including one that was used to base the Robert Redford film, Incident at Oglala. To this day, over 600 pages of documents regarding the case remain classified, for reasons of National Security.
All in all, the life of Leonard Peltier is a very intriguing and saddening journey. Although it can not be said whether or not Peltier committed the crime, it can be surmised that he was not given a fair trial, and that he and other Native Americans have suffered through numerous injustices at the hands of the US Government. In the end, will Leonard Peltier be viewed as an extremist radical, as the government saw him? Or will he be revered as one of the leaders of The American Indian Movement; an organization which brought Native Americans of the Midwest back from the brink of poverty and despair, and instilled in them a sense of pride which had been long lacking? I guess it’s up to each person to form his or her own educated opinion, except for Leonard, that is. Freedom. Yeah, right.
“I am an Indian who dared to stand up to defend his people.”
–Leonard Peltier My Life Is My Sundance
Bibliography
References
1. Matthiessen, Peter. In The Spirit Of Crazy Horse. New York; Viking Press,
Copyright 1983.
2. Peltier, Leonard. Prison Writings: My Life Is My Sundance. New York; St.
Martin’s Press, Copyright 1999.
3. Weyler, Rex. Blood Of The Land: The Government and Corporation’s War
Against The American Indian Movement. New York; Everest House,
Copyright 1982.
4. Bureau of Indian Affairs. American Indians and Their Federal Relationship To
The United States. Washington, D.C.; United States G.P.O, Copyright 1972.
5. Messerschmidt, James W. The Trial Of Leonard Peltier. Boston; South End Press,
Copyright 1983.
6. The United States, Congress, Senate. Revolutionary activities within the United
States, the American Indian Movement. Washington; U.S. Government Print
Office, Copyright 1976.
7. Frazier, Ian. On the rez. New York; Farrar, Straus, Giroux, copyright 2000.
8. Spanish Fork Motion Picture Company. Incident at Oglala. Van Nuys, CA; LIVE
Home Video, Copyright 1991.