Editing Leonard Peltier (section)

==Career and activism==
In 1965, Peltier relocated to [[Seattle, Washington]].<ref name=":1" /> Peltier worked as a welder, a construction worker, and as the co-owner of an auto shop in Seattle in his twenties.<ref name=":1" /> The co-owners used the upper level of the building as a stopping place, or halfway house, for American Indians who had alcohol addiction issues or had recently finished their prison sentences and were re-entering society.<ref name=":1" /> The halfway house took a financial toll on the shop, so they closed it.<ref name=":1" />

In Seattle, Peltier became involved in a variety of causes championing Native American civil rights.<ref name=":1" /> In the early 1970s, he learned about the factional tensions at the [[Pine Ridge Indian Reservation]] in South Dakota between supporters of [[Dick Wilson (tribal chairman)|Richard Wilson]], elected tribal chairman in 1972, and traditionalist members of the Lakota tribe.<ref name=":1" /> It was [[Dennis Banks]] who first invited Leonard Peltier to join AIM.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Matthiessen |first1=Peter |date=1992 |title=In the Spirit of Crazy Horse: The Story of Leonard Peltier and the FBI's War on the American Indian Movement |publisher=Penguin Books |pages=34–35,37,39,50–51,61–63,65,106–9,111–14,116,118,120,121–125,130,135–36,141,142,144,148,155,192,197,220,222,223,232,234,248,252,253,263,288,299,403,419,480,507,535,574,575 |isbn=978-0140144567}}</ref> Consequently, Peltier became an official member of the [[American Indian Movement]] (AIM) in 1972, which was founded by urban Indians in Minneapolis in 1968, at a time of rising Indian activism for civil rights.<ref name=":2" />

Wilson had created a private militia, known as the [[Guardians of the Oglala Nation]] (GOON), whose members were reputed to have attacked political opponents.<ref name=":1" /> Protests over a failed impeachment hearing of Wilson contributed to the AIM and Lakota armed takeover of [[Wounded Knee National Historic Landmark|Wounded Knee]] at the reservation in February 1973. Federal forces reacted, conducting a 71-day siege, which became known as the [[Wounded Knee Occupation]].<ref name=":1" /> Protestors demanded the resignation of Wilson.<ref name="Peltier1999p125">{{cite book |last=Peltier |first=Leonard |url=https://archive.org/details/prisonwritings00leon/page/125 |title=Prison Writings: My Life Is My Sundance |publisher=St. Martins Griffin |year=1999 |isbn=0-312-26380-5 |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/prisonwritings00leon/page/125 125]}}</ref> Peltier, however, spent most of the occupation in a [[Milwaukee]], Wisconsin jail charged with attempted murder related to a different protest.<ref name="Peltier1999p125" /> When Peltier secured bail at the end of April, he took part in an AIM protest outside the federal building in Milwaukee and was on his way to Wounded Knee with the group to deliver supplies when the incident ended.<ref name="Peltier1999p125" />

In 1975, Peltier traveled as a member of AIM to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to help reduce violence among political opponents.<ref>Privitera, John J. "Toward a Remedy for International Extradition by Fraud: The Case of Leonard Peltier", ''Yale Law & Policy Review'' 2.1 (1983): 49–61. Web.</ref> At the time, he was a fugitive, with an arrest warrant having been issued in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.<ref name=":5" /> It charged him with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution for the attempted murder of an off-duty Milwaukee police officer. (He was acquitted of the attempted murder charge in February 1978.)<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |url=http://www.famous-trials.com/leonardpeltier/747-chronology |title=Leonard Peltier Trial: A Chronology |last=Strathman |first=Jeremy |website=Famous Trials |access-date=October 3, 2018}}</ref>

During this period,<!-- of several years,--> Peltier had seven children from two marriages <!-- successive? -->and adopted two children.<!-- with one wife or one with each? --><ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |title='Buried alive': Leonard Peltier, Native American activist imprisoned for nearly half a century over FBI killings, awaits last chance parole hearing {{!}} Navajo Times |url=https://navajotimes.com/reznews/buried-alive-leonard-peltier-native-american-activist-imprisoned-for-nearly-half-a-century-over-fbi-killings-awaits-last-chance-parole-hearing/ |access-date=2025-01-21 |website=navajotimes.com |date=June 27, 2024 |quote=Peltier has several children with different women. Lisa, his oldest, was born in 1965 to Peltier and Sandra Martinez, his wife for a short time. Chauncey, 58, and a younger sister, Cheryl, were born to Peltier and Joanne Lohnes. Marquetta Shields-Peltier, 50, and Wahacanka Paul Shields-Peltier, who passed away at 41 in 2016, were the product of Peltier’s union with Audrey Shields. Kathy Peltier, 48, is Peltier’s youngest daughter whose mother is Ann Begay. Born after her father had already been detained, she continues to be outspoken about her father’s release.}}</ref>