[00:00:02] HeyMud podcast presents welcome to Heart of the Earth. This is a program about Native Americans and other indigenous cultures. My name is agnes. More than 30 lawmakers press Biden to have free Activist Leonard Peltier after Clement C. Blitz Representative Paul Excuse me Gihalva, Democrat of Arizona, ranking member of the House of Natural Resources Committee, and Senator Brian Schultz, a Democrat of Hawaii, chair of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, led 33 members of Congress last Friday in a letter calling on President Biden to pardon Leonard Peltier, a Native American activist controversially convicted of murdering two FBI agents. The letter cites Peltier's age and health concerns, as well as the U.S. parole Commission's denial of his application in July, which likely marked his last chance at parole. In addition to 33 current senators and representatives, it is signed by former Senator Patrick Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont.
[00:01:13] Quote, these recent denials mean only you have the unique ability to grant him clemency and rectify this grave injustice that has long troubled human rights advocates and Native peoples across the globe, the group wrote. Peltier was involved in the American Indian movement in the 1970s, which led him to travel to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota amid tensions between the tribal chairman and traditionalist faction of the Lakota nation. Agents Ronald Arthur Williams and Jack Ross Kohler were killed in a shootout on the reservation, and Peltier was convicted and given two life sentences in 1977. The trial has long been criticized as unfair by Peltier's advocates, citing the fact that a key witness for the prosecution later recanted, as well as two other men who were charged in the murders but later acquitted based on evidence that was not allowed in Peltier's trial.
[00:02:05] Pope Francis, the late Nelson Mandela and James Reynolds, a prosecutor in the case, have all lobbied for clemency or a pardon. The FBI has consistently, inademately opposed clemency or release for Peltier without going Director Christopher Way calling him, quote, a remorseless killer. Schultz previously called for Biden to grant Peltier clemency on the Senate floor earlier this month. And Friday's letter comes in the wake of the president's pardoning or commuting the sentences of more than 1,500 people amid pressure following a controversial pardon of his son, Hunter, on federal tax and gun crimes. All of the 39 pardon recipients were previously convicted of nonviolent offenses. The group of lawmakers also appealed to Biden's record on Native American issues, which includes the appointment of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, who hailed him as the best president on Native issues of her lifetime in an event on Monday. At the same event, Biden designated a national monument at the former site of the Carlisle Industrial School, the first of several boarding schools where Native American children were taken in attempt to forcefully assimilate them into the American culture.
[00:03:20] Yes, here's another story. The national association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the nacdl, in partnership with Indigenous leaders, sent a letter to President Joe Biden on Monday, December 16, urging him to grant clemency to Leonard Peltier. Peltier, 80, who has spent nearly five decades in prison for crimes related to his involvement in the American Indian movement. The NACDL president, Christopher A. Welborn, penned the letter on the association's behalf, explaining that Peltier's case is a, quote, stark example of systematic racism and injustice within the criminal legal system. Quote. Mr. Peltier's conviction has been widely criticized as flawed and unjust. Despite the government's admission that it could not definitely prove his guilt, he remains incarcerated. This prolonged imprisonment, particularly for an elderly man in declining health, is a profound injustice. He writes, quote, I implore you to act with courage and compassion and release Leonard Peltier. His freedom will be a beacon of hope for countless others who have suffered injustice.
[00:04:26] NDN Collective has been a proponent in advocating for Peltier's release, with Holly Cook Marcro, who leads government affairs for the NDA Collective, speaking out against what she calls an historical rom. Quote. The injustice of Leonard Peltier's long incarceration has inspired many voices to step forward and call for his release. President Biden has the opportunity to cement his historic legacy in Indian country as our greatest president and Write an historical ROM by granting clemency to Mr. Peltier.
[00:05:01] This is the story that just really moved me because it was during the opening general session of the annual National Congress of American Indians, the NCAI and late October that NCAI President Mark Marcaro, chairman of the Pechanga Band of Indians, shared the story of being among several prominent Native Americans invited to fly on Air Force One with President Joe Biden as he traveled to Phoenix to issue an apology for the US Government's role in federal Indian boarding schools. In late October, Makaro recounted receiving a call from Rose Petoskey from the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Director of Indian affairs and Senior Advisor to the White House Office of Intergovernmental affairs, who asked if he would fly to Washington, D.C. and meet at Joint Base Andrews to travel aboard Air Force One with the president to attend a presidential event at the Gila River Indian Community. He explained that he did not know in advance what the important announcement by President Biden would be. McCaro said he did not learn the details of the event until more than an hour into the flight. It would be an historic presidential event.
