>> Cathy: ALL RIGHT.

GOOD TO SEE YA.

>> THANK YOU.

>> Eric: THANKS FOR COMING.

>> Cathy: LAST EBRUARY, LONGTIME ACTIVIST LEONARD PELTIER RETURNED HOME AFTER SPENDING 50 YEARS MIND BARS.

BEHIND BARS.

PELTIER HAS BEEN A SYMBOL OF THE INDIGENOUS RIGHTS MOVEMENT FOR GENERATIONS AND WAS A PROMINENT MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN MOVEMENT FOUNDED IN MINNEAPOLIS IN THE LATE 1960S.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO TRAVELED TO NORTH DAKOTA AND TALKED WITH PELTIER LAST MONTH.

THE FULL PROFILE WILL AIR MONDAY NIGHT ON THE PBS "NEWSHOUR."

YOU CAN CHECK THAT OUT RIGHT HERE ON TWIN CITIES PBS OR YOUR FAVORITE LOCAL PBS STATION.

TO PIQUE YOUR INTEREST, HERE'S A PREVIEW FOR YOU.

>> CAN YOU SEE THAT SCREEN OR IS IT TOO SMALL?

>> IT'S TOO SMALL.

>> HIS SIGHT IS IMPAIRED AMONG SEVERAL HEALTH PROBLEMS.

TIME IN PRISON COMPOUNDING THE TOLL OF TIME ITSELF.

>> PLAY.

WELCOME HOME, UNCLE LEONARD.

>> TIME HAS BROUGHT HELPFUL TECHNOLOGY AND AT HIS HOME TODAY, LEONARD PELTIER IS SURROUNDED BY MEMORIES AND ART, MUCH OF IT HIS OWN WORK.

>> THAT'S A DRAWING OVER HERE.

I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO BE AN ARTIST.

AND THEN I PAINTED MURALS AND STUFF BEFORE I WENT TO PRISON.

AND WHEN I GOT THERE, I PROBABLY PAINTED THREE, FOUR HOURS A DAY AND THIS GUY WAS A MODERN-DAY MEDICINE MAN.

>> THAT SUSTAINED HIM THROUGH THE DECADES IN FEDERAL PRISONS, HE SAYS, AS DID MORAL SUPPORT OF FANS AND CELEBRITIES WORLDWIDE.

>> THIS WAS GIVEN TO ME.

>> ONE PRIZE POSSESSION, THE SCULPTURE OF AN ANCIENT INDIGENOUS WARRIOR SENT TO HIM BY THEN BOLVIAN PRESIDENT.

>> THE FIRST FULL-BLOODED INDIAN PRESIDENT ON THIS CONTINENT.

I'M VERY PROUD OF IT.

>> THIS HOME WAS BOUGHT FOR HIM BY HIS SUPPORTERS.

A MODEST TWO-BEDROOM RAMBLER.

BUT AFTER A LIFE IN POVERTY OR PRISON, IT'S AN UNIMAGINABLE LUXURY.

>> I WALKED IN THE DOOR, I SAID, THIS IS MY HOME?

THIS IS WHAT YOU GUYS BOUGHT ME?

THEY SAID, YEAH.

YOU SACRIFICED FOR US.

THIS IS YOURS.

♪ ♪ >> I WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE GENERATION BEFORE US.

THINK ABOUT EVERYTHING HAT LEONARD, THE AMERICAN INDIAN MOVEMENT DID.

>> AND WE'RE GOING TO KEEP CALLING FOR LEONARD'S FREEDOM.

>> NICK TILSON, WHO HEADS THE INDIGENOUS ADVOCACY GROUP, INDIAN COLLECTIVE, HELPED LEAD THE MOST RECENT CAMPAIGN TO BRING PELTIER HOME, LITERALLY.

INCLUDING A ROUSING WELCOME EARLIER THIS YEAR.

♪ ♪ >> THEY DIDN'T WAIT FOR THINGS TO BE PERFECT.

THEY IDN'T WAIT FOR A STRATEGIC PLAN.

WHEN THEY SEEN THE INJUSTICE, THEY DID SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

AND, SO, FOR ME, ONE OF THE BIG THINGS THAT'S BEING A BIG INSPIRATION FROM HIM -- >> WE WERE CALLED EVERY GODDAMN NAME YOU COULD BE CALLED SO THE PUBLIC WOULD HATE US.

WE WEREN'T THOSE PEOPLE.

>> AT 81, LEONARD PELTIER IS AS ANGRY AS EVER.

UNAPOLOGETIC FOR A LIFELONG EFFORT TO DRAW ATTENTION TO THE LITANY OF INDIGENOUS GRIEVANCES.

>> ALL WE WERE TRYING TO DO IS SAVE A RACE OF PEOPLE FROM BEING TERMINATED.

GODDAMN, THEY TREATED -- THEY ENSLAVED US, KILLED US, MASSACRED US.

