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Leonard Peltier Article: Added/Revised Content FINAL DRAFT
** refer to actual article for citations at end of each sentence** (they did not copy over)

** refer to list of my sources on article’s talk page for new references added**

** many edits were made live** (not included here)

Early Life and Education

Peltier was born on September 12, 1944, at the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa near Belcourt, North Dakota, in a family of thirteen children. Peltier's parents divorced when he was four years old. Therefore, Leonard and his sister Betty Ann lived with their paternal grandparents Alex and Mary Dubois-Peltier in the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation. In September 1953, at the age of nine, Leonard was enrolled at the Wahpeton Indian School in Wahpeton, North Dakota, an Indian boarding school run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). Leonard remained 150 miles away from his home at Wahpeton Indian School through the ninth grade; the school forced assimilation to white American culture by requiring English and forbidding the inclusion of Native American culture. He graduated from Wahpeton in May 1957, and attended the Flandreau Indian School in Flandreau, South Dakota. After finishing the ninth grade, he returned to the Turtle Mountain Reservation to live with his father. Peltier later obtained a general equivalency degree.

Career and Activism

In 1965, Peltier relocated to Seattle, Washington. Peltier was a welder, construction worker, and the co-owner of an auto shop in Seattle in his twenties. The co-owners of the shop in Seattle used the upper level of building as a stopping place for American Indians who had alcohol addiction issues or recently finished their prison sentences. However, the halfway house took a financial toll on the shop, so it closed down after some time.

In Seattle, Peltier became involved in a variety of causes championing Native American civil rights. In the early 1970s, he learned about the factional tensions at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota between supporters of Richard Wilson, elected tribal chairman in 1972, and traditionalist members of the tribe.Consequently, Peltier became an official member of the American Indian Movement (AIM) in 1972. Wilson had created a private militia, known as the Guardians of the Oglala Nation (GOON), whose members were reputed to have attacked political opponents. Protests over a failed impeachment hearing of Wilson contributed to the AIM and Lakota armed takeover of Wounded Knee in February 1973, which resulted in a 71-day siege by federal forces, known as the Wounded Knee incident. They demanded the resignation of Wilson. Peltier, however, spent most of the occupation in a Milwaukee jail charged with attempted murder. When Peltier secured bail at the end of April, he took part in an AIM protest outside the federal building in Milwaukee and was on his way to Wounded Knee with the group to deliver supplies when the incident ended.

In 1975, Peltier traveled to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation as a member of AIM to try to help reduce the continuing violence among political opponents. At the time, he was a fugitive, with a warrant issued in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It charged him with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution for the attempted murder of an off-duty Milwaukee police officer, a crime of which he was acquitted for in February 1978. During this time period, Peltier had seven children from two marriages and adopted two children.

Doubts About Legal Proceedings


 * FBI radio intercepts indicated that the two FBI agents had been pursuing a red pickup truck; this was confirmed by the FBI the day after the shootout. Red pickup trucks near the reservation were stopped for weeks, but Leonard Peltier did not drive a red pickup truck.Evidence was given that Peltier was driving a Suburban vehicle; a large station wagon style sedan built on a pickup truck chassis with an enclosed rear section. Peltier's vehicle was orange with a white roof—not a red, open-tray pickup truck with no white paint. The FBI agents' radio message said that the suspect they were pursuing was driving a red pickup truck, with no additional details. At Peltier's trial, the FBI testified that it had been searching for a orange and white van, which Peltier was sometimes seen driving. This was a highly contentious matter of evidence in the trials.


 * The U.S. Parole Commission denied Peltier parole in 1993 based on their finding that he "participated in the premeditated and cold blooded execution of those two officers." However, the Parole Commission has since stated that it "recognizes that the prosecution has conceded the lack of any direct evidence that [Peltier] personally participated in the executions of the two FBI agents."

Shootout at Pine Ridge

On June 26, 1975, Special Agents Jack R. Coler and Ronald A. Williams of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) were on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation searching for a young man named Jimmy Eagle, who was wanted for questioning in connection with the recent assault and robbery of two local ranch hands. Eagle had been involved in a physical altercation with a friend, during which he had stolen a pair of leather cowboy boots. At approximately 11:50 a.m., Williams and Coler, driving two separate unmarked cars, spotted, reported, and followed a red pick-up truck which matched the description of Eagle's.

FBI photograph of the vehicle allegedly followed by agents Coler and Williams

FBI photograph of Agent Williams' car after the shootout

Soon after his initial report, Williams radioed into a local dispatch that he and Coler had come under fire from the occupants of the vehicle. Williams radioed that they would be killed if reinforcements did not arrive. He next radioed that they both had been shot. FBI Special Agent Gary Adams was the first to respond to Williams' call for assistance, and he also came under gunfire; Adams was unable to reach Coler and Williams in time, and both agents died within the first ten minutes of gunfire. At about 4:25 p.m., authorities recovered the bodies of Williams and Coler from their vehicles.

The FBI reported that Williams had received a defensive wound to his right hand (as he attempted to shield his face) from a bullet which passed through his hand into his head, killing him instantly. Williams received two gunshot injuries, to his body and foot, prior to the contact shot that killed him. Coler, incapacitated from earlier bullet wounds, had been shot twice in the head. In total, 125 bullet holes were found in the agents' vehicles, many from a .223 Remington (5.56 mm) rifle. The shooters took apart Williams’s car and stole four guns belonging to the agents.

