Prison Writings: My Life Is My Sun Dance by Leonard Peltier
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Book Reviews of Prison Writings: My Life Is My Sun Dance
Book Review: PERSERVERANCE
Summary: 4 Stars
This book is poignant. Leonard Peltier expresses himself very well about the injustice of his people for hundreds of years and still is continuing to this day. He didn't write this book for sympathy but to right a wrong that has been done to him over a quarter of a century ago. He delves into the past, about his ancestors and the origin of the "Sundance", which I thought, years ago, was just a festival that actor/producer Robert Redford sponsored.
Leonard puts his whole soul into writing this book. He tells of the pain inflicted upon him by the system as well as the progress he's made, behind bars, to be active into helping his people. He also expresses his feelings which is difficult for men to do regardless of their race, color, or creed. He is extremely positive that he will be a free man soon. He is still a warrior.
I finished this book in one sitting. It was provocative, honest, and spiritual. Yes, Leonard, "MITAKUYE OYASIN", we are all related!!!
Book Review: A work of fiction.
Summary: 1 Stars
The rhetoric of the other reviews aside, Prison Writings would make for a compelling story had Peltier included some truth to support his allegations surrounding the events of June 26, 1975 on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota.
By way of a brief background, Peltier was represented by capable and experienced counsel and during his trial the jury heard that FBI agents Jack Coler and Ron Williams were following who they thought was another wanted person. They actually followed Peltier and two teenagers who began shooting at the agents who were then trapped and exposed in an open area. Peltier was joined by several others, including Dino Butler and Robert Robideau who also fired on the agents from another direction. Both Coler and Williams were severely wounded and unable to defend themselves. Peltier's jury heard that Peltier, Robideau and Butler went down to the wounded agents and shot them both in the face at point-blank range with a high powered rife. The jury believed the testimony they heard and Peltier was convicted for, among other things, aiding and abetting and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences. He later received an additional seven year consecutive sentence for an armed escape from Lompoc federal penitentiary. (In a separate and earlier trial, Dino Butler and Robert Robideau were acquitted of the murders. However, this review relates specifically to how Peltier portrays the facts surrounding these events in Prison Writings. There is much more to the entire saga.)
It's important to place Prison Writings in its proper chronological context. Prison Writings was published in 1999. An important related book touted by Peltier and the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee (LPDC) that "immortalizes Leonard Peltier," In The Spirit of Crazy Horse (ITSOCH) by Peter Matthiessen was first published in 1983 and in 1992. A film, Incident at Oglala (Incident), narrated by Robert Redford was released in 1992. Collectively, these sources, in addition to the many public statements made by Peltier, Butler and Robideau, demonstrate that Peltier is not only fabricating the history of his own case but knowingly lies about certain events.
There are many more, but for example:
The scene:
Peltier initially claimed he was in the AIM camp to the south of the Jumping Bull property, heard shots, responded and "I fired off a few shots above their heads, trying not to hit anything (p.125)." And also "I didn't see their agents die, had no hand in it..." (p.127). Yet in a CNN interview in October, 1999 Peltier admitted being there and told interviewer Mark Potter "I don't know, just two people laying there. I mean, the car door--the car door open and stuff."
The alibi:
For the better part of nearly two decades Peltier had offered only one alibi about who was responsible for the final killing shots to the agents' faces. He claimed that someone they all knew but would not identify (Mr. X), had driven to the reservation that day in a red pickup truck to deliver dynamite and that it was Mr. X who engaged the agents initially and then, once wounded and unable to defend themselves, killed the agents and drove off. In Incident Robideau is filmed pointing to the area where Mr. X murdered the agents and drove off in the red pickup truck. This claim was so far-fetched that not even Peltier's trial lawyers wanted to go near it, but they did their best to create confusion with the jury over the alleged red pickup truck. Matthiessen, although skeptical himself, spent a great deal of time on Mr. X in ITSOCH. However, in a 1995 interview with News from Indian Country, one of the three participants, Dino Butler, publicly said that the Mr. X story was a lie; "Well, there is no Mr. X. There was no man coming to our camp that day bringing dynamite." "To create this lie to show that someone else pulled the trigger." " That is totally false. Totally untrue. That never happened."
It should come as no surprise that Mr. X. and the red pickup are never mentioned in Prison Writings.
Aiding and abetting:
Peltier tries to convince the reader that the "vague crime of aiding and abetting" (p162) was somehow later added to the charge of murdering the agents. Yet, during one of the many appeals (one dealing with this specific issue in 1993), the appeals court stated that "Peltier's arguments fail because their underlying premises are fatally flawed. (A) the government tried the case on the alternative theories; it asserted that Peltier personally killed the agents at point blank range, but that if he had not done so, then he was equally guilty of the murder as an aider and abettor."
Preplanned assault:
Peltier lays the groundwork for claiming that according to a document obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, the government "...had been gathering in the area for a preplanned paramilitary assault on the Pine Ridge reservation," (p.129) comprised of "...dozens, maybe hundreds..." (p.127) of law-enforcement personnel. The document (dated April 24, 1975) he refers to (the noted "sanctioned memo") says nothing of the kind and related to the 1973 takeover by AIM of Wounded Knee. Ironically this memo was still being circulated around FBI headquarters in Washington D.C. even after the murders of agents Coler and Williams with a date at the bottom of the memo of August 11, 1975. This memo is not even in the same universe as Peltier claims. This assertion was so outrageous even Matthiessen shied away from it by claiming after all his research that the initial shooting at the agents was spontaneous, neither a pre-planned government event nor premeditated ambush of the two agents. "...if there is another persuasive explanation of the location and position of their cars, I cannot find it." (ITSOCH p.544).
