 when a jurly concluded that although they had fired at the agents, they had done so in self-defense. The fourth man, Leonard Peltier, indicted on the same charges as his companions but not tried until the following year, after extradition from Canada, was convicted on two counts of murder in the dirst degree, and was sentenced to consecutive life terms in prison, although even his prosecutors would dismiss as worthless the testimony of the only person ever to claim to have witnessed his participation in the killings. This testimony was also repudiated by the witness, who claimed to have signed her damning affidavits under duress, as part of what one court of appeals judge would refer to as a 'clear abuse of the investigative process by the FBI.

Whatever the nature zand degree of his participation at Oglala, the rutless persecution of Leonard Peltier had less to do with his own actions than with underlying issues of history, racism, and economics, in particular Indian sovereignty claims and growing opposition to massive energy development on treaty lands and the dwindling reservations.

From "In the Spirit of Crazy Horse" by Peter Matthiessen

The ruthless persecution of Peltier is still ongoing. Visit the official website of the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee .

Attack On Leonard Peltier by Carter Camp (30 June 2003)
Over the years the case of the wrongful imprisonment of Leonard Peltier has been a unifying factor all across "Indian Country" and among our allies worldwide. All across our lands American Indian people have stood shoulder to shoulder in demanding freedom for Leonard Peltier for a reason. .. he's innocent!
Peltier sues journalist for saying he had role in Aquash killing (5 May 2003)
Slain American Indian parolee had embraced heritage, activism (on Standing Deer's passing) (25 Jan 2003)
Standing Deer, who spent about a quarter century in prison, turned his life around after he met the man he said he had been asked to help "neutralize" nearly 25 years ago. He became an activist for inmates and an advocate for American Indians.
SAVE PELTIER'S LIFE: DEATH OF STANDING DEER SADDENS MANY Gloria Rubac for Worker's World
Family, friends and comrades filled a funeral parlor room to overflowing on Jan. 26 as they honored Native activist and former political prisoner Standing Deer Wilson. Standing Deer was murdered in Houston on Jan. 20.

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Photograph--Alfred Bone Shirt Sr. wearing a peace medal.

They made us many promises, more than I can remember. But they kept but one - They promised to take our land...and they took it. -- Chief Red Cloud

Tunkashila, Let us stand Coalition strong in protection of our lands, our beliefs, our Sacred Spirituality, and our traditional Indigenous ways of life. We stand in strong support of Indigenous Rights and the Inherent Allodial title of Dakota, Lakota, and Nakota Lands. Let us reclaim what is ours and work diligently to preserve what we now have.

End Dakota/Lakota/Nakota Ethnic Cleansing!

This website was created to Honor of our Ancestors, our Traditions, Elders and Children, and to provide a future for our generations to come.

That piece of red, white and blue cloth stands for a system and a country that does not honor it's own word...If it stood for honor and truth, it would remember our treaties and give them the appropriate place under international law. But it doesn't. It dishonors its own word and violates its treaties...
In Honor of Tony Black Feather (Died August 11 2004)