LEONARD PELTIER DEFENSE OFFENSE COMMITTEE

PO Box 7488, Fargo, ND  58106

Phone: 701/235-2206

E-mail: contact@whoisleonardpeltier.info

Who Is Leonard Peltier?

Subject of Robert Redford's film, Incident at Oglala, and Warrior, a Suzi Baer documentary

The Activist.  Leonard Peltier, now a great-grandfather, is a citizen of the Anishinabe and Dakota/Lakota Nations and a tireless advocate for Indigenous Rights.  A participant in the American Indian Movement, he went to assist the Oglala Lakota people on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in the mid-1970s where, on June 26, 1975, a tragic shoot out occurred.  He was wrongfully convicted in the deaths of two agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and has been illegally incarcerated since 1976.

The Artist.  Leonard Peltier’s self-taught style is an outgrowth of drawing and carving lessons he received as a child from tribal elders.

Leonard Peltier began working with pastels in 1983, proving he had talent to put what he saw on paper. His spirit began to know a freedom he had never before experienced.

Although limited by the prison environment, Mr. Peltier has emerged as a master of Indigenous Art.  Leonard’s artwork reflects his beliefs and commitment to Native American culture. It is The People’s struggle to survive and his desire to portray their cultural beauty that inspires Peltier to paint.

In 1986, Leonard suffered a stroke and lost about eighty percent of his sight in his left eye.

“My eye problem has slowed me down considerably, but I am still inspired.”

Leonard’s paintings are collected by such noted personalities as Oliver Stone, Peter Coyote, Jane Fonda, Val Kilmer, Michael Apted, Shep Gordon, and Oliver Shanti, as well as many other international celebrities and luminaries.

The Humanitarian.  Mr. Peltier has made remarkable contributions to humanitarian and charitable causes during his many years in prison.  He has won several human rights awards, including the North Star Frederick Douglas Award; Federation of Labour (Ontario, Canada) Humanist of the Year Award; Human Rights Commission of Spain International Human Rights Prize; and the 2004 Silver Arrow Award for Lifetime Achievement.  In 2008, for the fifth consecutive year, Mr. Peltier was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Mr. Peltier has played a key role in getting people from different tribes, with a history of animosity, to come together in peace. He advocates for peaceful resolution of all Native American issues and respect for the rights of others.

Mr. Peltier has worked with Dr. Steward Selkin on a pilot program on the Rosebud Reservation, the Leonard Peltier Health Care Reform Package, to document needs and requirements for delivery and care. The ultimate intent of the program is to fundamentally alter health care delivery on reservations throughout the U.S.

He has worked with Professor Jeffery Timmons on a program to stimulate reservation-based economics and investments in Native American business enterprises, including a component to teach business ownership and operation to the young people of First Nations.

In 1992, Leonard Peltier established a scholarship at New York University for Native American students seeking law degrees. He also was instrumental in the establishment and funding of a Native American newspaper by and for Native young people in Washington State. In addition to having raised two of his grandchildren from prison, Mr. Peltier has been a sponsoring father of two children through ChildReach, one in El Salvador and the other in Guatemala. Every year, he sponsors a Christmas food and gift drive for the children of Pine Ridge. Peltier also serves on the Board of the Rosenberg Fund for Children.

Mr. Peltier also organized an emergency food drive for the people of Pohlo, Mexico, in response to the Acteal Massacre. He frequently contributes to Head Start programs and domestic violence shelters to address funding shortfalls.

Peltier has helped several Indian prisoners rehabilitate themselves by advocating a drug- and alcohol-free lifestyle while encouraging pride and knowledge in their culture and traditions. He also has worked to develop prisoner art programs thereby increasing prisoners' self-confidence.

Leonard Peltier donates his artwork to several human rights and social welfare organizations to help them raise funds. Most recently, recipients have included the ACLU; Trail of Hope (a Native American conference dealing with drug and alcohol addiction); World Peace and Prayer Day; the First Nation Student Association; and the Buffalo Trust Fund.

The Writer.  Released in 1999, Peltier's book, Prison Writings: My Life Is My Sun Dance, was met with critical acclaim.

Doing time creates a demented darkness of my own imagination; doing time does this thing to you. But of course, you don't do time.  You do without it.  Or rather, time does you.  Time is a cannibal that devours the flesh of your years day by day, bite by bite.— Leonard Peltier

According to the book's editor, Harvey Arden, "Leonard Peltier's powerful memoir, a Native American spiritual testament, will shake the conscience of the nation... and the world.  It's a flaming arrow aimed at the circled wagons of American injustice."

Archbishop Desmond Tutu called it:  "A deeply moving and very disturbing story of a gross miscarriage of justice and an eloquent cri de coeur of Native Americans for redress and to be regarded as human beings with inalienable rights guaranteed under the United States Constitution… We pray that it does not fall on deaf ears.  America owes it to herself."

Reprinted by permission. Source: Friends of Peltier