Thursday Evening, September 18, 2003:
Peltier Defense Fund-Raiser held at the Mercury Café in Denver

This event was sponsored by Rocky Rodriguez (member of the UN International Indian Treaty Council) and the Bill of Rights Defense Committee as well as the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee.

A packed house found all the panelists (except the legal team which was sequestered for the night in preparation for the following day's Hearing) as well as a large crowd of supporters filling the large main floor to standing-room only capacity. Spiritual Elder Wallace Black Elk, age 84, stood from his wheelchair and moved to the microphone to pray and speak amid the smoke from a smoldering smudge pot of purifying sage and sweetgrass. One of the original spiritual leaders in the formation of AIM and present inside the seventy-one day siege of Wounded Knee in 1973, Black Elk spoke long and eloquently of the plight of his People, of all humanity, and the cause of Leonard Peltier. Following his words, Charles Bear Robe, Russell Means, Glenn Morris, George Tinker, and other long-time AIM members moved forward to shake Black Elk's hand in respect to this Elder and longtime friend and spiritual advisor. As the formalities ended and with the men gathered in front of this Spiritual Elder, a drum was brought forward by the Black Horse Drum Group and the AIM Song was sung with great emotion throughout the entire restaurant.

Then, the documentary movie by Suzi Baer entitled "Warrior" was shown. This movie, an extensive documentation of the Reign of Terror on the Pine Ridge Reservation in the 1970's, of the 1973 Wounded Knee Occupation and Conflict, and the events surrounding Leonard Peltier's arrest and conviction as well as interviews with witnesses and extensive interviews with Leonard Peltier was a deeply moving tribute to those who survived those years and who continue to survive. For nearly everyone in the audience the film brought back many memories, sometimes too many memories. Many long-suppressed tears were forced to rise once again to the surface.

Following the film showing, the mood drifted into a lighter yet still focused venue. Jim Page, a folk singer, impromptu lyricist, and politically aware musician from Seattle provided an incredible array of song and musical words which portrayed both humor and tragedy in the plight of Leonard Peltier and all indigenous cultures.

Apache Robby Romero stepped up to the stage and moved into an incredibly wide range of gifted guitar works and songs. A long-time Peltier supporter and activist as well as founder of the popular contemporary Native music group Red Thunder, Romero moved expertly through the multiple styles of driving rock, jazz, country, Contemporary Native, and Native Traditional. He, too, included many numbers which spoke to the plight and needs of Peltier and the American Indian Nations.

Finally, as the hour grew late, Jim Page joined Robby Romero onstage for a last few numbers which brought the evening to a humorous and musical close. At midnight, the audience finally drifted off for the few hours of sleep they could find before the Peltier Court Hearing was to begin.