Colonization, Decolonization, And Indigenous Spirituality In Leonard Peltier's Prison Writings

Colonization, Decolonization, and Indigenous Spirituality in Leonard Peltier 's Prison Writings Within the American prison system, many individuals remain held for extended periods of time in solitary confinement. Despite arguments that solitary confinement has severe psychological and behavioral consequences for inmates, the experiences described by Leonard Peltier in Prison Writings tell a different story. Viewed from the historical lenses of colonization and decolonization, an important lesson to draw from Peltier 's writings is that subjugated individuals who identify with a group considered culturally inferior will find ways to demonstrate resilience through spiritual means in the face of resignation. In early 1975, after an attempt …show more content…
For Peltier, lockdown involves a constant state of anxiety in which fear concludes each day. However, Peltier implies that his anxiety resides in a lack of having a true Native American identity. While Peltier identifies by his American name, he reminds readers of his indigenous names—Gwarth-ee-lass or “He Leads the People” and Tate Wikikuwa or “Wind Chases the Sun” (4). Accordingly, processes of colonization and decolonization shape how Peltier experiences daily life in prison. Prisons themselves symbolize colonial institutions occupying land and space within a specific historical context (Aman, Desai, Ritskes 4). For indigenous men like Peltier, colonization represents a history of oppression indicated by both his American and prison names. Because Peltier identifies proudly as a man with two names belonging to different indigenous tribes, fear of security guards during the nightly lockdown lacks …show more content…
The historical processes of colonization suggest that lived experience as a wholly inauthentic person rests within governmental. While Peltier no longer occupies The Hole, he questions whether transferring to an air-conditioned cell will provide widen the scope of his freedom (5). Because Peltier will remain imprisoned until death, living as a wholly authentic person without living under government control remains an impossibility for himself and for all colonized indigenous people. Peltier will continue to hear noises emitted from prison guards and metal doors along with “an ever-present background chorus of shouts and yells and calls, demented babblings [sic], ghostlike laughter” (6). Interestingly, Peltier remarks that he could stand in for those howling voices before describing his experience of having a new bunk