Dear fellow supporters and friends of Leonard Peltier--

 

They say a butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil can start a colossal sandstorm in the Sahara.  Maybe your efforts and mine can help stir up at least a small flurry of outrage in this world over political prisoner Leonard Peltier’s continuing illegal incarceration for MORE THAN 30 YEARS!!  Or even win Leonard's freedom. (We WILL get him out!!) 

 

Hope all's going well in your personal world.  Please FWD this message below to friends on your list, if you feel it's appropriate. Check out the (amazingly) great reviews on the Peltier CD!!  Take a listen yourself at http://cdbaby.com/harveyarden These terrific CDs’ll make great Holiday gifts & at the same time help get Leonard’s Message out to the world.  People should buy gobs of’m.   What other gift gives such memorable flashes of Enlightment?  Have a great Holiday season!  Blessings on you & yours. /Harvey Arden ;0) 

 

Check out  www.leonardpeltier.org  to see how you might help in our common struggle.  Please send these good folks a small check so LPDC offices can be re-established near USP Lewisburg, PA--where they recently sent Leonard after 17 years in USP Leavenworth.

 

Giving to a good cause—even $5, $10, $20—gives you a real cleansing feeling. Try it!

 

Checks should be made out to  ' LPDC '  & sent to:

LPDC

c/o Tony Zeidan

2626 N. Mesa #132

El Paso, TX 79902

 

Meantime, help us keep Leonard's name alive and shining in this darkened world.

 

Puh-leeze--I implore you--FWD this message to friends on your list, if you feel it's appropriate. Check out the (amazingly) great reviews below on the Peltier CD!!  Take a free listen yourself at http://cdbaby.com/harveyarden These terrific CDs’ll make great Holiday gifts & at the same time help get Leonard’s Message out to the world.  People should buy gobs of’m.  Proceeds go for pressing more CDS & helping Leonard's (and humanity's) cause.  What other gift gives such memorable flashes of Enlightenment?  

 

Have a great Holiday season!  Blessings on you & yours.

 

/Harvey Arden 

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 Links here may not  work.  Just go to  http://cdbaby.com/cd/harveyarden  and listen free! 

This album is taking off!!  Buy a dozen for wonderful  Holiday  gifts! 

 

