COMMUNITY
Rally calls for retrial of jailed Native American
By Rene DeCair
l meraid Associate t-ditoc
A <{iii«'t crowd gathered .it the Ioderal
Building Wednesday to show support
for .i Native Ameru an man thrv sav was
vvronglv convicted of k 1111 n vi two I Hi
agents more than N sears ago
About ofi people met at noon to puh
lie l\ voir e com erns that Leonard Pettier
.1 man thev consider a political pris
oner did not receive a fair Inal lot a
shoot-out that took place on the Pine
Ridge Initial) Reservation III South Da
kola in the summer ol t'» ' .
"II reallv hurts m\ soul my spin! to
think of (in imprisonment said There
sa Hlai k ()w I a member of the l.okota
I nhe in tile Midwest free ause she said
he i anncit 'tour ti the earth
We reallv would like to see him
to e- she said adding that tier ause \u
live Americans have- alwavs been sub
|ec ted to cac ism people find It hard to
empathize vv ith their ( ause
I leel a great lac k ot support from the
Ameru an people she" said
Peltier I received an evidentinrv
hearing Uednesdav hi Bismarck \ I)
to determine whether tin- rase warrants
a new trial between speeches and
songs the c rowd sat in silenc e and lis
toned to a reading of a press release on
the trial hoping to roc eive word that lie
will lie I el I led
\t die time ol the rails however no
(Iff ision had beeu rr.n hi*<l
Peltier h«s her omc .1 symbol for N’a
live Amaru .ins ,iihI his 1 ase has gained
nun h public il\ in ns cnl visits The li’l
evasion shots tit) Minutes' ri‘i entlv
aired <1 report alrout him 'inti director
Oliver Stone is reportedlv making .1
movie .tlx ill I the i ase
Moreover I' S Sen Daniel Inouve
D Minoiu li.is become involved in the
1 use ,md is pushing to get President
(.eorge Hush to pardon Peltier on the
grounds that Peltier has served enough
prison time tor a 1 rime that it appears
lie did not c ommit
Additionally. Peltier supporters i.on
tend that his conviction was politic ,111 \
motivated because lie was part of the
-\meric an Indian Movement, which the
I HI considered to lx- a radii .tl danger
mis group at tin- time
Hut lul l.ittle ( rou a Pokota Tribe
and MM niemher. said the I' S govern
hunt wronglv labeled AIM as a govern
m<-lit sabotaging group
It has always been a spiritual move
merit lie said, but the government has
always called them militants
A Peltier supporter in the c rowd Da
v id Kuhin. said he* first heard ol the 1 ase
after taking a 1 lass on tin- I HI at the
l diversity ol ( olorado h'ubm equated
Peltier with former politii al prisoner
Nelson Mandela
He's as important a polite al prison
er Ireing held bv our gov eruuienl a - Ni l
>' \rfoi
> V 'friVcS
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■ "
Ed Lillie Cion speaks Wednesday at a rally at the Federal Building The crowd quiel
ly protested the jailing ot a Native American man they believe was convicted of a
crime he did not commit
sun Mandela ssas being held by tin*
South African government." he said
While IVltier's i ase rn.li, not be as fa
mous as Mandela’s mans at the rails
were quir k to draw comparisons
Hlai k ()s\l said a lot of ignorance ex
ists in America about the number of po
litical prisoners the country has Barba
ra Tnrrill said American people are un
aware of the plight ot Native Americans
I hi> level nt oppression tfiat has tol
lowed these people is deiiniteh si
lei n ed m the media Turn 11 said
Though the puhlii has been fairly on
supportive they see things changing
and expei t I'eltier to eventually he
treed lhe\ said
\ lot of us are real positive that he is
going to he free because our medicine
elders have said so Him h ()u I said
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Photographer sheds light
on plight of occupied Tibet
By Du:,tin Welch
f met aid Contributor
I tec Tibet" was clearly tin*
message of Wednesday night's
presentation on the country by
an outdoor adventurer .mil pho
tographei
(lolen Kmvt‘11 has boon to Ti
bo! five times and has written a
book on tbo country w Itu 11
has boon oii upied by Lhina for
mote than to years with the
Dalai Lima. Tibet's exiled spii
itual leader
Rowell's pir tines, shown to a
par keif IMI Hallrooni tap
tilted the rugged fleaut\ of the
Tibetan lands* ape tile strength
of an oppressed people and the
endangered wildlife One slide
showed the diversity of the Tt
betan scenery with a snow
tapped mountain, a rolling
green plum and mountain
stream.
Pit lures of Tibetan monaster
les high m the Himalayas and
the smile of a young hopeful
Buddhist monk were part of
Row ell s presentation
During the Ohinese occupa
tion the Dalai Luna, the spiri
tual leader of the I ibetan peo
ple and Nobel Heat e I’ri/e w in
ner, has lived in exile in India
Since the (,'hinese began ot
copying Tibet in TITI, almost
1 2 million Tibetans have died.
t> ,00 monasteries destroyed
and $ >-4 billion worth of trees
cut, Rowell suit! lie added that
nut lear testing and dumping
has taken plat e in 1'ibet during
the t dullest- ot t upatlon
Despite these injustices " the
Tibetan people have a lot of
hope am) .1 positive attitude
Rowel I it 1
Rowell said till' Chinese nut
number tin- native Tibetans In
mini' tliau a million, ami that
the Chinese have a higher stall
ilaril of living in a segregated
society lie said Chinese aims
in Tibet have been to destrov
the native i ulture and religion
In harassing Buddhist monks
preventing public prayers and
forms ot gelioi ide SUI ll as slei
ili/iug Tibetan women
Possibly Howell s most sig
nitii ant at hievement for the IT
betan i ause is his book \/i Ii
be/ I'he book emit,tins pictures
ot l ibel that are supposed to
i onvey hope lor the i ourttrv s
freedom, coupled with quotes
from the Dalai Linni I'he I>.il.ii
Lima's royalties for the book go
to the Tibet.in i ause and copies
ot the book were given to all
the members ol the ITS Senate
betore thev passed a Tibetan
aid bill
The bill, HR 14f> has vet to
be passed In Congress. Howell
said
U hen tile (lhine.se rx < upied
T ibet the Dalai Lama told Ills
people not to retaliate and to
find and work with the good m
the Chinese government
Howell quoted the Dalai
l.ania from Mv Tibet in his
speech, "If basil human nature
were aggressive, we would
have gotten animal (laws and
huge teeth • but ours are very
short very pretty and very
weak! So that means we are not
well equipped to he aggressive
beings So I think the basic
nature of the human being
should be gentle
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