Leonard Peltier
Nyeusi Jami
Leonard Peltier (of the Anishinabe, Dakota, and Lakota Nations) dedicated his life to fighting for the freedom and dignity of his people at the age of 14, in 1959. He lived on the Turtle Mountain Chippewa reservation in North Dakota. At that time, a resolution was passed in Congress to “terminate” all Indian reservations and “relocate” Indians to major cities. Later court decisions declared that policy illegal, however the government cut back their previous support of the reservations in an attempt to starve the people into complying with the policy anyway. Leonard decided that he would commit his life to ending the suffering of his people.
Photo Credit: solidarity-us.org
He became adept at the spiritual practices of his people as well as the practice of communal self-defense. In 1970 he participated in the peaceful takeover of Fort Lawton, outside Seattle, Washington, which was on “surplus” federal land to which the Indians had first right under the law. Leonard and his fellow occupiers were brutally beaten and arrested but their action was successful. Today Fort Lawton is an Indian cultural center. After that victory, Leonard joined the By Any Means Necessary
11