To Leonard: 2017 When you decided to travel the path of Crazy Horse Did you ever expect that you would rot in jail Until you died? Did you ever guess that all of those people who could have helped you, who had the power to help you, would turn their backs on you...We all knew the Republicans would...but the liberals? They ignore you They don’t want me to talk about you Other Native Americans have told me to turn my back on you To give up They have said you are yesterday’s news But do they know who you are? Do they know what you represent? That you ARE the American Indian Movement, Standing Rock and the LNG Pipeline? And so I remember the day that book fell on me at the school library There I was With a book in my hand as my ticket out of hell Being abused at home by an alcoholic, sexually molested Nobody was there to catch me Nobody was there to help me Your story gave me hope for the future You walked the Path of Crazy Horse You chose a path that was not easy And your spirit saved my life. And your story saved my life. And it was a story about you and AIM And that was the first day I was reborn The second day I was reborn was when Hazel Little Hawk enveloped me in her warmth on the Walk Across America for Mother Earth when I walked for you in 1992 Though you live in my heart every day And your story saved my life I felt your pain and spirit and heart more than ever B/c the more I tell my story, the more they are silencing me I am a warrior in the spirit world and I am a lowly one next to you as you reign supreme in teh spirit world But I wonder...if people know that you gave up your life to bring attention to the issues at Pine Ridge? That you had open heart surgery after being imprisoned without a fair trial since the 1970’s Leonard, did you know...that someone who ran for governor here in the state of Washington DID NOT KNOW YOUR NAME!!! He said he wanted to “read about you” b/c he did not “know about Native issues”. My god, my god The path of Crazy Horse goes on Within my weakness, and my strength of heart, I have tried to be an advocate for you But my heart has broken under the weight of it all And wanting to hug you Wanting to tell you That I tried Wanting to just connect with you And tell you that you did not die in vain For Leonard they laughed at me And told me “Nobody cares about Leonard Peltier”. They told me I have to live in fear of being rejected, silenced, and all of that. That doesn’t matter to me anymore. It has already happened. In protest after protest And letter after letter I hear the buffalo screaming I see White Buffalo Calf Woman crying, standing over, me and you Leonard I have dreams where I am the Hawk and you are the Eagle And we fly because we both know the truth I had a dream that I was a baby and Chief Crazy Horse was holding me and he said, “Now, you have been chosen. Take the pipe they took from Leonard.” And I screamed and said, “I cannot! I am going to to be abused all of my life!! I would not be a good advocate.” But he said, “This is your path, you cannot turn away.” Fast forward to 1991 Red Blanket told me “You are a daughter of us. A daughter of the Earth. You are a Native child. I do not care what anybody told you. It is in your DNA.” I said, “I am white, that is all I know, white by blood.” He said, before I knew I was Cherokee, “You are Native by blood and Native by heart. A piece of paper don’t make you an Indian. You have the heart and soul of one.” So when I saluted and embraced that part of me in the Democratic party, they laughed at me, and silenced me and said, “Nobody cares about Leonard Peltier. Nobody cares about what you have to say.” They laughed, they crucified me online, they said I am a joke. But ALL THE WHILE The buffalo is screaming And Leonard….WE ARE FLYING...AND we are both free. On the woman’s march...I met up with Laura Naranjo, who was on the Walk Across America for Mother Earth. It was the eagles. It was Crazy Horse flying over us, for medicine, for healing, for protection. To say, “I am here”. “I do not negate you.” “I do not deny you.” It was you too Leonard. You were there too.