Prison Writings: My Life is My Sundance
by Leonard Peltier, edited by Harvey Arden
St. Martin’s Press, 1999
ISBN 0-312-20354-3, 243 pages

Description
Leonard Peltier, now in his twenty-fourth year of confinement, was wrongly convicted of the murder of two FBI agents and has been doing hard time ever since. Immortalized in Peter Matthiessen’s bestselling In the Spirit of Crazy Horse, Peltier remains in prison as his appeals for clemency languish on the president’s desk, despite calls for his freedom from the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, the European Parliament, Amnesty International, and other prominent international figures.

Prison Writings, compiled by Peltier over the years, tells the extraordinary story of his life -- his impoverished upbringing in the Dakotas, his gradual development as an American Indian leader during the political upheavals of the late 1960s and early 1970s, that culminated with the "Incident at Oglala." This last event is one of the darker moments of American history, when FBI agents raided an Indian reservation on the slimmest of pretenses, setting off a firefight in which two agents were killed.

Correctly anticipating an unfair judicial process, Peltier escaped to Canada following the shootout. Using false information gained by intimidating a young Indian woman into providing untrue testimony, the FBI illegally extradited Peltier from Canada and then withheld exonerating information at his trial. Since his conviction, a government lawyer has admitted that the prosecution had no idea who killed the two FBI agents, yet Peltier is still locked up at Leavenworth penitentiary in Kansas.

Whether writing about his childhood, his involvement with the American Indian Movement (AIM), the events at Oglala, or the infamous trial that resulted, Peltier is remarkably philosophical, and even forgiving, his voice a blanket of mercy and compassion. Looking beyond himself, he places his experience in the context of the long history of America’s betrayals of and injustices to its Indian peoples. Prison Writings is thus a major political memoir, and it echoes the tradition of Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and especially, Martin Luther King, Jr.

Reflection and Discussion Questions

1. Describe some of your feelings while reading this book.
2. Does anything about this book surprise you? Explain.
3. In what ways are you able to relate to Leonard’s experience? In what ways are you not able to relate to his experience?
4. Had you heard of Leonard Peltier before reading this book? If so, has reading this book changed your impression of him? Have you gained new insights into him or his situation?
5. What insights into Native American culture and spirituality have you gained from reading this book?
6. Why is Leonard cautious about revealing the specifics of the inipi (sweat lodge ceremony)?
7. What is meant by the term "Indigenous People?" Give several examples of Indigenous Peoples worldwide.
8. In the preface Ramsey Clark states, "There are well over two hundred million indigenous people on the planet, maybe as many as three hundred million. They live on six continents and on countless numbers of islands. And everywhere they are the most endangered of the human species. Yet the survival of humanity depends upon their salvation." (emphasis in original, Prison Writings, page xiii). What do you think Clark means by this?
9. How is the life of Leonard Peltier a symbol of the Indigenous experience?
10. What insights into the judicial system did you gain from this book? Does anything surprise you?
11. If you have read other accounts of prison and prison life, how does this memoir compare to those?
12. What insights into prison and prison life did you gain? Did anything surprise you?
13. Have you ever been in jail or prison? Have you ever visited someone in jail or prison? Have you ever visited a political prisoner? Reflect on that experience and how you felt going in, while you were there and when you left.
14. Leonard’s poetry is at the same time personal and political. Discuss this aspect of his poetry, giving specific examples.
15. If you could do one thing today for Lenard Peltier what would it be? Will you do it?

Update on Leonard’s story since the publication of Prison Writings: On March 21, 2000, Dr. E.E. Keller Maxillofacial specialist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, performed the long awaited surgery on Leonard’s jaw. The surgery lasted about five hours and was immediately recognized as successful. Leonard’s jaw has been restored to normal and he has since returned to the general population at Leavenworth. The Leonard Peltier Defense Committee received information that leads them to believe that President Clinton has asked for a recommendation from the Justice Department and will soon review Leonard’s request for executive clemency. In June 2000, Leonard is scheduled for a parole review by the Parole Commission. For more information on Leonard’s case please refer to the following resources:

• the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee
• In the Spirit of Crazy Horse by Peter Matthiessen
• Incident at Oglala video produced by Robert Redford
• Spirit of Crazy Horse newsletter.