Leonard Peltier

I recently received a comment on one of my submissions in which the writer spoke about the plight of Leonard Peltier. In all honesty, at first I thought the note was a generic submission generated by some arcane software technology that picks out a key word from cyberspace and homes in on every site that uses it. But this, it turns out, was far from the case. The comment was written by a real person, a deeply caring person, who, like so many of us, is at a loss as to what to do about the deep injustice that we feel has been perpetrated on the American Indian prisoner, Leonard Peltier.

Some of you may not know about Peltier, some may be familiar with his case. For those of you who are not, or those who wish to have a refresher course, I recommend that you rent the video or DVD titled, Incident at Oglala. It will open your eyes and sadden your heart. It may also make you very angry.

I have long been bothered by the Leonard Peltier situation — so much so that I wanted to dedicate Neither Wolf nor Dog to Mr. Peltier. But I was stopped by my publisher who saw it as too political a gesture. Two summers ago I even came close to stopping at Leavenworth Prison and leaving a copy of Neither Wolf nor Dog for Mr. Peltier, but was thwarted by the absurd fact that I could not find a parking place and was being scrutinized far too closely for my own comfort as I drove in circles in the parking area looking for somewhere to stop. Ah, the residual effects of life in the sixties.

But it was that same life in the sixties that has made me so concerned about Peltier’s case. I came of age in those years and was part of that cultural earthquake. I saw what the government was willing to do to people who opposed its policies. The manufacturing of false charges and the incarceration of people to set examples was simply standard fare. You had to be part of the times to appreciate what a strangely ruthless situation it really was. Now, those years have been reduced to caricature and relegated to the status of curio to be studied in high school history units. But the reality for those of us who lived through them was quite different. The U.S. government had not perceived an internal challenge of such magnitude since the days of the Communist hysteria and Joe McCarthy, and it used the tactics of the McCarthy era as a template for dealing with the dissidents of the sixties. This meant that civil liberties were seen as impediments to government policy, and were to be disregarded as much as was necessary in order to stop the perceived threat to our established way of life. (It seems we have dusted off that approach again in recent years, but now we’re after folks with Arab surnames rather than American young people with long hair).

But my purpose here is not a political diatribe. The simple fact is that well-intentioned people do bad things in the name of their political beliefs, and during the sixties that included the radical underground as well as the Republican party of Richard Nixon. A lot of people got caught in the crossfire. Leonard Peltier was one of them. The issue has always been whether he was simply caught in that crossfire or whether he was one of those doing the firing. There is good reason to think that he was simply caught in the crossfire — that he was set up, taken down, and locked away in order to serve as an example and a warning. The government has steadfastly refused to reexamine the case to see whether this is true. Meanwhile, Mr. Peltier watches from inside a cell in Leavenworth Penitentiary while his days slip away.

Up here in Indian country we get a bit more news about issues involving Native people. And, truth be told, there is some new material that casts a shadow over Mr. Peltier’s innocence. But there is also a mountain of evidence that speaks to inexcusable corruption of the judicial system with the express intent of getting Mr. Peltier put away forever.

Simply put, he never got fair hearing. Evidence was manufactured, witnesses were mysteriously silenced, and truth was trampled on in every way within the power of what was at the time a very paranoid and malicious justice department. In short, Mr. Peltier, a quiet, simple, committed man, was railroaded.

The question of Mr. Peltier’s guilt or innocence remains, but there is no question that the American vision of justice was perverted to obtain his conviction. He deserves another day in court. Personally, the saddest day for me of Clinton’s presidency was not when he sold his mandate for a dalliance in a closet, or when he lied about it under oath, but when, at the end of his presidency, he used his power of presidential pardon to free crooked campaign contributors rather than people like Leonard Peltier. So much for feeling the pain of the little man.

And Leonard Peltier was a little man, at least in the big scheme of things. He deserves to have someone in high places feel his pain. He was convicted because someone in those high places wanted to make an example of him, and he has been languishing in prison ever since.

Fortunately for him, whenever American justice tries to make an example of someone, it ends up making that person into a symbol for all those of opposing points of view. Leonard Peltier is now a symbol of the abuses that the criminal justice system can heap upon an ordinary man; of the continued disregard in which our government holds the legitimate grievances of Native people; and of the lengths that our government will go to in order to keep from correcting a wrong or shining a light on an injustice of its own creation.

Mr. Peltier deserves a full and open reconsideration of his case. Even many who were involved in his initial conviction believe this. And many ordinary folks, like the person who wrote the comment that inspired this response, refuse to let his case die. They are his only real hope, and they reach out in desperation wherever they can in an effort to keep a small light shining into this dark corner of American judicial abuse. We need to hear them, and be reminded that where one of our brothers or sisters suffers, we all suffer.

