Around this time Peltier recalls becoming truly inspired to become involved with his people's fight for their freedom .
"I remember one night while watching television, I caught a segment on the local evening news in which a young Indian woman was screaming and crying, blood running down her face from police batons as she was arrested for taking part in a protest for Native fishing rights .I saw Native children being pushed and knocked around, falling down on bloody knees as they tried to defend their parent's fishing nets and boats. It tore at my heart to hear their shrill, terrified cries as they pleaded desperately with the police to leave their nets and boats, their very livelihood, alone." (Peltier, 90).
In 1965 he became part owner of a body shop in Seattle with his cousin Robideau. During this time he became involved with movements similar to the American Indian Movement (AIM), which was to be established in Minnesota in 1968. He worked with the Indian fishing rights struggles in the Northwest in the mid-60's and was involved in Vietnam protests in the late 60's (Peltier, 93).
Shortly after the symbolic Alcatraz takeover by other Natives, Peltier and others laid claim to surplus government land, Fort Lawton, near Seattle. It was noted in a treaty that the Indians had the right to claim land no longer used by the government and Peltier was to see to it that this agreement was recognized and not broken as so many others had been in the past (Peltier, 93). It was this as well as his earlier actions that brought him to the attention of AIM founder Dennis Banks.
Banks saw that Peltier could be an asset in his corps and took him on as a lieutenant, a formal term for a bodyguard (Anderson, 6). Through the years many misconceptions have held that Peltier was a prominent leader of AIM. Peltier denies he was that involved with AIM. "I was an assistant to Dennis Banks, a bodyguard if you want to use that term" (Corbet, 5).