[00:06:16] A while into the trip, President Biden joined the group in Air Force One's boardroom. Each leader was told they would have five minutes to discuss any topic they wished with the president. Marcaro quickly considered what he wanted to discuss. He thought about raising the topic of the Dodgers or perhaps the accomplishment of the Biden Harris administration in Indian country, including the important nomination of Deb Haaland of the Laguna Pueblo as Secretary of the Interior. Ultimately, Macaro decided to raise the issue of clemency for Leonard Peltier from the Turtle Mountain Ojibwe, a member of the American Indian Movement who was serving two consecutive life sentences for his conviction in the 1975 killing of two FBI agents, Jack Colter and Ronald Williams, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Imprisoned for nearly a half a century, Peltier is currently incarcerated at the United States penitentiary in Coleman, Florida, a high security facility. Quote, Mr. President, we are flying to Phoenix where you will apologize on behalf of the government for its role in Indian boarding schools. Makaro began. You need to know that There is an 80 year old named Leonard Peltier, one of the oldest surviving Indian boarding school survivors who is in prison. He attended the Wahpeton Indian School in North Dakota. Marco told the President. Marco commented that he did not think the president was aware of this. Quote, it was new information for him. McCarro said. I then told him that Peltier served five decades in federal prison for a crime that the government has admitted it could not prove. Yes, a lot of people don't know that Leonard Peltier spent a lot of time in a boarding school.
[00:08:03] But to continue, Macaro also informed the President that Peltier is in poor health and uses a walker to get around the ncai. President told the President of the United States that members of Congress, both current and former, have called for Peltier's release. Macaro explained that the biggest opposition to Peltier's release comes from the FBI. He told Biden that the FBI director would present him with evidence that has already been proven false. Marcaro explained that the FBI wants someone to pay for the loss of their two agents and Peltier is that person. Marcaro added that even the federal prosecutor who argued Peltier's case admitted the government's case against him was flawed. After listening, President Biden paused and then asked McCarro if Peltier had been convicted by a jury.
[00:08:53] Yes, Mr. President, he was. And let me tell you, that trial was a miscarriage of justice. There was prosecutorial misconduct and exculpatory evidence that was not allowed to be presented, evidence that would have exonerated Leonard, McCaro explained. He also told the President that One of the 12 jurors had admitted during jury questioning that she hated Indians, yet she was allowed to stay on the jury and it was that jury that convicted him. McCarro later told Native News Online that President Biden was non committal about any action he would take on behalf of Peltier, but thanked Makaro for bringing up the case.
[00:09:33] This past week, Senator Brian Schultz, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian affairs, spoke on the Senate floor and called on President Biden to release Peltier. Biden, known for his human compassion as a loving father, pardoned his son Hunter Biden, citing the improper prosecution of his son because of his family's political standing. I have written this is from Levi Rickett. I have written several opinion pieces in the past calling for Leonard Peltier's release. I've also written that I believe the Biden Harris Administration has been the most beneficial presidential administration for Indian Country. President Joe Biden can seal his legacy with Indian country by granting clemency to Leonard Peltier, a man who uses a walker to get around and deserves to be near his family in the sunset of his life.
