Statement of love and respect from Leonard Peltier
Greetings Sisters, Brothers, Elders, Friends and Supporters.
Well here it is, sorry to say, another year, and I’m still writing to you from a prison cell. I am still in pain from my illnesses with no knowledge of whether I will ever get treatments for them. But I’m alive and still breathing, hoping, wishing, praying for not just my pains, but for all Native Nations and the People of the World who care and have positive feelings about what is happening to Mother Earth and against the evils committed by Wasi’chu in their greed for her natural resources.
It doesn’t seem as if any changes for the good or safety of Mother Earth will happen soon. But the good hearted people are fighting back, and some good people are winning in the struggles to beat back some of this evil and to make the Changes, the safety networks, we need for our grandchildren and great grandchildren so that they will be able to live happy, successful lives, at least decent lives, that most of the poor underprivileged in my generation never got to experience or enjoy in [their] short lives.
So, I sit back and look at the world, and I wonder if I will ever get to see the outside world again, free from this prison cell? At 74 it is not looking too good for that to happen. But I keep my hopes alive and pray as hard as I can that it will happen. If not, when they bury me I want to be laid to rest face down and with a note pinned to my ass with the words in large bold letters, “Kiss my ass!!” … just in case someone wants to study my bones years from now:)!!
On a more pleasant issue one of my grandaughters Ashley is in college at University of Arizona, Flagstaff, and she wants to be a Medicine Woman! How awesome is that? My baby, a doctor! Wow! How proud am I! You would not believe just how much I am! I could use a little help now and then for her; don’t send it to me, but send it to ILPDC earmarked for her use only!! She is going on a long hard journey, so she will need help now and then. One day, if she continues her studies to be a Medicine Woman, I know things can change as time goes by, but if she makes it, she will be an enormous help to Native Nations’ hospitals.
My friend Harvey Arden passed yesterday on Saturday, Nov. 17, 2018, 5:20 P.M. He was a very good and kind man who loved Native People and the poor and sick. We are all going to miss him. I hope he has a good safe journey to the Spirit World, and I hope our Relatives will all be there to greet him with open arms; that would be very pleasing to him. See you soon, my Kola.
Politically we are finally making gains in Congress; two great Native ladies made it in the House of Representatives! They are Shanice Davids, Ho Chunk of Wisconsin, for Kansas and Deb Haaland, Laguna Pueblo, for New Mexico. On Pine Ridge my nephew Julian Bear Runner made it as President of the great Lakota Nation! I’m hearing more states are doing away with Columbus Day! Hell, we may just win the War for Survival yet.
My last thoughts on this day, that we Native People call a Day of Mourning, are for my sisters’ and brothers’ family by blood and by AIM that are now in the Spirit World, and to them I say Lila Pilamaya, thank you for your love and work for The People.
My thoughts are also with the youth such as the Water Protectors and all people young and old who are working to protect Mother Earth. I hope someday in the near future to be with you and part of this march and join you in the feast prepared by Native People and wonderful supporters who have joined together today to honor our Ancestors.
In The Spirit of Crazy Horse
Doksha
Leonard Peltier