RAPED OUR CHILDREN.

ENSLAVED OUR CHILDREN.

>> LEONARD PELTIER SAYS HE FELT HIS FIRST CALL TO ACTIVISM AS A YOUNG TEEN HERE ON TURTLE MOUNTAIN RESERVATION IN NORTH DAKOTA.

A SMALL, ISOLATED CHIPPEWA COMMUNITY THAT CONGRESS WAS CONSIDERING TERMINATING IN THE 1950s.

TERMINATION WAS PART OF A LARGER POLICY OF ASSIMULATING INDIGENOUS PEOPLE, AND IT WOULD HAVE ENDED ALL FEDERAL SUPPORT FOR THE COMMUNITY HERE.

TURTLE MOUNTAIN WAS EVENTUALLY SPARED TERMINATION, BUT THE YOUNG PELTIER DID FEEL THE STING OF ASSIMILATION POLICIES.

PLACED WHEN HE WAS 9 IN AN INDIAN BOARDING SCHOOL.

THE CHILDREN WERE FORCIBLY REMOVED FROM THEIR FAMILIES WITH THE GOAL OF ERASING THEIR NATIVE LANGUAGE AND CULTURE.

MANY SCHOOLS WERE RIFE WITH ABUSE.

>> ALL OF OUR HAIR BUZZ CUT OFF.

THEY WOULD START INDOCTRINATING US INTO THE WHITE CULTURE, EDUCATION, WHATEVER YOU WANT -- WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL IT.

AND WHEN WE CONTINUED TO BE REBELLIOUS ABOUT IT, WE WOULD GET THE HELL BEAT OUT OF US.

>> FEDERAL POLICIES ALSO RELOCATED MILLIONS OF NATIVE AMERICANS TO URBAN CENTERS AND CONFISCATED VAST SWATHS OF MINERAL-RICH LANDS BEYOND THOSE CEDED IN TREATIES.

>> CATHY: HERE WITH MORE, PBS "NEWSHOUR" CORRESPONDENT FRED DE SAM LAZARO.

SPENDING TWO FRIDAYS IN A ROW WITH US, FRED.

WE ARE HONORED, THANK YOU SO MUCH.

>> MY HONOR.

>> Cathy: YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY Mr.

PELTIER'S EASING BACK INTO LIFE ON THE OUTSIDE.

I'M CURIOUS ABOUT THE ANGER THAT HE FLASHES EVERY SO OFTEN.

WHAT DID YOU MAKE OF THAT?

>> WELL, YOU KNOW, THIS IS A MAN WHO MARRIED THIS CAUSE, OR SIGNED ON VERY VERY EARLY.

IT IS SOMETHING IN HIS DNA THAT DRIVES EVERYTHING THAT HE DOES.

AND HE DID HAVE OPPORTUNITIES TO PLEA FOR SOMETHING LESS OVER THE YEARS.

AND YOU'LL HEAR THIS IN THE WHOLE PIECE WHEN IT GOES ON.

>> Eric: TWO CONSECUTIVE LIFE SENTENCES.

>> TWO CONSECUTIVE.

IN A PROCESS THAT A ARGE CHORUS OF LEGAL EXPERTS AGREED WAS NOT FAIR AND IN A PROCESS THAT WOULDN'T FLY TODAY FROM ALL ACCOUNTS.

HE WAS A VICTIM OF SEVERAL CIRCUMSTANCES.

HE HAD TWO CO-DEFENDANTS IN THE TRIAL WHO WERE TRIED AND ACQUITTED IN CEDAR RAPIDS.

LEONARD PELTIER FLED TO CANADA AND HAD TO BE EXTRADITED BY WHICH TIME THE VENUE WAS CHANGED TO FARGO FOR HIS TRIAL, AND HAD HE BEEN TRIED WITH IS CO-DEFENDANTS, WE WOULDN'T BE HAVING THIS CONVERSATION TODAY.

>> Eric: BUT, YOU KNOW, THE FBI IS STILL MAD.

THE FORMER CHIEF, CHRISTOPHER RAY, CALLED HIM A REMORSELESS KILLER, SAID HIS RELEASE IS AN AFFRONT TO THE RULE OF LAW.

>> THAT HAS BEEN THE SOURCE OF THE MOST VIGOROUS RESISTANCE, NOT THE ENTIRETY OF IT, TO ANY CLEMENCY FOR HIM.

AND YOU HAD PRESIDENTS FROM CLINTON, THE BUSHES, TO OBAMA WHO RESISTED.

AND I THINK IT'S A TESTAMENT TO THE POWER OF THE FBI IN MANY RESPECTS, IF YOU TALK TO EXPERTS, THEY SAY, NOBODY WOULD LIKE TO GO UP AGAINST AN FBI, AND LET OUT OF PRISON AN ALLEGED COP KILLER, YOU'LL HEAR THAT A LOT ON OUR PIECE AS WELL.

