Tuesday, February 18, 2025 — Native American activism marks victory with Leonard Peltier’s release

As the notable 80-year-old American Indian Movement leader Leonard Peltier walks free from Florida’s Coleman Penitentiary, Native American activists are reflecting on the nearly five-decade push to get to this point. Seven presidents passed up the opportunity to free Peltier, until President Joe Biden commuted his sentence to house arrest in the final moments of his term. We’ll explore Native direct action from its militant beginnings to its current role in changing both legal outcomes and public opinion. What does Peltier’s release mean to you?

You can watch the NDN Collective’s video of Leonard Peltier’s public appearance after his release here.

GUESTS

Dr. Robert Warrior (Osage), Hall Distinguished Professor of American Literature and Culture at the University of Kansas

Lisa Bellanger (Leech Lake Ojibwe), executive director of the American Indian Movement and chair of AIM’s Grand Governing Council

Ruth Buffalo (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation and Chiricahua Apache descent), former president of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition

Janene Yazzie (Navajo), director of policy and advocacy for the NDN Collective

 

Break 1 Music: Freedom (song) Rage Against the Machine (artist) Self-titled (album)

Break 2 Music: Burn A Smudge (song) Trent Agecoutay (artist) Uncle Trent and Friends (album)