[00:10:25] I'm going to share another story with you and this is yes, About President Biden to tribal leaders. We don't want to erase history. On Monday afternoon, President Joe Biden received a standing ovation from tribal leaders at the 2024 White House Tribal Nations Summit in Washington, D.C. as part of the welcome, he is presented with the Native Blanket by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland of the Laguna Pueblo and Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Brian Newland of Bay Mills Indian Community. The blanket was presented to the President in recognition of the unprecedented attention the Biden Harris Administration gave to Indian country over the past four years. This included advocating more than $45 million to Native communities and nominating Haaland as Secretary of the Interior. Upon her Senate confirmation, Haaland made history as the first Native American to serve in a Presidential Cabinet position. President Biden humorously remarked that the blanket crafted by 8th generation would have been a fitting addition to last week's White House National Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony. Quote I could have used that blanket when I was lighting that Christmas tree. Biden said. Both of us were freezing. Well, Monday. It was last Monday. Monday's summit was the fourth and last of the Biden Harris administration. The President will leave office on January 20th of 2025. Typically at the summits, a major announcement relating to Indian country is made. This year's announcement came with a proclamation that designated the Carlisle Federal Indian Boarding School a national monument. About 7,800 children from more than 140 tribes were sent to Carlisle, stolen from their families, their tribes and their homelands. He was wrong making the Carlisle Indian School a national model. Biden told the White House summit, we don't erase history. We acknowledge it, we learn from it and we remember so we never repeat it again.
[00:12:23] The proclamation fulfills another recommendation made in the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative Investigative Report, Volume two, which was released this past summer. Monday's action builds on Biden's historical presidential apology at Gila Indian Community and the leadership of Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland to establish and lead research and listening sessions with tribes and native communities across the country as part of the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative. The President stressed the importance of the monument will serve as a reminder of the horrific part of American history where Native Americans were taken from their homes and placed into Indian boarding schools. Many of the students were subjected to physical, emotional and sexual abuse. Quote, I don't want people forgetting 10, 20, 30, 50 years from now pretending it didn't happen, the president said of the president effort to westernize Native Americans. The children sent to the repurposed Carlisle, Pennsylvania army barracks were, quote, stolen from their families, their tribes and their homelands. Biden said it was wrong. He declared, we don't erase history. We acknowledge it, we learn from it and we remember so we never repeat it again. Biden said, we remember so we can heal. That's the purpose of memory.
[00:13:47] KMUD is a community radio station in the Redwood region of Northern California. Donate to support people powered
[email protected] I'm going to share this with you. This is from Cheyenna Marie Sage and she says, as a young Cree child I remember hearing all sorts of atrocities spewed against my people. Natives are dirty, you're all alcoholics or all you do is collect checks from the government. It was hard not to internalize the colonial rhetoric placed on me, especially when it was so starkly contrast the pride that I was taught to foster around my identity and the insults were specific. They indicated inferiority.
[00:14:36] They were better and I was lesser than There was a time when I wanted to hide who I was because I was scared of what people would say to me, even though when I went home I was proudly smudging and listening to powwow music. During my freshman year of college, we discussed Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness and how literature was, and still is, often a means of perpetuating Eurocentric rhetoric. When I confronted all the ways that a white man visiting the Congo had asserted his own viewpoint on a culture so vastly different from his own and deemed it inferior and savage, it rang painfully familiar. This narrative that land should be scrutinized, abused and stolen because it belongs to people of color has always been so pervasive. It's part of how colonialism is perpetuated. Today, so much of my work are attempts to decolonization. What happens when you attempt to loosen the whites of grip on a community?
[00:15:34] Many nations across Turtle island have been contemplating how to do this, and one area that is gaining more traction is Indigenous centered tourism, embracing a decolonized way of experiencing new places sustainably in the US and Canada and many other countries globally. Colonization involved European settlers not only violently seizing lands and resources, but also many forms of, quote, ethnic cleansing in an attempt to eradicate the Native population. This erased whole communities, languages and cultures all because these Europeans viewed the indigenous people and ways of life as inferior to their own. I experienced this firsthand, says Gianna Marie Sage. For years my people have been practicing our culture in secret as it was outlawed for decades for us to engage in potlatches, perform ceremonies or speak our languages. And so we continue to galvanize for justice and change. In 2007, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was launched and supported by Canada's government.
[00:16:45] It aims to take accountability and mitigate the harm enacted upon Indigenous people from these laws and the residential school system and 60 scoops. Undoing colonial infrastructure within our tribes and communities means, among other things, putting energy and resources toward Indigenous resurgence. And it's working Indigenous communities are beginning to thrive when it came to language revitalization, obtaining self governance and repairing oral generational teaching traditions that were severed when Indigenous people were ripped away from their families and communities.
