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LEONARD PELTIER is a carpenter, welder, and American Indian Movement (AIM) leader who has been a political prisoner since 1977. Prior to his incarceration, Leonard was working with different Native communities and was a community counselor. During the FBI surveillance, in 1975, that followed the 1973 AIM occupation of Wounded Knee, two federal agents were shot dead at South Dakota's Pine Ridge reservation. Peltier was convicted of their murders and sentenced to two terms of life imprisonment, despite the prosecution's misconduct and admission of false evidence, and the fact that no witnesses linked Peltier to the crime. His incarceration continues to draw international attention. He symbolizes the long history of abuse and repression that indigenous people have endured. Peltier, a member of the Anishinabe (Ojibwa) and Lakota nations, writes, paints, and organizes from behind bars.
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