FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 15, 2025
Belcourt, ND – To welcome Leonard Peltier back to his homelands after 49 years of wrongful incarceration, NDN Collective will host a celebratory event and community feed at the Sky Dancer Event Center in Belcourt, North Dakota on Wednesday, February 19, 2025 at 12pm CST. The event will also be live-streamed on NDN Collective’s Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn accounts.
Peltier was granted executive clemency and had the remainder of his sentence commuted by President Biden on January 20th of this year. He will be released from prison the day before the event.
NDN Collective and partners built upon five decades of advocacy and played a significant role in securing Peltier’s release. The organization and community leaders have been overseeing the process of bringing Peltier home to the Turtle Mountain community. This Welcome Home event will provide an opportunity for Peltier to reconnect with his home community and adjust back into life among his people.
“We made a commitment to free Leonard Peltier and bring him back to his homelands – this is us fulfilling that commitment,” said Nick Tilsen, NDN Collective Founder and CEO. “We are welcoming Leonard back home in a beautiful way to thank him for his legacy by feeding the people, thanking everyone who fought for him for years, and honoring those who fought for his freedom but are no longer with us.”
“We know there are so many people throughout Turtle Island and around the globe who would have loved to celebrate our elder’s homecoming in person,” said Janene Yazzie, NDN Collective Director of Policy & Advocacy. “There was so much love and intention put into making sure Leonard’s welcome home was done in a good way to honor the hard work and prayers of everyone who dreamed of this day, and to surround Leonard with the love and gratitude he deserves so that he may find peace and healing from this point on.”
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NDN Collective is an Indigenous-led organization dedicated to building Indigenous power. Through organizing, activism, philanthropy, grantmaking, capacity-building, and narrative change, we are creating sustainable solutions on Indigenous terms.