Harvey Arden My Life Is My Sun Dance This CD has a 20% discount if you buy more than one copy of it today! © 2005 Harvey Arden CD List price: $19.95 CD Baby Price: $15.00 IN STOCK. ORDER NOW. Will ship within 24 hours! The Words of Leonard Peltier in a Spoken-Word Performance by Harvey Arden with haunting original music by Rev. Goat Carson, George Ingmire, Harry Lenz and Michael Voelker--'New Orleans Light' TRACKS  lo-fi: dial-up  hi-fi: broadband 1. Spirit Breath 2. Thunder Speaks 3. My Name 4. Welcome to Leavenworth 5. Sun Dance 6. Let the Great Healing Begin 7. Indian Dead 8. On That Day 9. Ghost Dance 10. Arrest and Trial 11. Political Prisoner 12. Army of One (Click a song name to hear it in lo-fi MP3. Need help?.) LINKS Check out the Harvey Arden website Email Harvey Arden TRY THIS OTHER CDs you will love John Trudell GENRES you need to try JAZZ: Jazz Fusion SPOKEN WORD: With Music MOOD: BROODING Find more artists from USA: Washington DC NOTES My Life Is My Sun Dance Prison Writings of LEONARD PELTIER Silence, they say, is the voice of complicity. But silence is impossible. Silence screams. Silence is a message, Just as doing nothing is an act. Let who you are ring out and resonate in every word and every deed. Yes, become who you are. There's no sidestepping your own being or your own responsibility. What you do is who you are. You are your own comeuppance. You become your own message. You are the message. May the Great Spirit Make Sunrise in Your Heart . . . Hoka Hey! Leonard Peltier A  Current  Bio of Harvey Arden Over the past few years I have given readings/lectures on the Dreamkeepers and the Wisdomkeepers at Harvard, Columbia, CalTech, USC, the University of South Dakota (Vermillion), Briarcliffe College (Sioux City, IA), etc etc etc I've given readings from Leonard Peltier s PRISON WRITINGS: MY LIFE IS MY SUN DANCE and Mathew King s book NOBLE RED MAN to audiences in schools, churches, museums, private homes, coffee shops, public auditoriums and theaters in New York, Toronto, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Boston, New Orleans, Washington DC, Cape Cod, Western Massachusetts, New Hampshire etc.and scores of smaller towns. I've also given scores of readings at Borders and Barnes & Noble (and many, many other) bookstores across the country; I've been interviewed on NPR (national "Public Interest" show, twice), also on many many other radio stations. I was for 23 years a staff writer at National Geographic Magazine. A play of mine on Leonard Peltier, already performed at USD, is in the early stages of a professional production. My books have been translated into French, Spanish, German, Italian, Dutch, Swedish, and Japanese...with Greek and Swedish in the works. Anyway, I'm willing to put my old body on the line anytime it's needed for the Cause, but I can often be of more of use here at my basement-study PC, since I plug into lots of places in the Indian and international indigenous worlds, though I'm a white guy myself. Lot's of people know me and, hopefully, trust me. You can check me out ad nauseum with a Google search on my name. (someone told me a few weeks or so ago she found 22,000 entries on me with a few simple searches) I still spend lots of time working for and with Leonard Peltier. I ve visited Leonard half a dozen times at Leavenworth. Also I have a few novels, plays, screenplays and other nonfiction books that I'm trying to give birth to lest they be, alas, stillborn. Like Mat King used to say, "You're not too bad for a white guy, Harvey. You're lucky. Tunkashila has a job for you to do and you're going to do it!" Regarding why I, a white guy, am so involved in the indigenous world, I subscribe to the philosophy expressed in this statement by Australian Aboriginal Elder Lilla Watson: "If you've come here to help me, you're wasting your time. But if you've come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together." REVIEWS! Click here to write a review about this CD!  I bought this CD as a gift for a dear friend of mine but I listened to it befor Reviewer: Two Foxes Ross Great CD,I'm so glad I got the chance to hear it...came to me in just a few days after I ordered it. Thanks!!  heartfelt sadness and great inner strength!We have not forgotten you,Leo! Reviewer: Itch'cha-wah this CD brings Leo home to us.we need to force his release!!!!!One voice can carry far.Let it start with you and me.Aho!  This CD is riveting... I could not move. Reviewer: barbara The musicians, Leonard and Harveys spoken words along with the music, are so powerful I could not move until the CD was over. Heart wrenching.  My heart soars when I listen to it Reviewer: Doug Draime When I listen to it my heart is broken and my heart is enraged, and my heart soars. Every man and woman and child should be exposed to it. It is outrages what has happened to Leonard and we must all stand up and say, no more, no more ...  A must have for any ethical person. Tino pai! Reviewer: Jon Pawson The words of this CD resonate with anguish and pain, yet a staunch resolve remains. We hear Leonard's experiences through Harvey's voice, a powerful performance. This CD should be with every conscientious supporter of justice in every land on this earth. Ka mau te wehi, e hoa ma! (Awesome, my friends)  incredible insight from a political warrior, thank you for your continous teachi Reviewer: HaidaMaiden I listened to the CD over and over. The message is so powerful; I send prayers out to all spiritual warriors that have served unnessary time in prison.   Reviewer: Geri Timmons Absolutely loved the CD and the way it brings Leonard's words to life. I intend to send the CD to our irish republican political prisoner's in Ireland. We are not in this struggle alone. Ta an la ag teact (our day is coming)  The Ripples are Reaching Out! Reviewer: Risha I sat and listened to this in my room, a few candles flickering in the darkness and I could FEEL the pain, the loneliness and the emptiness of Mr Peltier as his powerful words reached into my mind and painted many disturbing and despairing images, they reached in and touched my heart and I felt so sad, yet I could also feel such strength and dignity. That amazed me. I don't think there are many people who would be able to stay as strong and not lose their dignity under such a disgusting and disgaceful injustice forced upon them! I am here in England and like a pebble dropped in the water the ripples are reaching out to other lands and other people who also fight in their own way for Mr Peltier... and the injustices of the American Indian Peoples.  heart rendering Reviewer: Peg Shriner Having read the book and other writings about Mr. Peltier including "In The Spirit Of Crazy Horse" by Peter Mathiasson. Harvey brings Mr. Peltiers feeings to light in a vocal way, to where we can not only read the words but FEEL the heart of this great man. I honor him and will continue to fight for his freedom in anyway that I can. He will not be forgotten by this simple woman. Walk in TRUTH, HONOR and BEAUTY with PEACE LOVE and LIGHT always  It held my heart from beginning to end thought of all the incarcerated bros and Reviewer: Shelly I think the CD is a wake up call to our spirits and our humanity. Harvey reading Leonard's words spoke to me those inside prison are our brothers,sisters our family. It's not ok to forget infact its our responsibility to remember them. This CD will keep me mindful of that and I will carry Brother Leonards words everyday for the rest of my life. shelly  This is an important CD Reviewer: Come Again Moon How can we rate this CD, it is like trying to rate the experience of the heart beat of GrandMother Earth. This album is important. I agree with the good people, here. Leonard invites you into his cell, with the care and grace of a loving, holy spirit and Harvey Arden's riviting, naration carries us through the journey of Leonard's Sun Dance as we are all, accompanied to new levels of understanding, by Rev. Goat and the New Orleans Light. Ording more than one copy of this CD, really is, a good idea and Little Eagle, Thank you for the excellent suggestion. One of my copies will be given to my Congressperson. Mitakye Oyasin Moon  This CD rocks! Reviewer: carol j. It made me feel as though I were sitting in the cell with Leonard and listening to his every word. The whole cd bears witness to what needs to be done! FREE LEONARD PELTIER!  Great stuff - is Leonard getting any help from the proceeds? Reviewer: Tim - BlueGreenEarth.com Great stuff - I sincerely hope that Leonard's campaign will benefit from sales. If so, can it be made clear on this page? More will buy if it does...! BTW, if Leonard sees this review - please feel frr to send us any new alerts/messages/articles you want published, as in the past... Good Luck Tim  i feel the pain Reviewer: Ivy hey i get this site sent to my inbox, would love to hear mre about leonard peltier, as a ntive i love to hear about my people...take care leonard iam behind you all the way..((((HUGS))))  Very Impressive Work Reviewer: Little Eagle - Earth Citizenhsip Network Very impressive work. It will take the listener to a place where most of us will never be but all of us are all familiar with. The place is Leavenworth, Kansas the residence of a Native American and Earth Citizen political prisoner by the name of Leonard Peltier. The spoken words you will hear is from Leonard's personal story and it will ring to your heart, go ahead and buy it. In fact, buy one for a friend and send another to a politician. Free Leonard Peltier!  Sure I felt compassion, I felt anger again for the FBI Reviewer: Llye K'ang Sure, I felt compassion but at the same time, I felt anger again for the FBI, there arrogance and unbelievable ignorant ways. "If I can get away with it-why not", kind of attitude. You know what I mean...  Being There Reviewer: barbara I can feel myself in that cell with Leonard listening to this CD....  Demand Freedom for Leonard NOW! Reviewer: John at CD Baby The powerful words of Leonard Peltier are not to be ignored. This one man has done more to promote Human Rights while unjustly held within prison walls than most of us can ever hope to do outside of them. This CD is a compelling reading of Leonards own words, read by the man (Harvey Arden) who helped him get those words out to the world. A must have for anyone who cares for the future of the generations yet to come and the realities of a man currently being denied freedom due to a gross miscarriage of justice. http://cdbaby.com/cd/harveyarden            also be sure to check out www.haveyouthought.com  for more on Leonard, Harvey, Arvol Looking Horse, etc    To join my list for     just email me at harvey@haveyouthought.com with YES I'LL JOIN on the subject line.                                    *                                Maybe you alone                                  can’t save the                                                                            world…                                   *                                   but it certainly                                   won’t be saved                                     without you.                                          *

