On January 20, 2025, just 14 minutes before his presidential term concluded, Joe Biden commuted the life sentence of Leonard Peltier. The decision followed decades of intense advocacy for the release of an activist widely regarded as the longest-serving political prisoner in the United States. Peltier, a prominent leader in the American Indian Movement (AIM) and a symbol of indigenous resistance, spent nearly half a century incarcerated for the 1975 killing of two FBI agents during a violent encounter at the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota. A leader within the American Indian Movement (Aim) and an icon of Native American resistance, served nearly 50 years in prison for allegedly killing two FBI agents during a shootout on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, in 1975 – killings he has always denied, prosecuted in a railroaded trial widely seen as corrupt, the Indigenous activist. The two directors’ long-gestating documentary on Peltier’s fight for justice was set to premiere just a week later at the Sundance film festival with a very different ending, the octogenarian still awaiting a chance to return home to the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa reservation in North Dakota.
As the commutation announcement arrived, filmmakers David France and Jesse Short Bull were waiting outside the Florida prison alongside attorneys and supporters. Their documentaryFree Leonard Peltierpremieres on Netflix on October 12, documenting the arduous legal and social battle for his release. While the commutation allows Peltier to serve his remaining sentences under house arrest, it does not constitute a pardon. Reflecting on his long confinement, Peltier told creators via Zoom that his determination remained unshaken: “I just wasn’t going to give up.” That morning, there was “a sinking feeling that it wasn’t going to happen”, France said. When it did, while the cameras rolled, the line of supporters erupted in joy for a commutation that allowed Peltier to serve the rest of his consecutive life sentences on house arrest, though it did not pardon him – not quite justice, but a victory so uncertain and so hard-fought, over more than half a lifetime, that I have cried every time I’ve rewatched it.
The 110-minute film provides a comprehensive look at Peltier’s life and the broader history of indigenous activism in the U.S. It traces his journey from childhood, where he resisted forced separation in government-run Native boarding schools, to his later involvement with AIM in the 1960s. During that era, Peltier participated in the “trail of broken treaties” caravan to Washington, D.C., and fought against the systemic issues of police brutality and territorial encroachment facing indigenous people. Over 110 minutes, Short Bull and France retrace not only what happened that day at Pine Ridge, but the long arc of Indigenous activism in the US, from Peltier’s childhood resisting Native boarding schools, the government-run institutions used to forcibly separate Native families and force assimilation, to Aim’s occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) in 1972 and the many decades of work to free Peltier. Still, “it wasn’t until I started gaining access to the history where I started to understand that this was a bad deal.”. Introducing a new audience to the movement’s origins, in response to the crisis of boarding schools, forced evictions and the steady encroachment on tribal territory, much of the first half of the film relies on archival material and interviews with the now-elderly former members of Aim.
Much of the documentary utilizes archival footage to illustrate the tense conditions at Pine Ridge, which contained significant uranium deposits. At the time, the reservation was under the influence of a controversial tribal leadership led by Dick Wilson, supported by BIA-backed private security known as “goons.” Directors France and Short Bull emphasize that their primary goal was historical documentation rather than a crime investigation. They argue that the violence leading to the deaths of agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams, as well as AIM member Joe Stuntz, was deeply entangled with federal interests in tribal land.
The legal fight that followed Peltier’s arrest in Canada—after a period of evasion aided by Marlon Brando—was marred by numerous irregularities. The documentary details how defense efforts were consistently stifled, including a pivotal 1984 hearing where an FBI firing pin test suggested that Peltier’s rifle could not have been responsible for the deaths of the agents. Despite such evidence, his conviction remained intact. France compares Peltier’s enduring influence to Nelson Mandela, noting that he continued his political organizing from behind bars for decades.
Though now surrounded by family and friends, Peltier acknowledges that house arrest is far from total liberty. He continues to campaign for the freedom to travel and visit his supporters. The filmmakers hope the documentary serves as a reminder of his legacy and the ongoing struggles faced by indigenous communities, pointing to recent government initiatives like the border wall construction on Tohono O’odham land as evidence that these conflicts persist today.
Reflecting on the movement’s significance, Jesse Short Bull noted that he is a beneficiary of the sacrifices made by that generation. Peltier himself maintains his resolve, framing the struggle not just as a personal battle but as a defense of his people’s existence. “As long as we’re alive, as long as we’re still living as a race of people, they could never legitimately claim to be the only and true Americans,” he stated.
