The Pine Ridge Reservation, Leonard Peltier, and Rage Against the Machine

Most people probably already know about this issue, at least I would hope, but maybe not. It is not a new issue, as it has been an issue since 1970s, and long before that; however, it is an important issue, in my opinion.

In 1975, two FBI agents were killed on the Oglala Lakota Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. This area and its surroundings were the sites of many important events in recent Native American History. For instance, this is the site of the Black Hills, the battle popularly known as “Custer’s Last Stand,” the Wounded Knee Massacre, and the more recent Pine Ridge Shootout.

Of course, like much of the interactions between Native Americans and Europeans, the Black Hills were considered off limits to European settlement through a treaty agreement between the United States and the Natives in the region; however, once gold was found in the area, the United States broke the agreement. In typical fashion, the United States initially tried to buy the land, but when the Native Sioux refused the offer based on the fact that they considered the land sacred, the U.S. decided to use military force as they declared the Sioux hostile. This is what eventually lead to Custer’s defeat by the native chiefs Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. But, this would not be enough to stop the U.S. from selling and encroaching upon the Black Hills. And despite the fact that the U.S. now controls much of the former Native lands in the region, the Natives there still consider it their land.

Naturally, fights have ensued since that time. One such event was the Wounded Knee Massacre, which most people probably know. Another was the Wounded Knee incident, wherein a group of Oglala Lakota and American Indian Movement activists occupied Wounded Knee in protest of a corrupt Tribal President. The U.S. got involved however and the event turned into a 71 day standoff with FBI agents and members of the United States Department of Justice. Two Native men were killed and one U.S. marshal was wounded.

A few years after that incident came the Pine Ridge Shootout, where two FBI agents entered the reservation in search of a native American man they were investigating. The specifics here are fuzzy, as I’ve heard and read on different occasions that both sides started the shootout, but regardless, what is known is that both the FBI agents were killed. One other person was killed as well, and he was an activist of the American Indian Movement. This event led to a manhunt which resulted in the capture, prosecution, and incarceration of Leonard Peltier, which is a topic of much debate and protest, as there has been doubts concerning his trial and seemingly more evidence of his innocence than his guiltiness. However, he remains in jail, and as of now will not have another parole hearing until 2024 and is not set to be released until 2040.

In relation to this, I would like to share a song from one of my childhood favorites, Rage Against the Machine. The music video recounts the incident of the Pine Ridge Shootout as well as Leonard Peltier’s unfair incarceration. Because of this, I believe that it can be looked at as a form of Rhetorical Sovereignty, as it is the artistic expression of a young native American man writing about a native event and issue, undoubtedly in the hope that it will balance out or at least combat the propaganda of the system, which has wrongly accused and incarcerated a native American activist of the American Indian Movement.