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   ~*~ A  Book Project of the Heart: Voice of the Hawk Elder ~*~ 

  Go to  http://cdbaby.com/cd/harveyarden  and listen free!  

 

 Leonard Peltier in his own words

My Life is My Sun Dance: Prison Writings of Leonard Peltier
Read by Harvey Arden, music by Reverend Goat and New Orleans Light Mi Abuelo Records
Order at <http://cdbaby.com/cd/harveyarden>

REVIEW BY NORM DIXON

Leonard Peltier is one of the United States' longest-serving political prisoners, jailed in 1976 in a blatantly rigged trial, during which the US government and the FBI refused to put any limits on the depths they would stoop to see this militant leader of the Native American people silenced for life. Almost 30 years later, Harvey Arden has done his bit to break that silence with the release of My Life is My Sun Dance, a series of readings from Peltier's prison writings.

Arden's expressive voice creates an emotional connection between the listener and the author of the words, who has been bricked up in high-security prisons and kept isolated from his people and his many supporters. Through Arden, accompanied by the smooth jazz moods of New Orleans Light, Peltier talks directly to us and you can feel and share his humanity, defiance and fears. Peltier's writing is conversational and poetic, it is hopeful and inspiring. One listen of this CD and you will really care about this humane and gentle, but fierce warrior for social justice.

Peltier tells us about the terrors and uncertainties of prison life, about the history of Washington's long oppression of the Native American people and how his individual oppression is simply a continuation of it. He discusses his people's spirituality and how it is bound to the struggle to end the oppression of all peoples. And Peltier outlines the specifics of the events that landed him in jail, and the details of what must be one of the most outrageous frame-ups in US history.

In the early 1970s, the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota was the scene of a serious conflict between the corrupt, pro-government, assimilationist reservation authorities and militant reservation residents who were demanding that Native Americans control their own affairs. The residents were also demanding that they be permitted to continue to practice their traditional culture without hindrance.

It emerged that uranium had been found on the reservation land, and the federal government and its Indian puppets were determined to crush the militants in order to get their hands on it. Rich ranchers were also being allowed to graze the sensitive semi-arid country for minimal or no fees.

