Peltier Statement for the 2008 Oglala Commemoration

From: contact@whoisleonardpeltier.info
June 26, 2008

Greetings my relatives,

I say relatives because you are all my family. I am honored,
greatly honored today that you would listen to my words and come
together in this way so that our future generations' will not forget
what happened here in this land.

You can't imagine how much I miss walking on the bare earth.
Or brushing against a tree branch or hearing birds in the morning
or seeing an antelope or deer cross my path. I have been here in
federal prison for 32 years; if you could imagine being in your own
home stuck in one room for one year without leaving it, multiply
that by 32 and you might have some idea of how imprisonment plays
on your feelings. I really get tired sometimes living here in this
cell, this prison. Yet at times I feel really good because for
some reason I know that there are those out there who have prayed
for me in some way. And it helps me because there are moments when
a peaceful feeling will wash over me in my solitude.

I try to keep up with world events like the war in Iraq, where
those people are going through the same thing our Indian people went
through and over the same things. The US wants their resources and
they have divided those people against each other. Those children
over there and families for generations will still feel the effects
of that onslaught of destruction.

When I look at our own people's situation I see a people who have
not recovered from the destruction put upon them in the past.
Today, the greater society of America doesn't want to accept us
for who we are because we will always stand as a reminder of the
immoral wrongs that they do and have done all over the world, all
in the name of technology and progress. Our people have told them
from the very beginning about the consequences of mistreatment of
individuals and mistreatment of Mother Earth. There are history
books that quote our chief headmen and medicine people cautioning
them about there destruction of the earth and nature.

We know the first concentration camps America ever had held Indian
prisoners. The first biological warfare was used on our people with
poisonous blankets. The first atomic bomb dropped was dropped on
Indian land in Nevada. Today there are abandoned uranium quarries in
Navajo country that cause genetic defects on a lot of their people.
When you look into the past, America has used us Indians as their
social experiment. They tried to destroy us with boarding schools,
relocation, and even the first slavery practice was with American
people. However Indian people would fight or commit suicide than
to become slaves, and so they imported Africans.

Forgive me if I am repeating things you already know, but I just
wanted to bring these things up because these are the reasons behind
the Wounded Knee takeover in 73 happened and the shootout at Oglala
happened. Our people were not just taking a stand against this
government for themselves; they in essence represented Indian people
all across the Americas. Our resistance wasn't to kill anyone;
our resistance was to remain alive while we let the world know what
had been and what was being done to us, the Indigenous people.

I know for a fact from communication all around the world, that we
Indian people inspired many other indigenous people to stand up and
defend themselves because of our actions. I have gotten letters
from all over the world where people said "if the native Americans
can stand up to people like that being in the belly of the beast,
surely we can do likewise in some way."

I recognize that my being here isn't all about me; my continued
imprisonment in essence serves as a warning to others willing
to stand up for their people. The US has violated their own
constitution they violated the treaties we had with them, they
violated all kinds of moralities to bring about my conviction.
The average non Indian American either doesn't know or couldn't
care less. As long as they can keep their high standard of living
our struggles mean nothing to them. Most recently other nations
have raised the issues of America's mistreatment of the people
in the concentration camp in Guantanamo; issues of lack of a fair
trial, issues of physical, mental abuse and of sanctioned torture of
prisoners. I want to also mention that our people were the first to
be tortured by this government and we were the first to be victims
of scalping by the Europeans. The colonizers were paying for our
men, woman and children's scalps.

I may sound angry in what I am saying, but all this goes back to
why we are here today. We must not forget what has happened in
the past but we must also find a way to heal from those things
that have happened and be stronger in the future. We need to heal
our families; we need to heal our family's structures so that what
happened to our people in the past can't happen to us again. For
several generations our children were shipped off to boarding
schools which destroyed their understanding of family and family
responsibilities, and you think of the statistics today facing
this, they don't have to kill us anymore with guns, our children
and adults both are killing themselves.

Again, like I said before we have not healed from the destruction
that was put upon us, I know each one of us can be better than what
we are, it takes effort, it takes getting back to our ceremonies,
it takes getting back to our respect for one another, the earth,
the Creator and our respect for our brothers' and sisters' vision.
It takes men being men and being strong fathers and uncles and
grandfathers and brothers, not just as a matter of birth but as a
matter of responsible behavior. It also takes our women to stand
as the strong mothers they were meant to be and the sisters,
grandmothers and aunties. We need to repair ourselves and not
wait for some grant from the government to tell us or guide us in
our recovery. We need to take that responsibility ourselves and
mend the sacred hoop.

Again I want to say as I have said many times in the past, though
my body is locked into this cell, my heart and soul is with you
today. In closing I would like to acknowledge the loss of our brother
Vernon Belcourt and the great loss of my brother Floyd Westerman, a
tireless advocate for Indigenous rights I'm sure that he as well as
many others, who like him devoted their time and energies to better
the conditions our people face, are here with us today in spirit.
We have no guarantees of the time of our own passing but until that
time or my time I will miss them greatly as I miss you my family. Be
kind to one another, and remember my words; for I have spoken to
you from my heart of hearts. And you will always be in my prayers.

In the spirit of Crazy Horse and every Indian man or person that
stood for their people,

Doksha


Leonard Peltier