I am not ready to say that Leonard Peltier should be considered the moral equivalent of Nelson Mandela. But I do know that, like Mr. Mandela, he has served a long, dark sentence handed down by his government at least partly for political purposes. If South Africa can revisit their conviction of a man to see if he was wrongly imprisoned, is it too much to ask that America be willing to do the same?

We need to speak up for Leonard Peltier, and for all the Leonard Peltiers of the world. I applaud the person who wrote the response. He or she is fighting the good fight — a fight too many people have abandoned in pursuit of personal ends. But, as I said in an earlier blog, we are, indeed, our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers. What happens to the least of us happens to us all. Leonard Peltier is our brother. He is also, to my mind, the most visible canary in the coal mine of American justice. If he breathes his last breath while incarcerated, without ever had a fair and open hearing of his case, something in all of us dies. We should not be willing to let this happen.

8 thoughts on “Leonard Peltier”

  1. erika holderith

    i, too, came of age in the 60s and 70s. my brother spent a year in military prison for refusing to lay land mines in vietnam. he had registered as a conscientious objector.

    the case of mr peltier is a double outrage. that it happened and that it continues to happen. and our society continues to support the present administration who systematically is taking our civil rights, not to mention the damage to environment and economy. and that’s just domestic policy.

    i would like to see the american people wake up and take a careful look at what our government is doing and in whose name they do it in.

    what i don’t understand is why, when many people are so aware of the injustices heaped upon mr peltier, his situation can’t be addressed. people on death row in illinois were spared, why can’t the same governing powers help the infamous case of leonard peltier?

  2. Kent,
    I am sorry for posting in your page,I meant no harm by that.Just in hope that if he is innocent that someone would speak out who had a voice bigger than mine.So I thought after reading your book to post here.Sorry if it was in the wrong context.I just wanted to try and point out that what happened in the peltier case could be a misjudgement.No offence to you or your web site.I didnt want to cause a problem.So if I have offended anyone,I am sorry.My whole family did enjoy your book niether wolf nor dog and the way it was written.Something you do with your books helps create alot of awareness,and it has the ability to inspire.If the post seemed like spam,I didnt meen it that way.
    Thanks

  3. Debbie & Steve Anderson

    Wow, how timely your message about Peltier is for me and my husband. We just finished reading Peltier’s book, Prison Writings, and the one we finished before that was Neither Wolf Nor Dog. We have been doing a lot of reading about the “Original People” for the past several years.
    There is a fire that burns constantly in our souls
    for these brohters and sisters. The continual injustice and abuse these people suffer at the hands of a greedy government is outrageous. There has to be enough of us who care and are willing to do something to help begin a long over due process of righting some of these many wrongs.
    Maybe this is something you are “meant” to do. Have you ever considered this possibility? I know you have already done a lot in informing us, and we, your readers, thank you for that. You are extremely gifted in your abiliy to communicate and deeply spiritual. Reading your works is much more than a learning experience, it’s a spiritual one. One that stirs the true and living part of us,the “oneness” we share as co-dewelers of this planet. The Creator may be calling you to help lead us through your knowlege and possible connections. I feel a lump in my throat and and a sting in my eyes almost every day for these people. If it’s not our duty, the American People, to battle as warriors at their side then who’s is it?

  4. I have thought alot about the original post that was here about peltier and how I came across as vague.I think I left out some stuff as far as injustice and other topics.One problem is we all get upset about these issues but we have a hard time saying or doing anything to help.There is a page called adopt an elder,its non profit and you are paired with a native american family who is in need.Its a good place to start helping others.
    The website is http://www.anelder.org/.Until all of us make a move to make things write.We leave people in Limbo.As far as the Peltier case I have written alot of letters and the more people that write.The more The powers that be will have to examine the situations.I would love nothing more than to help everyone change things for the better.Kent’s books are inspiring but it is each person that must help others to make these books make a real difference.I hope the webmaster would consider a forum on this site so readers could discuss the books and issues all at the same time.
    Like in the book were Dan says wait til someone is done talking before we judge thier words.Well to me it seems like the world has spoken and its only helping those it chooses,not the real people who have been wronged.I look forward to the next book about Chief Joseph.Just some things I thought about.
    Thanks

  5. This past year I have learned so much about our “real American history” It is sad that throughout my many years of school I had never heard of the wounded knee massacre, Lenard Peltier ect….
    I ran across a book at a used book sale called The Last Sundance, it was fiction but with some very true accounts of the past. After reading this book I have sought out many others. Interesting that as with the people who posted the above I bought both Lenard Peltiers Prison Writings and Neither Wolf nor Dog on the same day. I am not a believer of coicidences so I feel there must be a connection.
    I am glad to hear other people are taking up the cause of Justice. Remember one person can make a difference……like a pebble tossed on the water it makes ripples.

  6. Lorraine Conley - Standing Tree Spirit Woman

    I am a North America Indain woman, I think and feel that Leonard Peltier is more then a Nelson Mandal….. The first people of South Africa are Bushman people…..

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