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AMY GOODMAN: While we were there, I also had a chance to talk to one of Leonard Peltier’s daughters, who was just a toddler when Leonard Peltier was jailed in 1976.
MARQUETTA SHIELDS–PELTIER: My name is Marquetta Shields-Peltier. I’m the daughter of Leonard Peltier. I’m 52 years old. And I’m standing outside my dad’s house. After 49 years of imprisonment, my dad is finally free, and I’m home with him.
AMY GOODMAN: So, you live in Lawrence. You have for decades. Lawrence is not that far from Leavenworth, where he was held for many, many years before moving on to Coleman in Florida. What are your earliest memories of your dad?
MARQUETTA SHIELDS–PELTIER: My earliest memory of me and my dad was actually in Marion, Illinois, when he was there, before it was supermax. I was there with my grandmother, Hazel, and my little brother, Waha. And I remember sitting beside my grandma, waiting for my dad to come out those doors for the first time ever. And I remember asking my grandma, I said, “Do you think my dad’s gonna like me?” And she’s like, “Yeah, he’s gonna love you.” And I said, “Is it OK if I hug my dad?” You know? And she was like, “Yeah, of course. Go hug him.” And she kind of pushed me in that door, towards the door. And when it opened and he came out, he just smiled, and I ran to him. And I just remember him hugging me, and I was like, “That’s my dad. That’s my dad,” you know, because I hadn’t — I don’t have any memories prior to that. They said we lived together in Oregon, but I don’t remember that. They said we saw him in Canada when he — before they extradited him, but I don’t remember that.
AMY GOODMAN: How old were you when you saw him in Marion?
MARQUETTA SHIELDS–PELTIER: I think I was around 7 or 8 years old, yeah.
AMY GOODMAN: So, what was it like through those years? I mean, it’s the only thing you knew, but to visit him only behind bars?
MARQUETTA SHIELDS–PELTIER: When I was young, it was really confusing. It was hard to understand why, you know, because he kind of protected me, probably because I was so young and I didn’t understand what was going on. But it was bittersweet, because I loved going there. And, like, for me, that was normal, you know, to see my dad there. Even though there’s dads around me with my other friends and stuff, I just — for me, that was normal.
But as I got older and started to understand what was going on, why he was there, I started to resent it, you know, because every time 3:00 came around, I hated it, because I knew I was going to have to leave my dad, and I wouldn’t see him again, especially that last day of the visit. We would usually spend about a week. And that last day of visits, I would just, like, “Man, I’m not going to see my dad again for six, seven months,” you know? And then, as I got older, it was just like, “Oh my god, what if I don’t get to see him again next time?”
You know, so, eventually I packed up my kids and moved to Kansas so I could be closer to him. And then that worked out for about three years. And then, from there, they moved him again across the country. So, yeah, we didn’t get to have the relationship I thought we would during that time, just because he was way over in Pennsylvania, then Florida, and I was stuck in Kansas.
AMY GOODMAN: And what was your understanding from early on, and did it change, of why he was behind bars?
MARQUETTA SHIELDS–PELTIER: Yeah, I just — like, I knew things had happened that were, you know, not — I’ve always been told and taught that my dad was there because he wanted better for me as his daughter, as a Native person. He wanted people to respect me, not only as his daughter, but just as a Native person, you know, to understand that we are not property or we are not animals or savages, that we are human beings, just like everybody else.
And as I got older and started understanding his case and what was, you know, the details of it, then it went from, you know, resenting — I never resented my dad, but I resented the government, and I resented — you know, but it went from not knowing the extent of it to knowing the full extent of it and just being proud of — like, even though I prayed for him to get out all the time, I knew what he stood for, and I was proud. And I had to, you know, keep fighting for him, because I knew that someday, someday, he would get out, you know? And he did. He did, which is unbelievable to me still.
AMY GOODMAN: When did you hear that Biden had commuted his sentence and sentenced him to home confinement?
MARQUETTA SHIELDS–PELTIER: I don’t remember the date exactly, but it was sometime at the end of January. It was just crazy, because I was planning on leaving. I was going to leave the country and just disappear, because I — after his parole was denied in June of ’24 — I think it was ’24 — I basically thought my dad was going to die there. So I had given up on everything, and I was getting ready to disappear into Canada and just disappear.
But I was sleeping on my mom’s couch that morning, and I heard the phone ring. And then I heard my mom, and she said, “What?” And I thought the worst, of course, that they called to tell me my dad was dead. And then my cousin was crying, and she said, “Marquetta, I’m so happy.” So I was like, “What are you talking about?” She’s like, “Your dad’s getting out of prison.” I was like, you know, like — I cussed in my mom’s house. And I usually — unless I’m joking with her. I just was like, “You’re lying. You’re lying to me. You’re lying to me. My dad’s” — She’s like, “They’re — Joe Biden” — and, you know, this, that and the other. And I just — I couldn’t — I didn’t know what to do. I just — I froze. And I still can’t remember if I called my nephew or if I called my brother, who I called, but I called somebody, and I asked them. I was like, “Is it true? My dad’s getting out of prison?” And they’re like, “Yeah.”
I’m so thankful to millions of people for the last 49 years of my life that helped pray for him, that helped write letters, that helped make phone calls, that sent signed petitions. You know, that’s all those people in it and to help bring my dad home.
But the thing of it is, is people don’t understand that, you know, when my dad went to prison, so did we. You know, we were out here free, but we weren’t free. We were out here struggling when he was in there struggling. And I was blessed enough to have people like my grandmother and my mom to show me that, you know what, it’s going to be OK. It’s going to be OK.
AMY GOODMAN: Leonard Peltier means so much to so many people around the world. Talk about what he means, not just to you as his daughter, but to you as an Indigenous woman.
MARQUETTA SHIELDS–PELTIER: Oh, man, my dad, I told him this before. He’s my hero. He’s the definition of what a warrior should be, you know, to be able to stand strong and still come out of that prison smiling, to be able to set an example. And, like, I look up to my dad, because I don’t know very many people that could go through the stuff he’s been through and still have a smile on his face. And it makes me proud to call him my dad. You know, that’s my dad.
AMY GOODMAN: Marquetta Shields-Peltier, the daughter of Leonard Peltier, speaking in September at Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota, where Leonard has been living since being released from prison in February.
And that does it for today’s show. To see all of Democracy Now!‘s coverage of Leonard Peltier and our interview with him over the years behind bars, you can go to democracynow.org. Special thanks to Denis Moynihan, Charina Nadura, Sam Alcoff and Zazu, the newshound.Democracy Now! is produced with Mike Burke, Renée Feltz, Deena Guzder, Messiah Rhodes, Nermeen Shaikh, María Taracena, Nicole Salazar, Sara Nasser, Charina Nadura, Sam Alcoff, Tey-Marie Astudillo, John Hamilton, Robby Karran, Hany Massoud and Safwat Nazzal. Our executive director is Julie Crosby. Special thanks to Becca Staley, Jon Randolph, Paul Powell, Mike Di Filippo, Miguel Nogueira, Hugh Gran, Carl Marxer, David Prude, Dennis McCormick, Matt Ealy, Anna Özbek, Emily Andersen, Dante Torrieri and Buffy Saint Marie Hernandez. I’m Amy Goodman. Thanks so much for joining us.
