Black and white scan of 'Wanted by the FBI' flyer for Leonard Peltier. Flyer header reads: MURDER; INTERSTATE FLIGHT - ATTEMPTED MURDER;/ NATIONAL FIREARMS ACT/ WANTED BY FBI/ LEONARD PELTIER; printed to the left of the header: Entered/ NCIC/ I.O. 4681/ 12-3-75; printed below the header on the left: ALIASES: Leonard Littleshell, Luis Martinex, John Yellow Robe, Leonard Williams; printed directly below 'Wanted by FBI' line of header on right: FBI No. 631.091 D; printed below header on right: NCIC: D0D009PI17PID016PIPI; this identification number is followed by the following number (in this case '/' indicates an underscore beneath first line): 9 0 30 W 0II 17 / 1 20 W 00I; this number is followed by the following notation: Ref: 30/ 24; below the header section there are ten details of Peltier’s fingerprints arranged in a two row by five column grid. Below the grid there is additional information about Peltier including one right profile and one full face image of him from 1972 and one full face image of him from 1974. These three images are left justified. His signature, a description, and a cautionary message are printed to the right of the images: Leonard Peltier signature / Description/ AGE: 31, born September 12, 1944, Grand Forks, North Dakota/ HEIGHT: 5’1'' EYES: brown/ WEIGHT: 190 pounds COMPLEXION: medium / BUILD: muscular RACE: Indian / HAIR: black NATIONALITY: American/ OCCUPATIONS: body and fender work, carpenter, employment manager,/ hod carrier/ SCARS AND MARKS: birthmark on right cheek, scar/ on left cheek, scar on left side of neck; Tattoos: a rose on upper other right arm, 'Leonard'/ on upper outer left arm/ REMARKS: may be wearing shorter hair, mustache, and goatee/ SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS USED: 543-50-5518; 542-50-5417;/542-50-5416/ CAUTION/ PELTIER HAS POSSESSED NUMEROUS FIREARMS AND DESTRUCTIVE/ DEVICES AND HAS RESISTED ARREST BY FIRING AT POLICE OF-/FICERS IN THE PAST. CONSIDER ARMED AND EXTREMELY DAN-/GEROUS.; there is further information about Peltier’s criminal record printed below this section: Federal warrants were issued August 9, 1974, at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, charging Peltier with unlawful interstate flight to avoid prosecution for attempted murder (Title 18, U.S. Code, Section/1073); November 25, 1975, at Rapid City, South Dakota, charging Peltier with murder - first degree, killing two Federal officers while in the performance to their duties and aiding and abetting/ of the National Firearms Act (Title 26, U.S. Code, Sections 5861 (d), 5861 (h) and 5871), respectively./ IF YOU HAVE INFORMATION CONCERNING THIS PERSON, PLEASE CONTACT YOUR LOCAL FBI OFFICE./ TELEPHONE NUMBERS AND ADDRESSES OF ALL FBI OFFICES LISTED ON BACK./ Identification Order 4681/ December 3, 1975 ; this statement is accompanied by Clarence M. Kelley’s signature printed at right with his professional information listed below: Director/ Federal Bureau of Investigation/ Washington, D.C. 20535.

In the aftermath of the shooting, the FBI launched a manhunt for the people they believed to be responsible for the shooting. They sought Darrelle Butler, Robert Robideau, Leonard Peltier and Jimmy Eagle in connection with the deaths, believing them to be the occupants of the car that the agents had followed. Peltier was a fugitive from justice and had been residing with Robideau and Butler in a camp of tents on the property.The FBI later claimed that the agents were unaware that Peltier was on the reservation or that it was his car they were in fact following.

Court transcripts and internal documents complicate this account, however. Ultimately, Robideau, Butler and Eagle turned themselves in to law enforcement. The charges against Eagle were dropped; Robideau and Butler were acquitted. They argued that the extreme violence between factions on the reservation had created a reason to fear the two cars following them, and they fired on the agents in self defense. Leonard Peltier, after being extradited from Canada, was the only person convicted of charges related to the shooting.

In 1977, Peltier was convicted of first degree murder in the killing of the two federal agents, Williams and Coler. Numerous doubts were raised over the fairness of the trial and the handling of the case, including by Amnesty International. Peltier maintains his innocence and is serving two consecutive life-sentences in a federal penitentiary. After a 1992 appeal, his conviction was illegally changed to aiding and abetting. All requests for a retrial have thus far been denied and Peltier is considered by some to be a political prisoner. Efforts to free Peltier continue to the present day.

Black and white photograph of two White male law enforcement personnel grasping the handcuffed Leonard Peltier’s arms as he is taken into custody.

"My own personal story can't be told...without going back long before my own birth...
back to 1890 and to 1876 and to 1851."
- Leonard Peltier

Faces of AIM

Leonard Peltier

Black and white photograph of Leonard Peltier sitting on his prison bed. On the opposite wall there are personal effects hung on a bulletin board and on top of cabinets. Peltier appears to be thinking while looking at the floor.

"AIM was and is, not a subversive plot, not a radical mob, but a collectivity of leaders working in loose unison, using material means to accomplish a political and spiritual purpose: our people’s survival."
- Leonard Peltier

September 12, 1944 – present | Tribal Affiliation: Turtle Mountain Chippewa (Ojibway and Sioux) | Other Names: Tate Wikikuwa, meaning “Wind Chases the Sun” in the Dakota language; Gwarth-ee-lass, meaning “He Leads the People,” from Native Canadians; U.S. Prisoner #89637-132

Peltier is best known for being implicated in a shootout at the Pine Ridge Reservation on June 26th, 1975, which left FBI agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams dead. Peltier involved himself in AIM and other activism in the early 1970s, participating in the Trail of Broken Treaties and subsequent occupation of the BIA. In 1975, Peltier was at Pine Ridge at the behest of Oglala Lakota Elders who requested help in quelling violence on the reservation.

Peltier was tried and convicted of both agents’ murders in 1977. Serving two life sentences, he recently began his 45th year of incarceration. He continues to maintain his innocence and advocates for indigenous rights from his prison cell.