Leonard Peltier Thanksgiving Statement

Leonard Peltier, Native American Prisoner of War in the USA, currently held in a Florida prison.

Greetings my friends, relatives and supporters.

Once again, I can’t tell you how much i am so honored that you would want to hear my words, or should i say read my words. You can’t imagine the thoughts that go through my head at times whenever everything is still and quiet in the night, when i lay there staring into the dark with day dreams of how things could possibly be better.

Dennis Banks, the American Indian Movement

Dennis Banks during the occupation of Wounded Knee, South Dakota, in 1973.  He passed away on Oct 29, 2017.

by Delphine Red Shirt, Lakota Times, November 2, 2017

What many people don’t know is that the activism that Dennis Banks and others became involved in started in the period from 1953 to 1954 when the U.S. engaged in a policy known as termination. Where Congress decided to dismantle the reservation system.

American Indigenous activist Dennis Banks dead at 80

In a Friday, May 14, 2010 photo, American Indigenous activist Dennis Banks waits to board a canoe to spread a net on Lake Bemidji near Bemidji, Minn., during an American Indian treaty rights protest. Banks, a co-founder of the American Indian Movement and a leader of the 1973 Wounded Knee occupation, died Sunday night at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. (Chris Polydoroff/Pioneer Press via AP)

Family says Banks developed pneumonia after undergoing heart surgery last month.

The Associated Press, October 30, 2017

The family of American Indigenous activist Dennis Banks says he was surrounded by family when he died at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

Banks’ family says the 80-year-old developed pneumonia after undergoing heart surgery earlier this month and didn’t want to be put on life support. He died Sunday night.

Winnipeg’s Métis Friendship Centre battles with AIM over who sits on the board, and what they can wear

by Shaneen Robinson-Desjarlais, APTN National News, June 15, 2017

Another election was held to create a new board for the embattled Métis Friendship Centre in Winnipeg Wednesday night.

The centre was incorporated nearly 60 years ago – but has been in the limelight lately because of allegations of mismanagement and infighting.

Native History: AIM Occupation of Wounded Knee Begins

Robert Onco with his AK47 during the occupation of Wounded Knee, 1973.

Wounded Knee is hailed as one of AIM’s greatest successes

Alysa Landry, Indian Country Media Network, February 27, 2017

This Date in Native History: On February 27, 1973, about 250 Sioux Indians led by members of the American Indian Movement converged on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation, launching the famous 71-day occupation of Wounded Knee.

Leonard Peltier Denied Clemency by Obama

Democracy Now!, January 18, 2017

The Office of the Pardon Attorney has announced President Obama has denied clemency to imprisoned Native American activist Leonard Peltier. Peltier is a former member of the American Indian Movement who was convicted of killing two FBI agents during a shootout on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in 1975. He has long maintained his innocence.

Memories of the Wounded Knee Airlift April 17, 1973

Armed warriors keep watch during the 73-day siege at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, in 1973.

By Larry Levin

It was bitterly cold that early April morning in 1973. We had taken off from Rapid City well before dawn. Our original plan was to land in Hot Springs, remove the rear doors from the three big Cherokee aircraft we were flying, and then head for Wounded Knee at tree-top level, ready to air drop two thousand pounds of food and supplies to its heroic defenders.

Leonard Peltier: 41st Anniversary of the “Incident at Ogala”

June 26, 2016

“Sisters, brothers, friends and supporters:

June 26th marks 41 years since the long summer day when three young men were killed at the home of the Jumping Bull family, near Oglala, during a firefight in which I and dozens of others participated. While I did not shoot (and therefore did not kill) FBI agents Ronald Williams and Jack Coler, I nevertheless have great remorse for the loss of their young lives, the loss of my friend Joe Stuntz, and for the grieving of their loved ones. I would guess that, like me, many of my brothers and sisters who were there that day wish that somehow they could have done something to change what happened and avoid the tragic outcome of the shootout.

Video: WARRIOR, The Life of Leonard Peltier

Posted to Youtube by Suzie Baer, Oct 17, 2015

This is the definitive feature documentary about American Indian activist, Leonard Peltier. His story is told within the context of the American Indian Movement, the US federal government, and the multi national companies interested in mining the land in South Dakota.

Robert Redford renews fight to release jailed AIM activist Leonard Peltier

Tells Sunday Edition host Michael Enright he is pushing for a pardon from Obama

By Michael Enright, CBC News, April 6, 2014

On June 26, 1975, two FBI agents drove onto the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

Jack Coler and Ronald Williams were looking to arrest a man named Jimmy Eagle, who was suspected of stealing a pair of cowboy boots.

Pine Ridge had been a nightmare of violence, intimidation, murder and mayhem almost on a daily basis.

There had been more than 60 killings in just a couple of years in confrontations between members of the activist American Indian Movement, and groups of thugs who controlled life on the reservation.