U.S. | A Long Journey Home: After 50 Years, Back on the Reservation
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Leonard Peltier, the American Indian Movement activist, returned to North Dakota, where, under home confinement, he will serve the remainder of his life sentence for the murders of two F.B.I. agents.
“I’m proud of the position I’ve taken — to fight for our rights to survival,” Leonard Peltier said after he returned home. A Long Journey Home: After 50 Years, Back on the Reservation
Leonard Peltier, the American Indian Movement activist, returned to North Dakota, where, under home confinement, he will serve the remainder of his life sentence for the murders of two F.B.I. agents.
“I’m proud of the position I’ve taken — to fight for our rights to survival,” Leonard Peltier said after he returned home. Credit…
By David W. Chen
Photographs by Tailyr Irvine
Reporting from Belcourt, N.D.
Published Feb. 19, 2025 Updated Feb. 20, 2025, 10:25 a.m. ET Leonard Peltier had waited five decades to do something he had increasingly doubted he would ever be able to: say thank you, in person, to the fellow Native Americans and others who had spent those years fighting for his freedom.
Addressing a raucous crowd of 300 supporters on his home reservation on Wednesday, Mr. Peltier, now 80, pumped his right fist repeatedly and displayed remarkable stamina for a partly blind man who needs a walker. A day earlier, he had been released from a federal prison in Central Florida, where he had been serving two life sentences for the killing of two federal agents.
Now he was back with his people, the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, in North Dakota. There he will be allowed to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest after President Joseph R. Biden Jr. issued a clemency order in one of his final acts before leaving office.
“I’m proud of the position I’ve taken — to fight for our rights to survival,” Mr. Peltier said during an eight-minute speech in which he expressed gratitude, but also defiance. “I’m so proud of the support you’re showing me, I’m having a hard time keeping myself from crying,” he said. “From the first hour I was arrested, Indian people came to my rescue, and they’ve been behind me ever since. It was worth it to me to be able to sacrifice for you.”
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Dancers at the welcome home celebration for Mr. Peltier. Image
The Wambli Ska Okolakiciye drum group began singing as Mr. Peltier entered the room surrounded by dancers. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
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