#89637-132

["Charles Brown" <CharlesB@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

#89637-132

Prison Writings: My Life is My Sundance by Leonard Peltier, St. Martin's 
Griffin, June
2000

Leonard Peltier tells us in Prison Writings: My Life is My Sundance, that he 
has been
given several names. When he was born, his grandmother said he cried like a 
little
lion so she named him Leonard because he was lion-hearted. He has also been 
given his
great-grandfather's name, Wind Chases the Sun. In juxtaposition to that name, 
which
resounds with being free, the U.S. government has given him the name #89637-132.

Based upon writings done while in prison, the book contains poems, meditations 
and
narratives of Peltier's life and the incidents leading to his being so named. 
It shows
us a perspective of life incarceration and it reminds us of myriad injustices 
that
must be rectified to bring our country to a better state.

For those of you who are not familiar with Peltier's story, briefly, there was 
a lot
of violence on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, back in the 1970s. 
Major
mining companies were trying to get uranium and other mineral and gas rights 
from
tribal land. FBI presence, normally not any greater than in any other part of 
the
country, was steadily increased, possibly to protect mining company interests 
and
probably to squelch a growing militant movement among Indians.

Known as AIM * the American Indian Movement was born from anger at the extreme 
poverty
and prejudice many Indians experience. It included members of many tribes, 
though
support for the movement varied among Indians * many felt that while supporting 
their
intentions, they were too militant in their actions.

Peltier, having experienced both that poverty and prejudice, joined the group. 
He
participated in actions testing treaty rights by occupying deserted government
property so that it would revert to Indian use (successfully at Fort Lawton) and
supporting fishing rights of Northwestern Indians. The national eye was caught 
by an
occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) building in Washington D.C. 
after the
BIA refused to hear grievances brought by elders. The eye of FBI was also 
caught. AIM
was put on a list that included the Black Panthers and the Weathermen.

Along with the increased FBI presence, there was increased violence. At Pine 
Ridge,
people slept in their basements so that they wouldn't be killed by bullets 
coming
through the walls of their homes during the night. Many Indians were killed.

A confrontation occurred between AIM and the FBI at Wounded Knee. Records show 
that
over 250,000 rounds were fired at the Indians. Two AIM members were killed.

With such violence going on, elders requested protection. Peltier was one of 
the AIM
members to volunteer. They camped on the Jumping Bulls' property along with 
women,
children and old people, hoping that the presence of many would deter violence 
on two
elderly people in a remote location.

On June 26, 1975, two FBI agents approached the camp on the pretext of arresting
someone who had stolen some cowboy boots. Peltier relates hearing gunfire in the
distance and going into action to move the members of the encampment to safety 
from
what turned out to be not just two, but a veritable army of lawmen. Bullets were
exchanged. When the dust had settled, the two FBI agents and one escaping 
Indian were
found dead.

While it is a fact that the two agents were killed, former Attorney General 
Ramsey
Clark, in his preface to the book, states, "There was absolutely no evidence 
that
[Peltier] killed anyone * except fabricated and utterly misleading 
circumstantial
evidence." And this is after enough time has passed that many previously 
classified
documents have come to light under the Freedom of Information Act.

Someone there that day killed the agents. It may have been a man or a woman;
conspiracy theorists say that it may have been the FBI themselves. Peltier, 
himself,
says, "I can't believe that the FBI intended the deaths of their own agents." 
As to
what happened, and why, there is only conjecture.

Four Indians were arrested. One was quickly released, two pled self-defense and 
were
acquitted, possibly in reaction to the overtly prejudicial trial against them. 
That
left Peltier. He was not allowed to plead self-defense, nor was the violent 
situation
on Pine Ridge allowed into evidence. He was sentenced to two consecutive life 
terms.

No one was arrested for the death of the Indian.

So Peltier has been imprisoned now for almost a quarter of a century. He writes 
of the
constant fear and constant little cruelties a prisoner must suffer. His 
writings at
times show the focus of a person who has had life-sensing stimuli removed most 
of the
time, including the weather, contact with loved ones, plants and animals and,
frequently, even contact with other people. He has been beaten enough times to 
have
developed a strategy for the best way to bear it * although he is fair and 
tells of
another guard stopping a beating, noting that there are good people and bad 
people in
all walks of life.

The Sun Dance is the holiest ritual of the Lakota. It requires painful 
sacrifice which
leads to spiritual knowledge, and while many dance, only a few pierce 
themselves. As
part of the effort to kill Indian culture, it was outlawed at the end of the 
19th
century but continued clandestinely. No longer illegal, participation has 
become not
only a holy, but a political act, and members from other tribes have 
occasionally
participated. Because of the pain of the sacrifice, Peltier, who has pierced 
himself,
likens his incarceration to the Sun Dance.

Thus, Peltier, has become, through a series of almost Kafkian causes and 
effects, a
focus for many causes. He represents the injustice that can occur when the 
justice
system goes awry. He is a victim of police profiling and police brutality. He
represents prejudice against Indians in this country. He represents the effects 
of
poverty. And ultimately as one of the latest in a long history of crimes against
indigenous people, represents the land theft and genocide of about 60 million 
people
in North America since Columbus. He says, "I acknowledge my inadequacies as a
spokesman ... You must understand ... I am ordinary." But in contradiction to 
that, he
says it all when he cries out, "American, when will you live up to your own
principles?"

Fortunately, many people have become his friends and supporters. In the latest 
edition
of the newsletter dedicated to his cause, Spirit of Crazy Horse, Bonnie Raitt, 
Coretta
Scott King and Edward Asner contribute statements. Danielle Mitterand, 
Archbishop
Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama, Amnesty International, the Cuban government and 
the
European Parliment have all called for his release.

His supporters are able to extend Peltier's reach beyond prison so that he can 
help
his people. He sponsors clothing, food and toy drives, supports women's 
shelters and
has established a scholarship for Indian law students. Through this work, he has
become more of a warrior now than in his youth.

My grandmother told me that when a Lakota murdered someone, the punishment was 
for the
killer to go live with the victim's family. The grieving family would make the
killer's life miserable; there would be no greater punishment. At the same 
time, being
forced to live with each other, eventually both sides would learn to understand 
each
other.

Peltier writes, "If you, the loved ones of the agents who died at the Jumping 
Bull
property that day, get some salve of satisfaction out of my being here, then at 
least
I can give you that, even though innocent of their blood. I feel your loss as 
my own.
Like you, I suffer that loss every day, every hour. And so does my family ... 
We've
shared our common grief for 23 years now, your families and mine, so how can we
possibly be enemies? Perhaps it's with you and with us that the healing can 
start.
You, the agent's families, certainly weren't at fault that day in 1975, and yet 
you
and they have suffered as much as, even more than any one there ... Let our 
common
grief be our bond."

* Karen Moy ( Peoples Weekly World)

Karen Moy's great-great-grandfather was one of the signer's of the treaty of 
1868.