Watch "Incident at Oglala"

 

 

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Robert Redford is the executive producer (and narrator) of this fine, eye-opening documentary about the violent events that took place in 1975 on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Indian activists ended up in an extended standoff with FBI agents, and the result was several deaths, including two federal men whose killing (according to many people) was never clearly attributed to a specific gunman. Nevertheless, the government laid blame for the tragedy on Leonard Peltier. Peltier has spent many years in prison, and Michael Apted's film, which is hardly ambiguous in its commitment toward Peltier's hoped-for freedom, is persuasive in both its detail and its case against brutal federal policies toward Indians.

Availability

Incident at Oglala: The Leonard Peltier Story is available for purchase from Amazon.com, or you may locate a DVD at your favorite movie rental outlet.  In addition, Amazon.com offers a downloadable, low-cost digital version. Restrictions apply. 

"It's hard to leave 'Incident at Oglala' without concluding that Leonard Peltier is innocent of his murder charges. Only the willfully partisan will disagree his trial was anything but a government-cooked travesty. This straightforward, illuminating documentary, directed by Michael Apted and produced by Robert Redford, shows the unscrupulous lengths government prosecutors and the FBI went to in order to get their man."—The Washington Post, 22 May 1992

Learn More

Peter Matthiessen

In the Spirit of Crazy Horse

Meticulously researched, this courageous book is the definitive work on the Peltier case. The author successfully defended against lawsuits brought in three different states, surviving an eight-year litigation designed to block the book's publication.

Jim Messerschmidt

The Trial of Leonard Peltier

Foreword by William Kunstler. A well-documented and researched study, this book examines the orchestration by the federal government of the wrongful conviction of Native American activist Leonard Peltier.

Leonard Peltier

Prison Writings: My Life Is My Sun Dance

Edited by Harvey Arden. Peltier chronicles life in prison. Peltier explores his suffering and the insights it has borne him in the context of American Indians and their struggle to survive.

Spotlight

We the People

We the People have read your Constitution, Mr. Obama.  We also are aware of the clemency application review process (28 C.F.R. Part I, §§ 1.1-1.11) and know that these guidelines do not bind the President. Congress and the Department of Justice (DOJ) cannot regulate or otherwise limit the presidential clemency power. The authority to grant clemency to federal prisoners belongs only to the President of the United States (under Article II, Section 2, of the U.S. Constitution). You have the power to grant clemency to anyone, for any reason, and at any time.