September 12, 1944, marked the birth of Leonard Peltier at the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation near Belcourt, North Dakota. As an activist and member of the American Indian Movement, he became a central figure in the 1975 Pine Ridge Indian Reservation shootout, leading to a decades-long imprisonment and subsequent clemency in 2025.
Early Life and Education
Born into a family of 13 children, Peltier is of Lakota, Dakota, and Anishinaabe descent. Raised by his paternal grandparents, Alex and Mary Dubois-Peltier, he entered the Wahpeton Indian School in September 1953. This Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding school enforced cultural assimilation, mandating English and suppressing indigenous traditions. He later attended the Flandreau Indian School before securing a general equivalency degree.
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Relocating to Seattle in 1965, Peltier worked as a welder and construction worker. He co-owned an auto shop that functioned as a temporary residence for American Indians re-entering society or struggling with addiction. By 1972, he officially joined the American Indian Movement, a group established in Minneapolis to address police brutality and racism. He became involved in advocacy efforts during a period of intense factionalism at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
The Pine Ridge Shootout
On June 26, 1975, FBI Special Agents Ronald Arthur Williams and Jack Ross Coler entered the Jumping Bull Ranch while pursuing a suspect. A firefight erupted, resulting in the deaths of both agents. Federal authorities later alleged Peltier fired an AR-15 rifle during the exchange. While he was acquitted of separate attempted murder charges in Milwaukee in 1978, he was convicted for the deaths of the two FBI agents.
Incarceration and Clemency
Sentenced to two consecutive life terms, Peltier remained incarcerated for nearly five decades. In his 1999 memoir, he acknowledged his presence during the shootout but denied responsibility for the agents' deaths. Advocacy groups and figures including the 14th Dalai Lama sought his release. On January 19, 2025, President Joe Biden commuted his sentence to house arrest. He was released on February 18, 2025, and transferred to the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation.
Fast facts
- Born: 12 September 1944, Grand Forks
- Citizenship: United States; Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians
- Affiliation: American Indian Movement
- Award: Premio Internacional Mario Benedetti (2013)
- Release Date: 18 February 2025
Questions readers ask
What event led to Leonard Peltier's original conviction?
He was convicted of murdering two FBI agents during a June 26, 1975, shootout at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
When was Peltier released from prison?
He was released on February 18, 2025, following a sentence commutation by President Joe Biden.
