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Below is Leonard Peltier's annual message delivered in conjunction
with the anniversary of his incarceration on February 6th. Please
broadcast as widely as possible to as many groups as possible.
This is a message to all people regardless of color:
Leonard Peltier
PO Box 583
Lawrence, KS 66044
Leonard Peltier Defense Committee
January 23, 2004
Hau Kola, Hello my friends, my relatives:
You can never imagine the heartfelt comfort it brings to know you're
not
forgotten in prison. This is my 28th year, and I've seen others come
and
go and return again. I can't help but feel a great sorrow for many of
these young men who keep coming back for one reason or another; most
of which are alcohol related offenses. So much has changed since I
came here and yet, in many ways, it's still the same.
The government, under the pretext of security and progress, liberated
us from our land, resources, culture, dignity and future. They
violated every treaty they ever made with us. I use the
word "liberated" loosely and sarcastically, in the same vein that I
view their use of the words
"collateral damage" when they kill innocent men, women, and children.
They describe people defending their homeland as terrorists, savages
and hostiles, and accuse us of being aggressors. We have never fought
a battle or war that was not on our own land; we never fired the
first shot ... ever. My words reach out to the non-Indian: Look now
before it's far too late - see what is being done to others in your
name and see what destruction you sanction when you say nothing. Your
own treaty, the one between yourselves and the government, is being
violated daily; this treaty is commonly known as the Constitution.
With us, they started a little at a time, encroaching on our rights
until
we had none at all. It will be the same for the Constitution; this is
not
conjecture, but fact. We are not embattled with the color of man, but
with the weakness of man, a mindset that lusts for power and wealth
at the expense of life.
Men of all colors, cultures and religions must stand together to
oppose
the genocidal policies that face us all as the corporate world seeks
to
enslave all, and pit one nation against another.
If you avoid breaking laws and do what you're told and ignore the
poor,
the oppressed and the downtrodden - you probably won't be bothered.
If you try to right what is wrong, however, you will surely meet
great opposition and run the risk of imprisonment or death.
I am a Sun Dancer. I took a vow for my people. I chose to seek the
Creator's will and to follow it to the best of my ability. I WILL NOT
STAND DOWN FROM THAT VOW. I will continue to speak, write and
organize until Grandfather himself quiets my life. If I can do this
in prison, I have no doubt you can do much better from where you
stand.
I encourage you to do your best, be kind to one another, seek harmony
and balance with all natural life, enjoy what freedom you have left,
and most of all, never, never give up.
In the Spirit of Crazy Horse,
Leonard Peltier
Mitakuye Oyasin
with the anniversary of his incarceration on February 6th. Please
broadcast as widely as possible to as many groups as possible.
This is a message to all people regardless of color:
Leonard Peltier
PO Box 583
Lawrence, KS 66044
Leonard Peltier Defense Committee
January 23, 2004
Hau Kola, Hello my friends, my relatives:
You can never imagine the heartfelt comfort it brings to know you're
not
forgotten in prison. This is my 28th year, and I've seen others come
and
go and return again. I can't help but feel a great sorrow for many of
these young men who keep coming back for one reason or another; most
of which are alcohol related offenses. So much has changed since I
came here and yet, in many ways, it's still the same.
The government, under the pretext of security and progress, liberated
us from our land, resources, culture, dignity and future. They
violated every treaty they ever made with us. I use the
word "liberated" loosely and sarcastically, in the same vein that I
view their use of the words
"collateral damage" when they kill innocent men, women, and children.
They describe people defending their homeland as terrorists, savages
and hostiles, and accuse us of being aggressors. We have never fought
a battle or war that was not on our own land; we never fired the
first shot ... ever. My words reach out to the non-Indian: Look now
before it's far too late - see what is being done to others in your
name and see what destruction you sanction when you say nothing. Your
own treaty, the one between yourselves and the government, is being
violated daily; this treaty is commonly known as the Constitution.
With us, they started a little at a time, encroaching on our rights
until
we had none at all. It will be the same for the Constitution; this is
not
conjecture, but fact. We are not embattled with the color of man, but
with the weakness of man, a mindset that lusts for power and wealth
at the expense of life.
Men of all colors, cultures and religions must stand together to
oppose
the genocidal policies that face us all as the corporate world seeks
to
enslave all, and pit one nation against another.
If you avoid breaking laws and do what you're told and ignore the
poor,
the oppressed and the downtrodden - you probably won't be bothered.
If you try to right what is wrong, however, you will surely meet
great opposition and run the risk of imprisonment or death.
I am a Sun Dancer. I took a vow for my people. I chose to seek the
Creator's will and to follow it to the best of my ability. I WILL NOT
STAND DOWN FROM THAT VOW. I will continue to speak, write and
organize until Grandfather himself quiets my life. If I can do this
in prison, I have no doubt you can do much better from where you
stand.
I encourage you to do your best, be kind to one another, seek harmony
and balance with all natural life, enjoy what freedom you have left,
and most of all, never, never give up.
In the Spirit of Crazy Horse,
Leonard Peltier
Mitakuye Oyasin
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