Response to Incident at Oglala
Last week, we watched a documentary called Incident at Oglala, which is an examination of the murder case involving Leonard Peltier. In fact, this documentary took place on the Indian reservation of South Dakota near Wounded Knee where U.S. soldiers massacred Native Americans. Two FBI agents were killed on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation on June 6, 1975. The leader of the reservation of the American Indian Movement (AIM), Leonard Peltier, was convicted of murder in 1976. He has served over twenty-nine years in prison. However, the case involved conflicting evidence that says he was actually an innocent victim (“Quick Facts Case of Leonard Peltier”). Therefore, Peltier was actually innocent, but people treated him unjustly without finding out the truth. In my opinion, this case makes me think of the reality in our world, in which are a lot of sad stories when some people do not find out the truth because they do not look at the whole thing and stand on other people’s sides and think about others’ thoughts and feelings.
After I watched the documentary, I found out the truth of the case. As I understand it, there was a group of vigilantes named “GOONS,” who were hired by the tribal chairman Dick Wilson. Wilson wanted to rid the reservation of AIM by hiring GOONS to kill Indians. Every night, there was gunfire going on the outside of the houses of traditional people on the Pine Ridge. GOONS murdered many Native Americans, and then the Indians were terrified. There were women, children and elders, and people had to protect their families, so they asked the reservation of AIM for help and protection. Peltier and his AIM members set up a camp on the Jumping Bull ranch, which was owned by a Native American family, and they always got ready to defend against the attack from the GOONS. However, one day, there were two FBI agents driving unmarked cars and following a red truck onto the Jumping Bull ranch. The FBI later explained that the two agents were in pursuit of an AIM teenager named Jimmy Eagle who might have stolen a pair of cowboy boots. And these two agents started shooting at the car while Eagle was driving onto the AIM camp. At that time, Native Americans were terrified by GOONS, and traditional people and AIM members thought that these two FBI agents were GOONS. After they heard the gunfire, they started firing back at these two agents who were in unmarked cars. When the shoot-out ended, two FBI agents and one Native American were dead. Within a few minutes, more than one hundred fifty FBI members and the members of GOONS had surrounded the ranch. The FBI only saw two dead FBI agents, Jack Coler and Ronald Williams, but no one has ever mentioned about the dead Native American. Traditional people and members later found out that these two people were not GOONS but FBI agents. Peltier and other members fled to other states and countries because they believed that no one would treat them fairly and believe they were innocent. Later, the judge, Paul Benson, refused to allow the use of the self-defense argument and was determined to convict Peltier. After twenty-nine years, Judge Heaney stated that the FBI convicted Peltier by using improper tactics and that the FBI had the responsibility for the shoot-out (Incident at Oglala). Therefore, people finally found out the truth, and the innocent Native American, but Leonard Peltier was not free yet after twenty-nine years.
After knowing the truth about the whole case even though Peltier was not free yet, I am still glad people can finally know the truth that he was an innocent man; and I believe that Peltier will be free one day. He can finally live with his own family and meet with his friends. However, I feel sad too, because it took twenty-nine years for people to find out the truth, and Peltier spent his precious twenty-nine years in the prison. If people have found out the truth earlier, Peltier would have more time to spend with his wife, family, and friends and have a bright future, and he would not go to the prison. I understand that he was the leader of the reservation of the American Indian Movement (AIM), and people who dislike AIM will blame and hate him first. Two FBI agents were dead because of Native Americans and AIM members on the ranch, and one Native American was dead as well because of the shoot-out between agents and the Indians. However, the American people and the FBI only care about these two agents, and none of them have ever thought of the dead Native American. Peltier had been convicted the death of the two agents, but no one was convicted for the death of the Indian. I think it was not fair to the dead Indian and other Native Americans, and Indians and white people are the same because they are all humans. Also, it made no sense that people cared about the death of FBI agents more than the death of an Indian. Therefore, I think people need to think deeper about the concept of mankind, and they need to realize that every different ethnic group is the same because we are all humans.
In this world, I think a lot of people do not stand on other people’s side and think about others’ thoughts and feelings. In the case, at that time, GOONS was the group of people who were hurting and murdering Native Americans, and there were a lot of Native Americans who died because of GOONS. Then, Native Americans were terrified, and they had to protect themselves and their families. If they heard any gunfire, they will pull out their rifles and shoot back because of fear and the need for protection. In the case of Peltier, Peltier was innocent because he did not really kill these two agents. What AIM members, other Native Americans, or Peltier did was self-defense. They had no idea that these two people were FBI agents since these two agents did not show their identities and sat in the unmarked cars. Since there were gunfire and shooting every night from GOONS, and people were scared. If I was one of the men living on the ranch, and there was gunfire on the outside, I will definitely shoot back no matter who I am shooting because all I want to do is to protect my family and to survive. During the shoot-out, these two agents died, but people did not know who murdered them because everyone shot. So, I think it was no sense that Peltier was the murderer. And none of the Native Americans or AIM members was a murderer of two FBI agents because it was an accident, and none of these people wanted to shoot FBI agents on purpose. I think some ignorant people might just think about that FBI agents are good people, and people who kill agents are bad people, which is kind of foolish. Or some people might think that Native Americans are bad because they make a lot of violent issues and use rifles to kill people, while FBI agents are a group of righteous people who are protecting the community and citizens. Therefore, I think if people think deeper about what was really going on in the case and the situation, thoughts, and feelings of Native Americans, people will understand that Peltier was not a murderer.
In essence, after I watched the movie Incident at Oglala, I found out the truth that Leonard Peltier, who was convicted for the deaths of two FBI agents during a shoot-out on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in 1975 and has served twenty-nine years in jail, was actually innocent. He did not murder these two agents, and all he did was self-defense and protection for other Native Americans. And Peltier, traditional people, and other AIM members did not know that they were shooting back at the two FBI agents because two agents did not show their identities. So, I think these two agents were killed by accident, and Peltier should not go to the prison. From my point of view, people need to think deeper and stand on others’ side to understand others’ situation and feelings. Because Indians did not shoot these agents on purpose, and they just wanted to protect their families and themselves, we need to look at the whole thing instead of just one side. Also, Native Americans and FBI agents are all humans, and they are the same. The death of an agent or an Indian is important to everyone, and Peltier had to be convicted the death of two agents, then somebody else needs to be convicted the death of the Indian as well. If we want to have a peaceful world, we need to look at the whole case, and we need to learn to love every human being.
Work Cited
“Quick Facts Case of Leonard Peltier” Freeleonard. Free Leonard, n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2015.
Incident at Oglala. Dir. Michael Apted. Perf. Leonard Peltier, Norman Zigrossi, and Robert Sikma. Miramax Films, 1992. Film
