Turtle Mountain celebrates “Surreal” homecoming of Leonard Peltier

BELCOURT, N.D. (KVRR) – Around the country, Leonard Peltier is a controversial figure,

“Growing up, Leonard Peltier’s name was almost a character in a book.”

But here on the Turtle Mountain Reservation, he’s the stuff of legend.

A living legend they thought they’d never see alive again.

“It just shows the resilience of what it means to be, not Turtle Mountain, but a Native Nation.” 

He was convicted in the murders of two FBI agents in 1975. Since then, people here fought to free Peltier and prove his innocence. They found support from across the globe, but came up against staunch resistance from the federal government, which maintains his guilt to this day. 

“Him being able, with the help of some good friends of mine, they got him out. There’s a chance, it means that there’s a chance. It’s our hope that things get better for the American Indian.”

In American Indian Communities around the country, where Peltier has become a symbol of resistance and revolution.

“It means so much for the American Indian people, for indigenous people all over the world, the injustice that has carried on. And, he’s out.”

But even recently their hope for a homecoming seemed distant.

“I spent 49 years straight in prison for something I didn’t do.”

“It was a crushing decision when parole was denied, because of Leonard’s age, at 80 years old. In the federal system you get a parole hearing every 15 years. We knew that that was very likely his last opportunity.”

And even while it was happening, was hard to believe.

“Now you get to shake hands with that person in real life. It brings a whole new… I know I used the word surreal, it really is just surreal.”

“From day one, from the first hour I was arrested, Indian people came to my rescue. From all over the country, every part of the United States. And they’ve been behind me ever since.”

With him not just in spirit, but now finally in person.