[00:17:23] The refusal to be silenced is a testament to the strength in culture and community. But what does it look like to have Indigenous communities who are inherently decolonial and exist on a continent that is now colonial in its construct and infrastructure? The reality is that we live in a predominantly capitalistic society and that isn't changing anytime soon. Each community needs capital in order to provide for its members and disrupting the system looks different for each tribe because of the resources available within our land. But when it comes to reclaiming the narrative of the land, offering non natives a chance to learn our history is crucial. The Hua Lapai tribe, for example, operates and owns a section of the Grand Canyon national park called the Grand Canyon West. It exists independently so tourists can experience the Grand Canyon in a way that is uniquely infused with Indigenous knowledge and histories of the area. Among these experiences is a Colorado where you can traverse the rapids with Indian water experts, learning about historical landmarks of the Hualapai history along the way. These types of excursions are the intersection of where decolonial histories and peoples meet with the colonial world in order to protect, preserve and provide for their tribe. It also provides a space for more ethnical tourism. There is no way better to experience a place and through the original inhabitants of that land. And then by supporting their offerings, you support the local communities which they are then able to reinvest in language revitalization programs, youth programming, and their sovereign governments, thus contributing to the continued decolonization.
[00:19:14] And in case you don't know, the Yurok Tribe has, you know, in the summertime tours on a boat down the Klamath River. Just go to their website and you can find out more about it. If you so inclined to want to get on a boat and hear a Yurok tell the history of one of our local nations to continue, another example of this intersection can be found in Indigenous art exhibits. The Catawba Nation in Southern Carolina has long held traditional practices of creating art from the clay that they dig from the same mud hole they have been tending to for generations. At the Catawba Cultural center, you can shop for these traditional art pieces. Investing in their art not only supports artists, but also allows for the cultural center to offer cultural classes for youth or any community member to learn these traditional art techniques. Maintaining these significant cultural traditions is essential when thinking about preserving decolonial practices within different tribes. Will it ever be possible for tribal nations to be completely severed from colonialism? If capitalism is the backbone for currency, probably not. So it might be time to shift capitalistic practices to actually help Indigenous communities preserve traditional decolonized ways of life.
[00:20:39] I want to share this story with you because, you know, after decades of, quote, staying within the lines of what was considered traditional Native art, Indigenous artists are increasingly moving into the contemporary art space. And whether creating fine art, photography, performing public space exhibits, or cutting edge shows, these Native artists are delving into diverse crafts, following their own Muses. And they just had a Native fashion show up in Vancouver, British Columbia. And there was one artist, this young woman. Oh my gosh, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. And I said, yeah, she definitely falls into that category. And her name, I can't remember her name right off my right now, but just incredible. But, you know, I'm a photographer and so, you know, I'm really aware of all the Native photographers, and this is one that I just love. Her name is Akara or Cara Romero. Envisioning the Native world through a lens Cara Romero was long fascinated by life and the world as seen through a lens. Quote Growing up in the Chemehueva Indian Reservation, I think I was always the person who was interested in the family archive of photos, the shoebox of photos, the scrapbooks, she said.
[00:21:57] She said I was always the person who had disposable cameras.
[00:22:02] Romero split her childhood years between the Chemehue lands on the California side of the Colorado River Valley and Houston, where she realized how little the average person knew about Indian country. But while pursuing a degree in cultural anthropology at the University of Houston, Romero discovered her love of imagery. Quote I took darkroom photography as an elective, and I had one of those instructors who changed my life, she said. Bill Thompson was focused on content, narrative and storytelling, elements that Romero possessed in abundance. Quote I understood really early on the power of the medium, and it was just kind of love at first experience, she said. I never wanted to do anything else. Armed with a variety of specialized visual tools gleaned from university programs, Romero began telling contemporary stories of Native people. It just seemed like everything began to coalesce as a more mature Temuvahai woman and I became a mom. The experience of giving birth to a new life. She has three kids with her husband, Diego Romero, a potter from Cociti Pueblo, led to a life to a key life choice I got sober. She described the move as a commitment to always make art as well as part of a healthy life, part a healthy life and spirituality.
