Coleman, Florida - This Wednesday marks Oglala Commemoration Day as Indigenous rights advocates await a decision in political prisoner Leonard Peltier's high-stakes bid for parole.

Demands for justice for Indigenous freedom fighter Leonard Peltier are expected to resound loudly on the anniversary of the infamous June 26, 1975, shootout on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in so-called South Dakota.

A member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, Peltier was taken into US custody after he was convicted of killing FBI special agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams.

The killing of an Indigenous man, Joseph Stuntz, during the shootout was never investigated, nor have any charges ever been issued.

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Now 79 years old, Peltier is incarcerated in a maximum-security facility in Coleman, Florida. He has spent over 48 years behind bars.

Peltier was granted a parole hearing in early June in order that he might once again make his case for release.

NDN Collective President and CEO Nick Tilsen was one of only two witnesses allowed to testify in the hearing. "How Leonard was treated during his prosecution and during his continued incarceration is consistent with how they have treated Indian people throughout history," he said in a webinar earlier this month.

During the hearing, Tilsen also spoke to Peltier's legacy, explaining how he and the American Indian Movement contributed to the revitalization of Indigenous languages, ceremonies, and culture.

"We didn't have to do our ceremonies in hiding anymore because people fought for those rights," he said during the webinar. "They made it okay for us to be proud of who we are."

While Peltier's legacy may be felt in Indigenous communities across Turtle Island, the freedom fighter has been denied the full fruits of his advocacy as he remains alienated from his people and homeland.

Peltier's supporters say there is no evidence to justify locking him up for nearly five decades and repeatedly denying him parole.

Records suggest the FBI coerced witnesses and excluded and falsified critical evidence in Peltier's 1977 trial. Even the top prosecutor in the case, former US Attorney James Reynolds, has called for Peltier's release.

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Peltier's conviction came in a time of rising Indigenous activism opposing US state-sanctioned abuses, including land theft, economic deprivation, racial discrimination, and forced cultural erasure.

Tensions erupted in 1973, when around 200 Oglala Lakota people and members of the American Indian Movement occupied the town of Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Reservation. The federal government responded by setting up roadblocks and cutting off access to electricity, food, and water in a brutal 71-day siege.

Today, Wounded Knee and Peltier himself are widely regarded as powerful symbols of Indigenous resistance to colonialism and white supremacy.

"Mr. Peltier, what he did back then, it was an honorable deed in our culture," Frank Star Comes Out, president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, insisted in the NDN Collective webinar. "As a tribal leader, we should be following those kind of examples to fight for our people in this day and age."

A decision in Peltier's case is expected in a matter of days.

The US Parole Commission originally had 21 days from the date of the hearing on June 10 to issue its ruling. Insiders say it may take a bit longer.

If Peltier's petition is granted, there will be a process for release, which could take months. There may also be an attempt to appeal the decision.

Tilsen said NDN Collective has purchased a home for Peltier on his homelands in the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in preparation for a positive outcome.

If the petition is denied, Peltier likely won't get another parole hearing for 15 years. Peltier is aging and in fragile health, meaning this could be his last chance for parole in his lifetime.

Attorney Kevin Sharp has said the legal team is prepared to pursue an appeal through the federal district courts in case of a negative decision.

In addition to the parole bid, advocates are calling on President Joe Biden to grant clemency to Peltier, a step he may take without congressional approval.

Peltier's legal team is also planning to file again for compassionate release with the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

"Release of Leonard Peltier is good for the whole world," poet and advocate Suzan Shown Harjo said. "People who are oppressed everywhere can identify with Leonard and with what he has gone through, and he has done it as a symbol for all of us."

Supporters are urged to continue contacting the US Parole Commission and White House to demand Peltier's immediate release.