This is the same man who said - "the way to stop AIM is to put a bullet through their head".
This decision is from a state that historically practiced a program of polarization and racism toward Native People. A place where the native people still own the Black Hills yet, are forcibly denied access to their own land; a place where previously the cries of a young native girl went unheard by South Dakota officials, when she cried rape by Janklow; where her death by a supposedly unknown hit and run driver was quickly forgotten; a state where Janklow, as Attorney General called in a riot squad to beat and eject all court room observers who would not "stand" for the judge.
I could go on and on but alas, it took the death of one white man to make a difference, or for someone to care.
I heard Janklow cried on the stand.
I truly wonder where his remorse started. Was it for his behavior or was it because he got caught? It will be interesting to see what his sentence will be. I suppose he’ll get a fine that he won’t have much trouble paying; a suspended sentence, maybe lose his driving privilege for a time, and get a couple years probation. I wish somehow someone could read the statements he made to Bill Clinton about my clemency back to the judge, substituting his name for mine. Oh well, I guess that level of poetic justice won’t come around for a while.
It’s interesting how our people keep telling America truths. They only seem to understand in hindsight. The words of Sitting Bull, Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce, Chief Seattle and others about law, justice, or the environment. They seem only to be understood by the next generation as a footnote in some wannabe’s book on Native Americans.
I could revel in the conviction of Janklow, however, it does not change the terrible negative statistics that face my people daily. I seriously doubt he’ll miss a meal or look in the faces of children on the reservation or other areas of Indian country where the people have been taught to celebrate Christmas and yet receive nothing but despair. I sincerely wish they would sentence him in the same way they would sentence an Indian found guilty of the same offense. That could impress me.
In this world of religious flag waving you hear it said "you reap what you sow," "everything that goes around comes around," and "there’s karma to pay," etc. If any of this is true, America has a terrible day of reckoning coming for it’s mistreatment of my people and the earth. I truly believe and know if this country falls apart, and it will, economically, technologically, governmentally, and worst of all, environmentally.
Native people will be the only ones who are better off. We still love the Earth and the Earth Mother loves us. If you don’t believe it, just look for yourself.
They (America) always pushed us off our land and took the best for themselves. Once there, again we began to thrive. Then they wanted that. The land we were pushed onto became worse and worse. Yet still the earth provided for us. In the most arid places, where nothing grew, oil or some other valuable mineral was discovered. And of course, they soon came after that.
On their money it says "in God we trust." It should say "in this God we trust."
Forgive my ramblings. Sometimes I have too much time to think. Heavy on the word "time." Back to Janklow - it’s good that his conviction gives hope of some level of parody. But, he’s not worth dwelling on. He is not the main problem, only a symptom of the problem. We have battles to win for our children, our children’s children, and all our future generations. The words I have spoken, to quote a well known spiritual leader, Phillip Deer, aren’t prophecy but ancient knowledge.
Your brother in the Spirit of Crazy Horse,
Leonard Peltier
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