BELCOURT, N.D. - It’s been six months since Leonard Peltier walked out of prison, and the first family reunion he could attend in 50 years went on without him over the weekend.
Relatives expected him, and said they were disappointed the 80-year-old patriarch didn’t show. Instead, Peltier nostalgically cruised the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation, telling stories about pretty girls and fast cars. He got takeout chicken, watched CNN and called Willie Nelson’s ex-wife to catch up.
A few miles down the road, relatives from across the country shared a potluck and played games. Peltier drove past the gathering and didn’t stop. Family called him on speaker phone and delivered him plates of food.
Leonard Peltier heads home with the help of caregiver Misty Vallie in Belcourt, N.D. He has 24-hour home health aides to cook, check his blood sugar, give him medication, make meals and drive him around because he's partly blind. (Richard Tsong-Taatarii/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
The American Indian Movement (AIM) activist said he didn’t attend “for personal reasons.” Accusations of theft have caused a rift between him and a sibling. Peltier is also in pain from a recent fall at home and needs a walker again after regaining enough strength to ditch his cane.
He is aging, partly blind and navigating a completely different world than the late 1970s, when he received consecutive life sentences for the killings of two FBI agents. Like in prison, he is learning who to trust. Out of prison, he sees people didn’t forget him like he feared. In fact, there’s a premium on his name, image and likeness. People want to write books, make documentaries, have him appear at events.
Peltier continues his activism, as much an octogenarian can. He wants to rename AIM to the American Indigenous Movement, and said his biggest concern in Indian Country is an epidemic of overdoses and addiction exploited by drug traffickers.
“Everybody thinks because I’m out, I’m going to be the savior and know how to stop all that stuff,” he said. “There’s only one way I can think of, and I don’t want to be a serial killer. No, I don’t want to be a killer period.”