JUSTICE FOR LEONARD PELTIER
"But in the Indian the spirit of the land is still vested; it will be until other men are able to divine and meet its rhythm. Men must be born and reborn to belong. Their bodies must be formed of the dust of their forefathers."
~ Luther Standing Bear (Lakota), from In the Spirit of Crazy Horse
We at the Peter Matthiessen Center are celebrating the stunning news that Native American activist Leonard Peltier, falsely imprisoned for nearly fifty years, has been granted clemency by Joe Biden in the final hours of his presidency. He is set to be released on February 18, 2025.
The news is testament to the impact of Peter’s legacy as one of the most outspoken critics of Leonard’s wrongful conviction. The two men maintained a lifelong friendship and correspondence that began during Peter’s research for his book, published in 1983, In the Spirit of Crazy Horse, which detailed the injustices of Leonard’s trial and incarceration.
Throughout the 1980s, when Peter was researching the book, and until his death in 2014, he and Leonard corresponded, with Leonard often addressing Peter as “brother” in his letters. From various prisons, Leonard penned long, intimate letters to Peter, often including beautiful drawings (like the one shown below). As a self-taught artist, Leonard found immense healing in creating art. He often said that his dream was to see the underprivileged youth on the Reservation use art as a form of self-expression and healing.
Now, 80 years old and suffering from serious health conditions, Leonard’s homecoming is a triumph for generations of Native American rights activists who have worked tirelessly to see Leonard freed. More broadly, it is an historic milestone in the long cause of justice for Indigenous people. “It wasn’t just about his (Leonard Peltier’s) freedom,” said Nick Tilsen, the founder and chief executive of NDN Collective, an Indigenous rights organization. “It was about freedom for Indian people.”
Leonard Peltier has been behind bars since 1976, serving two life sentences in connection with the deaths of two FBI officers during a 1975 shootout between federal agents and tribal rights activists on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. The shootout also left one Native American activist dead. Throughout, Leonard has maintained his innocence. He was never proved to have committed—or even to have aided or abetted—the murders. Leonard is the longest-incarcerated Native American political prisoner in U.S. history.
World leaders and human rights advocates have followed Leonard’s case for decades, and the news of his release sent waves of jubilation across the globe. For decades, dozens of international organizations and human rights champions have viewed Leonard as America’s number one political prisoner and called for his release. They include Pope Francis, Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Amnesty International, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, National Congress of American Indians, and the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights, among others.
IN THE SPIRIT OF CRAZY HORSE
In the Spirit of Crazy Horse examines the fraught history of the long and bitter conflict between Native American rights activists and the United States government—underscored by Leonard’s complex case. Peter focuses on the events leading up to the Pine Ridge shootout and Leonard’s trial and conviction. Thanks in large part to the book, it is now widely understood that the federal government railroaded Leonard into prison by withholding and falsifying evidence, coercing witnesses and forcing a change of jurisdiction, among other acts of prosecutorial misconduct and malice. U.S. attorney James Reynolds, whose office handled the prosecution and appeal of the case, issued a public apology in 2021, acknowledging that the federal government failed to “prove that Mr. Peltier personally committed any offense on the Pine Ridge Reservation.” Reynolds was among those close to the case who have since called on Biden to release Leonard.
The publication of In the Spirit of Crazy Horse was hugely controversial at the time, due to its well-documented criticism of the U.S. government and its various law enforcement agencies and agents, as well as South Dakota governor William Janklow. Peter and his publisher, Viking Press, spent years and considerable sums fighting several lawsuits alleging libel, all which were eventually dismissed. But due to the lawsuits, Viking was forced to withdraw the book for eight years, only to be republished in 1991, a clear indication of both Peter’s and the publisher’s commitment. To this day the FBI is firmly opposed to Leonard’s release, yet Biden courageously disregarded calls from the head of the agency and the attorney general of South Dakota, among others, not to commute Leonard's sentence.
Even after the book's republication, Peter continued to fight for Leonard’s freedom for the rest of his life. At a White House dinner, toward the end of President Clinton's second term in office, Peter approached then Attorney General Janet Reno to urge a grant of clemency. During the Clinton years and right up to his death in 2014, Peter tried to use every connection to help make the case for Leonard. Yet, Clinton, and three presidents after him, declined to set Peltier free.
Much of In the Spirit of Crazy Horse tells the remarkable story of the American Indian Movement, or AIM, a grassroots initiative founded in 1968 to address systemic issues of Native American poverty and discrimination, and police brutality against Native People in the United States. The book’s throughline is a careful documentation of the history of marginalization and injustices faced by America’s Indigenous peoples. It describes their long struggle for dignity, their resilient spirit upheld through activism, and the difficult work to maintain their traditions, languages and culture.
Peter anchors the story in the Lakota Nation’s long struggle with the U.S. government—from Red Cloud’s War and the Battle of Little Big Horn in the late 1800s, to the discrimination that led to the new Indian wars of the 1970s and the rise of the American Indian Movement. He traces AIM’s roots back to the Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1868 and the subsequent broken promises and injustice suffered by Native Americans at the hands of the U.S. government over centuries. He explores the legacy of the Wounded Knee massacre of 1890 and the lasting impact it had on an already traumatized people.
A drawing by Leonard included in one of his personal letters to Peter dated April 14, 1985.
A COMMUNITY RALLIES TOGETHER
About two weeks before the close of Joe Biden’s presidency, Peter’s son, PMC President Alex Matthiessen, and Rose Styron, a longtime human rights activist with Amnesty International, called on President Biden to grant Leonard clemency. In a sharply worded editorial in The Guardian, they wrote: “Given the shameful history of this case, the long sentence he has already served and the extreme jeopardy of his health, it is time to let Leonard Peltier return home to his people and die in peace. Biden has the opportunity to place the U.S. on the side of mercy and justice, not further retribution.”
They continued: “If Biden commutes Peltier’s sentence, he will be hailed around the world—by heads of state and advocates alike—for matching America’s vaunted adherence to human rights with action at home. Joe Biden has a chance to take a big step toward healing the wounds of Native Americans. We urge him to seize this opportunity and by doing so distinguish himself as one of modern history’s most compassionate and just American presidents.”
We hope you take a moment to read the full piece by clicking here.
A POWERFUL HOMECOMING
Upon receiving the news, Leonard said: “It’s finally over—I’m going home. I want to show the world I’m a good person with a good heart. I want to help the people, just like my grandmother taught me.” Leonard is due to be released on February 18 and and will, we hope, spend his remaining years on the sacred ancestral land of his people, the Turtle Mountain Chippewa and the Lakota Sioux, surrounded by close family and friends.
“Leonard Peltier’s commutation today is the result of 50 years of intergenerational resistance, organizing, and advocacy,” NDN Collective’s Tilsen said. “His liberation is our liberation—and while home confinement is not complete freedom, we will honor him by bringing him back to his homelands to live out the rest of his days surrounded by loved ones, healing, and reconnecting with his land and culture.”
We at the Peter Matthiessen Center join all our PMC friends and supporters, Indigenous people and defenders of human rights worldwide in this moment of celebration. We congratulate the over 120 Native American activists who for decades organized and led peaceful protests and sent countless letters and petitions calling for Leonard’s freedom.
We look forward to speaking with Leonard himself in the coming months in hopes of organizing a gathering to acknowledge this moment and the ongoing struggle to protect the human rights, cultures and dignity of Indigenous peoples. And, to recognize the role Peter and In the Spirit of Crazy Horse played in this painful chapter of American history.