In 1973, the residents sought the assistance of the radical American Indian Movement (AIM) and together they occupied the village of Wounded Knee (the same site where, less than 100 years earlier, a horrific US Army massacre of 300 Native Americans had taken place). The response of the US government was to launch a paramilitary attack in which two residents were killed. The stand-off lasted 71 days, before the government promised to investigate the residents' complaints. It was another promise made to Native Americans that was never kept.

In the aftermath of the Wounded Knee occupation, the reservation authorities outlawed the AIM and banned traditional ceremonies and practices. A reign of terror was instigated, in which thugs known as Guardians of the Oglala Nation (literally spelled GOON), attempted to drive out all opponents of the pro-government reservation leaders. Between 1973 and 1976, more than 60 "traditionalists" were murdered. The FBI refused to investigate these deaths and continued to arm the GOONs with weapons and information in order to prevent AIM again gaining a foothold at Pine Ridge.

In desperation, Pine Ridge residents again appealed for AIM activists to help them defend themselves. Leonard Peltier was among the dozens of militants who responded. The traditional people, many of whom were elderly, feared for their lives. AIM provided support such as cutting fire wood, collecting water and preparing meals, as well as offering protection from attacks by GOONs. AIM activists were armed for their own protection.

On June 26, 1975, two unmarked cars chased a red truck onto the Jumping Bull ranch at Pine Ridge, the home of a number of families being defended by AIM. It later emerged that the cars were driven by FBI agents, who were supposedly chasing a person accused of the heinous crime of stealing cowboy boots. The agents opened fire on the ranch and its residents, who fired back in self defence. Within minutes, more than 150 FBI SWAT team members, Bureau of Indian Affairs police and GOONs had surrounded the ranch and a fierce, largely one-sided fire-fight erupted.

When the smoke cleared, AIM member Joe Killsright Stuntz and two FBI agents were found shot dead. Miraculously, Peltier and the other people in the camp escaped. Following the largest hunt in FBI history, three AIM activists ­ Dino Butler, Robert Robideaux and Leonard Peltier ­ were charged with the murder of the agents. However Robideaux and Butler were tried in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and the jury found them not guilty of murder because they had simply returned fire in self-defence when fired upon by unknown assailants.

Meanwhile, Peltier had escaped to Canada knowing that he would never get a fair trial in the US ­ that is if he wasn't gunned down by the FBI first. He was captured in Canada on February 6, 1976. The US government presented the Canadian court with affidavits signed by a woman claiming to be Peltier's companion, who claimed that she had seen Peltier shoot the FBI agents. This was a blatant lie. The woman had never met Peltier and she was not present at Pine Ridge during the shoot-out. She later revealed that the FBI forced her to sign the lies written for her by the FBI.

Peltier was tried before an all-white jury in North Dakota, before a hostile judge who refused to allow use of the self-defence argument. The FBI created a climate of fear around the proceedings in an attempt to convince the jurors that Peltier was a terrorist. The government withheld evidence that pointed to his innocence. This evidence was finally released from FBI files seven years later under the Freedom of Information Act.

Prosecutor Lynn Crook failed to produce a single witness who could identify Peltier as the shooter, and concealed ballistics reports that showed that Peltier's rifle could not be linked to shell casings found near the scene. Yet in his summation, Crook accused Peltier of firing the fatal bullets that killed the agents. The jury found him guilty and he was sentenced to two consecutive life terms. Seventeen years later, in November 1992, Crook admitted to the court reviewing Peltier's case, "We don't know who killed the agents".

Despite Crook's admission, and even though the appeals court found that Peltier may have been acquitted had evidence not been improperly withheld by the FBI, a new trial was denied.

In 2000, US President Bill Clinton stated that he was considering Peltier's request for clemency. However, the FBI launched a massive disinformation campaign, which included a march by more than 500 FBI agents outside the White House in December 2000. Peltier's name was not among those granted clemency by Clinton a month later.

Peltier may become eligible for parole in 2008, but it will be fought tooth and nail by the FBI and other powerful forces who want to keep this inspiring liberation fighter silent. The US authorities continue to make life difficult for Peltier and his supporters. On June 30, he was suddenly transferred from Leavenworth prison in Kansas to Terre Haute in Indiana. His lawyers were not informed and he has been kept in solitary confinement for more than month.

Yet no matter how hard they try, such repression cannot keep Peltier silent, as Harvey Arden's brilliant tribute shows.

If you'd like to know more, visit < http://www.leonardpeltier.org>, where Peltier's prison writing in book form can be purchased. Peter Matthiessen's classic In the Spirit of Crazy Horse (Penguin Books) is well worth searching out, as is the documentary Incident at Oglala, produced by Robert Redford. 

 

                                                  Go to  http://cdbaby.com/cd/harveyarden  and listen free!