Further, it was well documented that when the agents were first pinned down in the open field, Agent Williams made desperate calls for help and assistance over his FBI radio. These transmissions were overheard by a number of individuals who all confirmed how quickly the shooting started, and ended, and that the nearest agent was about twelve miles away. That FBI agent, Gary Adams, responded with a BIA officer, the first two to even reach close to the scene. They were also shot at and had to back away to Highway 18 and await more assistance. In the meantime, Coler and Williams were murdered and Peltier and the others escaped.
Robideau:
Robert Robideau who has been assimilated and rejected by the Peltier organization several times over the years has made damning admissions. Robideau stated publicly on numerous occasions, and in emails to this reviewer, that he's the one who actually killed the agents:
"As far as I have ever been concerned the killing of the agents was justified..." "They were shot in the head at close range..." "I have no remorse..." "I am "Mr X" (which is no lie) and I did kill them with honor befitting a warrior, but they died like worms." "I thought I already told you that I killed the agents."
Of course Robideau has the constitutional protection against double-jeopardy, but this reviewer believes he is even too much of a coward to shoot two severely wounded and incapacitated human beings. But whether he killed the agents himself is immaterial; the Peltier jury heard and accepted the testimony that the three older Indians, Robideau, Butler and Peltier went down to the wounded agents and murdered them by shooting them both in the face.
Of course, Prison Writings suggests none of this but hides behind fabrications and outright lies to further the folklore surrounding Peltier and perpetuating The Myth.
What it does do however is firmly establish that Peltier did not remove himself from the scene of the crime.
Prison Writings is self-serving drivel and should not be used to document in any fashion what happened that June day at Pine Ridge. Anyone interested in going beyond The Myth should spend some time reviewing the very detailed appeals that cover every aspect of this case.
[...]
Book Review: The Reinvention of a Ruthless Killer
Summary: 1 Stars
Before you read this book, remember these two names, JACK COLER and RONALD WILLIAMS. These two men are the other half of the Leonard Peltier story who will never be heard from because Leonard Peltier blew their brains out with a rifle execution style at point blank range. Both men were unarmed. WILLIAMS was rendering first aid to COLER whose arm was nearly severed by one of Peltier's bullets. Peltier finished off the unconscious COLER before turning his rifle on WILLIAMS who was on his knees with his hands covering his face, begging for mercy. Peltier's bullet ripped through WILLIAMS' hands and blew the back of his head off.
At first Peltier was proud that he killed two "pigs" in defense of his people. He claimed he was fighting off an ambush of superior numbers and that he fired at them from a long distance. The investigation revealed that there were only two agents serving an arrest warrant. They were each armed with a six shooter and had to retrieve a shotgun from the trunk of their car after they were fired upon. Their nearest backup was ten miles away on gravel roads and didn't arrive until the incident was long over. The agents fired a total of four rounds. There were over a hundred bullet holes in their car. In addition, some of the empty cartridges from the bullets Peltier shot them with were found in the open trunk of the victims' car, proof that they were shot at point blank range.
After this evidence was revealed, Peltier changed his story and claimed an individual he called "Mr. X" was the real killer. Peltier didn't want to reveal his name (but chose to take the rap for him). Peltier had to drop that story since it implicated his co-defendant in the murder. Now Peltier claims he tried to stop the whole thing. His "sympathy" for the COLER and WILLIAMS families is a disgusting attempt to whitewash his image.
I'm amazed that so many of Peltier's supporters, like the reviewers of this book, who claim to be such advocates of justice, fail to mention WILLIAMS or COLER. I wonder if they even care who they were. Their hypocrisy is sickening.
Leonard Peltier got a trial, he got attorneys to plead his case, he got to tell his story three times with three different versions. This is something COLER and WILLIAMS never got.
Book Review: While he is a fine writer, I found him non-credible
Summary: 1 Stars
While this man may have missed his calling in life as a writer, I found him non-credible. Why should we exhault a murderer. How is it that everyone forgets that two FBI agents lost their lives? How is it that we forget that FBI agents do what they do to protect each of us every day? How is it that people want to applaud a man that is a murderer? I am appauled at him and those that think he should be freed. Just because his people were persecuted many years ago, does not mean that he is an innocent man. Do we release every black man that has murdered someone from prison because his ancestors were slaves? Many years ago, the white man did terrible things to indians. These wrongs can NEVER be made right. However, to free a man that has not only killed two men, who had wives and children, but he killed two law enforcement officers who gave their lives so that everyone can be free and safe.Book Review: Please Pity Me
Summary: 1 Stars
Peltier is so far from the truth, it is time to quit lieing and tell the truth.
Yes, supposibly he was beat up. Are they starving him, NO you can tell by his weight. Does he have trouble opening his mouth to talk or eat,Hardly, watch his video interviews.
Is he guilty, YES, he was caught with a rifle and a pistol that belong to the agent.
I recommend that if people buy this book, they also buy American Indian Mafia by, Joseph and John Trimbach.