Aho my relations,

I again write to you on this day of mourning as I approach the end of
3O years of deprived freedom. I am here to appease a vengeful government
that has come onto our lands, committed genocide and continues to rob
us of our history and culture while giving away our land, murdering, and
torturing our people. I am held here because of the corruption of two
countries (Canada and the United States) which illegally extradited
me, and which led to an illegal conviction and imprisonment. Despite the
incessant claims of this being a country of laws and an example to the
world of justice, freedom, and democracy, it is obvious that
thisGovernment protects whoever it wants, and imprisons and kills
whoever it wants.
My imprisonment is one key example of what lengths this Government
will go to in order to achieve its goal of repressing indigenous dissent. The
United States Government continually seeks to imprison all indigenous
peoples on our land. The US Government has been increasing its
oppressive and tyrannical tactics. All peoples rights are being eroded and fears
are heightened as a tool to keep the war machine alive and increase the
destruction of Mother Earth. Innocent people are dying, not only in
this country, but all over the world in the name of democracy and freedom.
My elders before me said, and I tell you now, The earth does not
belong to us, we belong to the earth. And I want to say, this earth belongs
to Tunkashala, the creator of all that is. There has already started a
time of great cleansing upon the earth and this Government has begun to
crumble. The fabric of the constitution is soiled and torn.
We as human beings can give thanks or mourn, but if all that happens
is no more than lip service, very little will happen to correct things. In
the traditions of my native people we barely had words of thanks. It was
something that was shown by action of giving or doing. We all breath
the same air, are made of the same earth, and drink of the same water. We
are all more relative than we sometimes acknowledge. We need to do more
than just what is right. We need to join together and right what is wrong.
It is time we all unite to stop the madness threatening the whole
planet, and stand together with those who go beyond words and deliver on the
promise of freedom and justice, and against those guided by greed,
arrogance, and prejudice. Stay true, work in unity, confront the
traitors, dont be afraid, and dont let our struggle die.
And finally, I mourn the loss of so many of our relatives over the
past year and especially my brother Steve Robideau. I appreciate you each
and every one. Now, please organize and set out to correct the wrongs so
that this day of mourning will become a relic of the past.

In the Spirit of Crazy Horse,
Leonard Peltier
Mitakuye Oyasin