Oglala, Incident at

The “Incident at Oglala” is a phrase that describes the shooting deaths of two FBI agents, Jack Coler and Ronald Williams, at the Jumping Bull Compound on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation on June 26, 1975, near the town of Oglala, South Dakota. The event resulted in the arrest, trial, and conviction of Leonard Peltier, an Anishnabe Lakota. He received two consecutive life sentences and as of 2006 was still incarcerated. The conviction and sentencing of Peltier led to widespread protests by the American Indian Movement (AIM), other Native Americans, and many non-Indians. These protests are based largely on accusations of misconduct during the investigation by the FBI. Since Peltier's conviction, several organizations have emerged to promote the immediate release of Peltier, contending that he did not shoot the officers and that he is being held as a political prisoner. The development of these groups, including the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee, has given rise to counterprotest groups, including the No Parole Peltier Association. The incident has also inspired the publication of numerous books sympathetic to Peltier's cause. These include Peter Matthiessen's In the Spirit of Crazy Horse in 1983 and several documentary films, including Incident at Oglala in 1992.

The site of the shootout, the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, was an area characterized by tremendous poverty and violence in the early 1970s. The general conditions in the Indian community were exacerbated by the existence of two factions on the reservation: the progressives and the traditionalists. The progressive faction was represented by Oglala Sioux Tribal Council Chairman Dick Wilson, who created a controversial law enforcement agency called the Guardians of the Oglala Nation. The traditionalist faction reported that this organization (often referred to as the GOON squad) engaged in harassment, intimidation, and even murder of traditionalists.

Amid this violence, the traditionalist faction invited AIM members to come to the reservation in order to act as a counterbalance to the violence of the GOONs. AIM membership consisted of Indians from many communities throughout the United States, not only from reservations but also from urban areas where an increasing number of American Indians had lived since World War II. AIM sought to support traditional Indian activities and to encourage economic revitalization on the reservation and in the cities. The FBI made some efforts at investigating crimes against the traditionalists on the reservations but did little to stop the violence. In this context, on June 26, 1975, two FBI agents, investigating a minor theft, followed a vehicle into an area known as the Jumping Bull Compound, where several AIM members were living.

The details of the event are the subject of intense controversy. At some point, the two FBI agents were shot and killed. In response, the FBI sought three suspects in the shooting: Bob Robideau, Darrelle Butler, and Leonard Peltier. After the incident, Peltier escaped to Canada, while Robideau and Butler were tried for the murder in federal court in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in June and July 1976. The two men were found not guilty and were freed.

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