Interview with Leonard Peltier

by way of neil@lds.co.uk (native-l@GNOSYS.SVLE.MA.US)
Tue, 14 Nov 1995 20:12:21 +0100

Original Sender: cliu@queens.lib.ny.us (Carol Liu)
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Carol Liu
cliu@queens.lib.ny.us
---------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 4 Nov 1995 05:56:14 GMT
Reply-To: Michele Lord <mosa@netcom.com>
Sender: Activists Mailing List <ACTIV-L@MIZZOU1.missouri.edu>
From: Michele Lord <mosa@netcom.com>
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
Subject: Interview with Leonard Peltier
To: Multiple recipients of list ACTIV-L <ACTIV-L@MIZZOU1.missouri.edu>

> From the publication, The Circle, (1530 E. Franklin St., Minneapolis MN
55404 Ph: 612-879-1760) with the permission of the editor.

October 1995

Peltier Recalls Influence of Early Years

by Anne. M. Dunn

It was about 100 years ago when prisoners from the military discipline
barracks at Fort Leavenworth were pressed into building a second prison
2.5 miles away. In 1906 the first inmates were housed in the second
prison. Today, there are four prisons in Leavenworth, Kansas.
Leavenworth's most famous and recognizable inmate is 52-year-old
Native American activist, Leonard Peltier (#89637-132), who is serving
two consecutive life sentences in the federal penitentiary. His release
date is 2041. Feb 4, 1996 will mark the 20th year Peltier has spent
behind bars for a crime many believe he did not commit.
Speaking of his greatest losses he said, "My father (Leo) died five
years ago. I didn't even get to his funeral. My brother and sister have
also died while I've been in prison."
Leonard was born in Grand Forks ND, Sept. 12, 1944. Although of
Ojibwe-Lakota descent, he said, "I won't get enroled because I'm more
Indian than they (Bureau of Indian Affairs) will enroll me for."
His parents divorced after WWII and four-year-old Leonard went to live
with his grandparents, Alex and Mary Dubois-Peltier, on the Turtle
Mountain Reservation in North Dakota, about four miles north of
Belcourt.
"We lived in a small log house...about 20' by 15'," he reminisced.
"We didn't have running water or electricity. We carried water from a
spring about five miles away. Sometimes we got water at a well... that
was only about two miles away. We cut and hauled wood. I worked hard and
grew strong."
Living with his elders had other advantages, too. "I became a fluent
speaker of Ojibwe. As a child I also spoke some Cree, French and Sioux."
Leonard recalled that upon returning to the reservation after a long
absence he found himself unable to understand when his father spoke to
him in Ojibwe. "But my grandmother arrived half an hour later and when
she spoke to me...I understood her perfectly!"
His grandfather died in 1952. "My grandmother was alone. She spoke
little English, was trying to raise three young children and living in
poverty," Leonard remembered.
About a year after his grandfather passed on, his grandmother went to
the BIA to request assistance. "That fall a government car came and we
(three children) were taken to the boarding school in Wahpahton ND."
His memories of boarding school are less than pleasant. "It was very
strict and harsh. When I tell former reformatory inmates about my
boarding school years they say, "Man, that sounds just like the
reformatory."
"It wasn't a posted policy but it was well-known that we had to speak
English. We couldn't speak our own languages. But," he added with a
broad smile, "we did...behind the buildings."
He laughed as he recalled an instructor's attempt to enrich the lives
of her Native American students. "Mrs. Horne taught us the different
meaning of war paint designs and how great Pocahontas was."
At age 14, Leonard remembers a significant event that had a deep
influence on him. "My dad organized community meetings on the
reservation and I went along to eat. At one of the meetings an elder
woman asked, where are our warriors? Why don't they stand and fight for
their starving people? I vowed then that I would be a warrior and I'd
always help my people."
After graduating from Wahpahton, he went to Flandreau where he
finished the ninth grade. Then he went home to Turtle Mountain.
He'd planned to work in the potato fields to earn money for clothes
and return to high school later that year. "But an early fall came...and
frost. Then the Red River Valley was hit with a blizzard...the crops
were destroyed. So there was no work for me."
In 1958 Turtle Mountain became the third reservation terminated by the
federal government. Many families were forced to move into metropolitan
"red ghettos."
Leonard's father recognized the value of an education and wanted him
to finish school. "But back in Belcourt we didn't have a house to stay
in. We were at my Gamma's...my uncles and their wives and kids...I was
sleeping in a car and winter was coming...so I quit high school and
signed up for art school in Santa Fe. I was denied. I wanted to be an
artist and tried again when I was 18. I sure wanted to go to school."
When his mother relocated to Portland, Leonard went to join her. "I
saved money for the bus fare...it was only $40.10. When I got to
Portland, I had a dime and a phone number and no plans. I was fascinated
by the tall buildings and walked around looking at everything. But with
no education or skills, I had to go back to the reservation."
When he was about 20 years old, Leonard went to Seattle to look for
construction work. He talked with people who were trying to protect
their fishing rights. They told him about their struggle. "I got
involved," he said with a shrug.
From prison, Leonard has been able to provide for his family and meet
his personal expenses through his art sales. His Aunt Eva sets up shows
for him and sells the paintings. "Sometimes when I go out to speak for
him...I choke up and want to cry." He tells me, "Auntie, you can't go
out and cry when you talk about me."
Leonard has nine children (two adopted) and five grand-children. He
has a one-year-old grand daughter whom he has not seen yet. "the kids
are great...but the grandchildren are beautiful!" he boasted.
In retrospect, Leonard is content with who he is. "I love being an
Indian...I love my people. I was fed up with abuse and racism. All my
life I'd seen my people treated like the lowest things. My childhood
fantasy was to help my people."
But what does Leonard want people to remember about him? "I defended
the elders and never harmed our women."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Leonard has a aprole hearing in November. Please write the parole board
and demand he be released. Write today and encourage others. The
address is:

US Parole Board
10220 N. Executive Hills
Northpointe Tower Suite 700
Kansas City, MO 64153

E-mail President Clinton and demand he grant Leonard executive clemency.
Do so every day or every hour. We need to flood the Whitehouse with our
demand. E-mail to:

president@whitehouse.gov or clinton@whitehouse.gov

Call the Whitehouse comment line with the same demand for clemency. The
call will cost about $.75. The number is:

202-456-1111

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Michele Lord + you are wasting your time.....
EarthWeb Services + But if you have come because
+ your liberation is bound up with mine,
mosa@netcom.com + then let us work together.
Aboriginal Woman
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