SO IT'S A TESTAMENT O THE FBI'S POWER AND, IN FACT, JOE BIDEN RELEASED THIS MAN TO HOME CONFINEMENT, IT'S NOT A PARDON, IT'S A COMMUTE STATION.

HE HAS TO -- COMMUTATION.

HE HAS TO GET A PASS TO GO ANYWHERE OUTSIDE OF A 100-MILE RADIUS FROM WHERE HE LIVES NOW, WHICH IS FOR MOST MEDICAL CARE, FOR EXAMPLE.

SO IT'S VERY VERY LIMITED.

AND BIDEN'S COMUATION HAPPENED IN THE LAST 30 MINUTES OF HIS PRESIDENCY, WHICH TELLS YOU SOMETHING.

COMMUTATION.

AND ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING TRIVIA THAT I LEARNED IN ALL OF THIS PROCESS IS THE THING THAT CLINCHED IT FOR BIDEN THAT HASN'T HAPPENED WITH ALL THE PREVIOUS PRESIDENTS WAS HE HAD GONE TO NAVAJO TO APOLOGIZE FOR INDIAN BOARDING SCHOOLS AND THE LEGACY OF THE INDIAN BOARDING SCHOOLS.

AND ON THE WAY BACK ON AIR FORCE ONE, SOME OF THE ELDERS INFORMED HIM THAT LEONARD PELTIER HAD BEEN IN THE INDIAN BOARDING SCHOOL.

AND A LOT OF PEOPLE THEORIZE THAT THAT IS, IN FACT, HOW -- >> Eric: GAVE HIM THE IDEA.

>> -- THEY CLINCHED THIS.

SO HE'S NOT HAPPILY EVER AFTER BUT HE'S A LOT BETTER OFF.

>> Cathy: DID HE TALK AT ALL, FRED, ABOUT -- OBVIOUSLY HE WAS A LEADER WITH A.I.M.

WHO'S TO TAKE UP THE MANTEL NOW?

>> YOU SAW IN OUR CLIP HERE, NICK TILSON, WHO LEADS AN ORGANIZATION BASED ON THE PINE RIDGE RESERVATION CALLED INDIAN COLLECTIVE.

HE IS ONE OF THE KEY LEADERS OF INDIGENOUS AMERICA OR INDIGENOUS GLOBAL IN MANY WAYS.

THEY FUND A NUMBER OF AGENCIES AND NONGOVERNMENT GROUPS ACROSS INDIAN COUNTRY.

AND THERE'S A LOT OF -- THERE'S A LOT OF INDIAN RESERVATIONS AND NATIONS WITH A LOT OF NEED AS WELL.

NICK TILSON IS A KEY PLAYER.

HE AS LEADER IN BRINGING PELTIER BACK, FOR EXAMPLE.

>> Eric: HE WAS A UNIFIER, REALLY, AMONG THE NATIVE POPULATION OF THE COUNTRY -- >> PELTIER YOU MEAN?

>> Eric: YEAH.

AS A SYMBOL OF SOCIAL JUSTICE GONE WRONG.

>> YEAH, I MEAN, HE WAS A VERY POWERFUL SYMBOL.

IN PART, YOU KNOW, SHROUDED IN THIS MYSTIQUE ABOUT BEING IN PRISON FOR SO LONG.

NEAR MYTHICAL FIGURE.

>> Eric: RIGHT.

>> AND IT'S SORT OF ODD TO WALK INTO A TYPICAL, YOU KNOW, TWO-BEDROOM RAMBLER IN NORTH DAKOTA AND SEE A GENTLEMAN WELCOMING YOU TO HIS KITCHEN.

>> Cathy: DID ANYTHING ABOUT YOUR VISIT SURPRISE YOU?

YOU GOT TO ACTUALLY SIT DOWN TO TALK TO HIM.

>> I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT.

BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, NOT A LOT HAD BEEN NOWN ABOUT THIS MAN.

YOU KNOW, AT THE LEVEL OF WHAT HIS PERSONALITY WAS LIKE.

I MEAN, THERE WAS SOME EPIC WORKS, YOU KNOW, PETER McTHEESON, FOR EXAMPLE, WROTE A HUGE BOOK CALLED "IN THE SPIRIT OF CRAZY HORSE," WHICH IS AN EPIC COMPILATION OF THAT WHOLE PERIOD.

I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT.

BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, YOU SAW SOME INNATE CHARM AND PERSUASION, PERSUASIVE POWER IN A MAN WHO IS STILL FRAIL.

HIS HEALTH IS VERY FRAIL.

>> Eric: NEWSHOUR ON MONDAY.

>> Cathy: YES.

>> NEWSHOUR ON MONDAY, AND SUBSEQUENT TO THAT, UNDERTOLDSTORIES.ORG IS ALWAYS THERE.

>> Eric: ALWAYS GREAT TO HAVE YOU.

>> Cathy: SEE YOU LATER.

THANK YOU.