I Will: How Four American Indians Put Their Lives on the Line and Changed History

by Sheron Wyant-Leonard

Overview

A unique portrayal of four members of the American Indian Movement—with fascinating full-color images created by Leonard Peltier!
In I Will, Sheron Wyant-Leonard weaves the personal recollections of four members of the American Indian Movement—Leonard Peltier, Dennis Banks, Dorothy Ninham, and her husband Herb Powless—into a unique narrative to expose their trials and tribulations over the course of two decades. 

When the last gunshots of the Indian Wars of the nineteenth century faded away, a dark and desperate time began for Native American people. Poverty, neglect, and hopelessness hung over the land. But as the seventies dawned, a powerful movement for change by newly urban Indians was born with the words “American Indian Movement.” This story includes a brief look at their childhoods as told by the people who lived it, including their government boarding schools, reservation life, the fight against termination, and the founding of their resistance with building takeovers and government saboteurs, a prison escape, including the largest FBI manhunt in history. They walked the line between courage and fear and changed the direction of Native history forever.  

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781951627768
Publisher:	Arcade
Publication date:	07/20/2021
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	639,487
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 6.20(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Sheron Wyant-Leonard was born in the heart of the Jim Crow south in Montgomery, Alabama, to an Army Airborne Ranger and a mother who worked for the Department of Defense. Drawn to the arts at a young age, she worked in the American theatre with legendary director Adrian Hall and studied with renowned playwright, Donald Freed. Her play about the AIDS Quilt, titled In Stitches, was an early indication of her serious talent. She takes on the hard issues of Human Rights and the human struggles that have often evolved unfairly in American society. Her stories examine the heart, written with the clever hand of a dramatist. Her characters understand both the humor and the profound sadness born of a poverty not of one’s own making. She resides in Chattanooga, Tennessee. 

Table of Contents

Part 1 Determined

Chapter 1 Leonard Peltier, Inmate #89637-132, Lompoc, California. July 20, 1979 1

Chapter 2 The Chumash Cop, Santa Maria, California. July 21, 1979 11

Chapter 3 The Chicken Coop, Oneida, Wisconsin. Winter 1951 21

Chapter 4 Wahpeton Indian Boarding School, Wahpeton, North Dakota. September 1941 31

Chapter 5 Herb Powless, a Chain Gang in South Carolina. Summer 1956 41

Chapter 6 Okaerinasai! US Air Force Base in Occupied Japan. Spring 1958 47

Chapter 7 Leonard Peltier, Turtle Mountain Reservation, North Dakota. Winter 1961 57

Chapter 8 The Wagon Burner 67

Chapter 9 Third Chapter In, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 83

Chapter 10 Ceremony Is Coming! Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota 93

Chapter 11 Leonard Peltier, Cousin Razor, and Northwest AIM 103

Chapter 12 American Indian Movement Recruiting, Los Angeles, California. Summer 1972 113

Chapter 13 John Erlichman's Office, Capitol Hill, Washington, DC. Summer 1972 123

Chapter 14 The Powless Home on Third Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Summer 1972 135

Chapter 15 The Map Room, Department of the Interior, Washington, DC. October 31, 1972 141

Chapter 16 Sleeping Accommodations in Washington, DC. Early That Same Evening 151

Chapter 17 Snake Dancing Across the Potomac. November 7, 1972 161

Part 2 "And Then Things Got Heavy"

Chapter 18 Crow Dog's Paradise, Rosebud Reservation, South Dakota, A Few Days Later 173

Chapter 19 Special Agent in Charge, Donald Harmon, Rapid City, South Dakota. April 1975, Three Years Later 185

Chapter 20 The Good Boys and a Buffalo Hunt 191

Chapter 21 One Hundred and Fifty-Two … And Counting 201

Chapter 22 Rapid Diner with Special Agent Ronnie. June 25, 1975, Early Morning 207

Chapter 23 The Shirtwearers. June 25, 1975 215

Chapter 24 The Porcupine Incident. June 26, 1975 225

Chapter 25 Chief Small Boy's Camp, Outside Vancouver, Canada. January 6, 1976 237

Chapter 26 K'ómoks Nation, Canada. February 6, 1976 243

Chapter 27 The Explorers Club, Manhattan, New York City. June 1979 251

Chapter 28 Point Conception, Chumash Coastline, California. July 20, 1979 257

Chapter 29 Red Shirt Table. May 1980 267

Chapter 30 11129 Mulholland Drive, Los Angeles, California, Brando Residence 277

Chapter 31 USP Marion #89637-132. June 1980 285

Chapter 32 "In the Spirit of Crazy Horse." August 1980 295

Chapter 33 Determination, South Dakota State Prison Library. One Month Later 303

Chapter 34 Green Bay, Wisconsin. November 2012, More than Thirty Years Later 313

Editorial Reviews

Finally, the one we’ve been waiting for, this book is a true examination of the heart.” 
—Jack Healey, former Director of Amnesty International USA

“Both heartbreaking and inspiring, Sheron Wyant-Leonard adds a dimension to the American Indian Movement narrative that demands its place among the story of this country. This book captures the essence of the American Indian Movement in the tragedy, triumph, and above all, humanity, of the individuals portrayed.” —Judge Kevin Sharp, U.S. District Court (2011- 2017)
"I didn't want to put the book down. [Sheron] writes so well.” —Jere Van Dyk, Pulitzer-nominated journalist

“So well written, marvelously rendered!” —Victor Gaetan, Washington DC senior international correspondent for CNS
"While working in a community radio news department during the 1970s, I aired many reports on AIM-related events. Back then, I thought I knew what was going on. After reading I Will, I realize I barely knew a single thing."
—Jill Hannum, former News Department co-director, KPFA-FM

“During the Wounded Knee siege in winter of ‘73 on the Pine Ridge Indian reservation, roadblocks were set up to keep out the press. Herb Powless, (featured in I Will) arranged a two-day overland trek to get me inside the besieged compound. I owe my films to that."
—Kevin McKiernan Pulitzer Prize-nominated foreign correspondent; creator of The Spirit of Crazy Horse and From Wounded Knee to Standing Rock films

"I Will humanizes history, uplifting the tenacious and courageous love that mobilized a world-changing movement for Native rights. Wyant-Leonard reveals the inspiring life spark carried through extraordinary individual leaders who lit the way for future generations."
—​Gabrielle Tayac, Ph.D.,  Associate Professor of Public History at George Mason University 

"Sheron Wyant-Leonard has a poet’s way with words and understands that it is the details, closely and freshly observed—a glance between friends, the feel of falling snow, one night’s alignment of the stars, the manifestations of hunger or fear or joy—that make a story, even about important, troubled times, come to life. I Will weaves into the arduous paths of four people who ended up leaders of the American Indian Movement insights about love, courage, determination and the wisdom of native ways. The result manages to be both heartbreaking and inspiriting." —James Silk, Binger Clinical Professor of Human Rights at Yale Law School

“I Will is profound and inspirational reading, highly recommended especially for public library Native American Studies collections.” —Midwest Book Review

 

From the Publisher