[00:23:28] That also began Romero's current journey toward staged imaginative photographs. Quote I wasn't able to travel and being beholden as a mom, I couldn't disappear to the dark room, romero said. But her visual illustrations, using friends and family as models, have struck a chord in audiences. Quote it was like the universe just saying, you're absolutely moving in the right direction, she said. She has created a visual series that opens a digital window into Indigenous lives and life waves. Quote First American Girl recast the popular line of dolls in Indigenous futurism Romero examines the role of Native people come play in influencing the earth's future. In the Portrait Last Indian Market, Romero evokes the majesty of Da Vinci's the Last Supper to bring together some of Indian country's acclaimed artists. Along with one of her most iconic charact, Buffalo Man, Romero is among the few Native people who have opened and operated a high end art gallery. Quote As a Native gallery owner and somebody that has a space to share, I think it's just going to come across as a beautiful telling of stories from within our culture, she said. And I have to say I just, you know, her imagery is just incredible and I want to share with you Anna Tokalaris Instilling Peaks into Native America Native American artist Anna Tolarsky aspired to push the boundaries of ways of making. She, who's an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, was raised by a single father, Navajo silversmith Navik Solarqis. She's also related to the Muscogee, Creek and Greek peoples. Quote he pushed the boundaries a bit and made work that was not necessary seen as traditional but his gorgeous work from gold, silver, turquoise and semi precious gems, she said. I took his scrap wood when he was a contractor during the day and making sculptures out of those. But she never thought of herself as an artist until college, where art history classes showed her that Native art, like African American and Latin American art, incorporated new media and new materials. In the late 1990s, she grew interested in video, installation and performance arts. At the time, few Native artists were engaged in these art forms, she said. But I wanted to be one of those Native artists that's helping push the boundaries of ways of making.
[00:26:06] She was also pushing against the idea of the beauty, precision and perfection her dad art exemplified. Quote that's why I don't try to necessarily make things that are perfect, you know, and precise, she said. But she has continued to hold Navajo beliefs and ways of seeing the world close to her. Quote the Native way of being and seeing the world is integral, she said. And although her work, which includes huge text pieces, multimedia sculptures, video and performance pieces, may appear different from traditional Navajo motifs, she said her artistic foundation is based on Navajo teachings experiences. She said her work speaks to both Native and non Native viewers. It creates a real connection for Native people who read the text pieces and are like wow, I know that. And although some of her work relates to how Native people interact with each other, at least one exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery took a more somber note. Portrait of an Indian Woman Removed Commemorated Murdered and Missing Women and girls. And like other artists, she balances her work as an artist and assistant professor of art practices at the University of Colorado, Boulder with presenting her own by parenting her own three kids, ages 10, 12 and 14. Quote for me, it's really important that I'm an artist and a professor and a mother because it seems so rare, she said. I feel like a lot of people, especially young women, feel like they can't necessarily have kids and be successful. And not true.
[00:27:48] I have time for one more Joe Baker Restoring Art to His ancestors home Joe Baker was called back to his ancestors land, a land where he wasn't born. Baker, a member of the Delaware Tribe of Indians, one of three Lenape tribes in the US Was born in Oklahoma, a half a continent away from Lepe Hoking. The traditional lands of the Lenape, or people, encompassed modern day New York City and much of southern New York State, eastern Pennsylvania, a sliver of the Delaware river, and the entire state of New Jersey. It wasn't like I didn't set out to be an artist per se, he said. It just seemed to be a natural expression for me, a journey. Art also helped him through the sometimes difficult situation of growing up in a tribal community in Oklahoma. Some of those difficulties were depicted in a recent exhibition of his paintings at the Isle Wide Art School in California, where, among other painful incidents, he was left behind in freezing weather miles from his home by his brother in a malicious prank. And after serving in the US Air Force and obtaining two university degrees, Baker embarked on a career as a painter, curator and educator. He's known for organizing exhibits that beat down the walls of what many consider to be Native art, mixing artists like Tolarskay, Kent Mokman, Fausto Fernandez and Steve Yahtzee.
[00:29:12] This has been a KMUT podcast to listen to other shows and more episodes of this show. Find us on all the platforms where you get your podcast and also on our website, kmud.org.
