The Leonard Peltier International Tribunal: US Government on Trial

MINNEAPOLIS – A group of American Indian leaders are hosting "The Leonard Peltier International Tribunal" during the first week of October on the Oneida Nation Reservation in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Leonard Peltier International Tribunal
October 2 - 4

 

"We have an oral tradition. In this way, the stories about our 500 years of oppression have been passed down through the generations. Now, we have the means to record that history and share it with the world. The Leonard Peltier International Tribunal on the Abuse of Indigenous Human Rights will tell our stories with a focus on the last 40 years," said Dorothy Ninham, founder and director of Wind Chases the Sun, one of the organizations involved with the planning of the event.

Besides Ninham, other American Indian leaders involve include:

Clyde Bellecourt, Ojibwa, a member of the American Indian Movement Grand Governing Council;

 Dennis Banks, Ojibwe, a co-founder of the American Indian Movement and

 Bill Means of the American Indian Movement.

The purpose of the historic, public tribunal is to digitally document first-hand witness accounts of 40 years of malfeasance in Indian country, and the continuing struggles of Indigenous Peoples.

“This is a major plus for us because it is being hosted at the Oneida Tribe,”

said Dennis Banks, who will be one of the moderators of the tribunal.

“I think the fact that a tribe would be part of this is huge.”

Issues will include but are not limited to fishing rights, the sterilization of Indigenous women, extreme poverty, theft of tribes' natural resources, environmental issues and their impact on Indian reservations, the horrific rate of suicides among Native children, and the wrongful conviction of Leonard Peltier.

Organizers of the tribunal plan to analyze and discuss events that led up to the June 26, 1975, incident at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota and the effects on survivors of the 1970s.

All Indigenous Peoples are invited to attend. Tribes are encouraged to send a delegation of tribal elders to participate.

WHAT:
The Leonard Peltier International Tribunal on the Abuse of Indigenous Human Rights
WHEN:
October 2 - 4
WHERE:
Radisson Hotel & Conference Center
2040 Airport Drive
Green Bay, Wisconsin 54313