Leonard Peltier's work comes to NYC

For five decades, activist Leonard Peltier lived inside federal prisons, labeled a political prisoner while his community and supporters fought endlessly for his release. On February 18, 2025, after President Biden commuted his sentence to home confinement, Peltier finally walked out into the daylight and returned home to the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe Nation in North Dakota.

Throughout his decades in prison, Peltier turned to canvas and brush to give voice to his life, his culture, and his people.

On Sunday, October 4, those paintings will reach New York City.

Driven all the way from North Dakota by Peltier’s son and grandson, a curated selection of his artwork will arrive at the historic Fifteenth Street Friends Meeting House at 15 Rutherford Place in Manhattan. The gathering will be hosted by the Church of Stop Shopping alongside the Ad Hoc Indigenous Affairs and Arts committees of the 15th Street Quaker Meeting House to honor Peltier’s legacy, showcase his art, and reconnect with longtime local advocates and Native allies.

The afternoon will begin at 2 PM with greetings, song, and music. Reverend Billy, Savitri D, and the Stop Shopping Choir will open the program, followed by musicians and drummers who will provide a soundtrack while attendees walk through the meeting house and lobby viewing the artwork until 7 PM.

Members of Peltier’s family will be present in the room to share the moment with visitors. Though Peltier himself was invited, strict travel restrictions administered by the Federal Bureau of Prisons remain in place. Prepared for every outcome, organizers will set up the movie-size screen normally used for Sunday meditation: Peltier intends to appear virtually via Zoom.

Above all, the exhibition will serve as a living expression of the enduring spirit Peltier captured in his writings:

Let my unheard voice be heard.

Let me speak in my heart and the words be heard

whispering on the wind to millions,

to all who care,

to all with ears to hear

and hearts to beat as one

with mine.

Put your ear to the earth,

and hear my heart beating there.

Put your ear to the wind

and hear me speaking there.