Pine Ridge elders met in 1975 to propose help for dozens of murders in 1975 of Pine Ridge citizens on an area the size of Connecticut near the Badlands in western South Dakota.

The American Indian Movement founded in Minneapolis in 1969 was invited to camp out on the reservation by elders. Leonard Peltuer was a member of AIM and had participated in fishing rights protests in Washington State , the non violent occupation of Alcatraz Island in the San Francisco Bay and the non violent takeover of Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington D.C.

From the text: "Prison Writings" " My Life is my Sundance" St. Martins Griffin

Leonard is supposedly being helped by Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee. He has appeared on Democracy Now. He and his family count The Dalai Lama of Tibet, Archbishop Desmongd Tutu of South Africa, Willie Nelson, Pearl Jam, Mikhail Gorbachev, many members of the Canadian Parialment, many members of the Dutch Parliament, Rigoberta Menchu of Guatemala, as well as elected native american leaders for over 7% of the entire tribal areas of the United States.

Leonard has kept his spirituality by protecting the right to sweat lodge ceremonies in Leavenworth Kansas, Marion Illinois and now Coleman Florida. using scrap wood, firewood as well as pallet wood.

Leonard Peltier is a self taught artists who sells his works to fund social service help in the US.