Leonard Peltier provided numerous alibis, to different people, about his activities on the morning of the attacks. In an interview with the author Peter Matthiessen (In the Spirit of Crazy Horse 1983), Peltier described working on a car in Oglala, claiming to have driven back to the Jumping Bull Compound about an hour before the shooting started. In an interview with Lee Hill, he described being woken up in the tent city at the ranch by the sound of gunshots. To Harvey Arden, for Prison Writings, he described enjoying a beautiful morning before he heard the firing.

Aftermath

On September 5, 1975, Agent Coler’s .308 rifle and handgun and Agent Williams’s handgun were recovered from an automobile in the vicinity of Darrelle Butler’s arrest location. The FBI forwarded a description of a recreational vehicle (RV) and the Plymouth station wagon recently purchased by Peltier to law enforcement during the hunt for the suspects. The RV was stopped by an Oregon State Trooper, but the driver, later discovered to be Peltier, fled on foot following a small shootout. Both Peltier’s thumbprint and Agent Coler’s handgun were discovered under the RV’s front seat.

On September 10, 1975, AIM members Robert Robideau, Norman Charles, and Michael Anderson were injured in the explosion of a station wagon on the Kansas Turnpike close to Wichita. Agent Coler’s .308 rifle and an AR-15 rifle were found in the burned vehicle.

On December 22, 1975, Peltier was named to the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. On February 6, 1976, Peltier was arrested after being found in a friend’s cabin in Hinton, Alberta. In December 1976, he was extradited from Canada based on documents submitted by the FBI that Warren Allmand, Canada's Solicitor General at the time, would later state contained false information.

One of those documents was an affidavit signed by Myrtle Poor Bear, a local Native American woman. While Poor Bear stated that she was Peltier's girlfriend during that time and watched the killings, Peltier and others at the scene claimed that Poor Bear did not know Peltier and was not present during the murders.Poor Bear admitted to lying to the FBI, but emphasized that the agents interviewing her coerced her into making the claims above. When Poor Bear tried to testify against the FBI, the judge barred her testimony because of mental incompetence.

Peltier fought extradition to the United States, even as Bob Robideau and Darrelle "Dino" Butler, AIM members also present on the Jumping Bull compound at the time of the shootings, were found not guilty on the grounds of self-defense by a federal jury in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Peltier returned too late to be tried with Robideau and Butler, and he was subsequently tried separately.

Peltier's trial was held in Fargo, North Dakota, where a jury convicted Peltier of the murders of Coler and Williams. Unlike the trial for Butler and Robideau, the jury was informed that the two FBI agents were killed by close-range shots to their heads, when they were already defenseless due to previous gunshot wounds.Consequently, Peltier could not submit a self-defense testimony that could have lead to an acquittal. They also saw autopsy and crime scene photographs of the two agents, which had not been shown to the jury at Cedar Rapids. In April 1977, Peltier was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences.

Denial of Clemency[edit]
In 1999, Peltier filed a habeas corpus petition, but it was rejected by the 10th Circuit Court on November 4th, 2003. ...

Editorial about Deaths of Agents and Aquash[edit]
In January 2002 in the News from Indian Country, the publisher Paul DeMain wrote an editorial that an "unnamed delegation" told him that Peltier murdered the FBI agents. DeMain described the delegation as "grandfathers and grandmothers, AIM activists, Pipe carriers and others who have carried a heavy unhealthy burden within them that has taken its toll." DeMain said he was told the motive for the execution-style murder of the AIM activist Anna Mae Aquash in December 1975 "allegedly was her knowledge that Leonard Peltier had shot the two agents, as he was convicted." DeMain did not accuse Peltier of participation in the Aquash murder. In 2003 two Native American men were indicted and later convicted for the murder.

On May 1, 2003, Peltier sued DeMain for libel for similar statements about the case published on March 10, 2003, in News from Indian Country. On May 25, 2004, Peltier withdrew the suit after he and DeMain settled the case. DeMain issued a statement saying he did not think Peltier was given a fair trial for the two murder convictions nor did he think Peltier was connected to Anna Mae Aquash's death. DeMain did not retract his allegations that Peltier was guilty of the murders of the FBI agents and that the motive for Aquash's murder was the fear that she might inform on the activist.

Leonard Peltier Article: Added/Revised Content FIRST DRAFT
** refer to list of “my sources” on article’s talk page for new references added**

** italicized areas represent changes**

Early Life and Education

Peltier was born on September 12, 1944[7] at the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa near Belcourt, North Dakota, in a family of thirteen children.[8] Peltier's parents divorced when he was four years old.(add in my citation 8) At this time Therefore, Leonard and his sister, Betty Ann, were taken to lived with their paternal grandparents Alex and Mary Dubois-Peltier in the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation.[9] In September 1953, at the age of nine, Leonard was enrolled at the Wahpeton Indian School in Wahpeton, North Dakota, an Indian boarding school run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).(add in my citation 8) Leonard remained 150 miles away from his home at Wahepton Indian School through the ninth grade; he had to assimilate to white American culture by speaking English and not embracing his Native American culture.(add my citation #7)  He graduated from Wahpeton in May 1957, and attended the Flandreau Indian School in Flandreau, South Dakota. After dropping out in the ninth grade,[ citation needed ] he Peltier returned to the Turtle Mountain Reservation to live with his father and became a migrant farm worker with his father.[8] Peltier later obtained a general equivalency degree.[10]

Career and Activism

''Peltier was a welder, construction worker, and the co-owner of an auto shop in Seattle in his twenties.(add my citation 7) In 1965, Peltier relocated to Seattle, Washington. He worked for several years and became the owner of an auto body station. The co-owners of the shop in Seattle used the upper level of building as a stopping place for American Indians who had alcohol addiction issues or recently finished their prison sentences.(add my citation 7) However, the halfway house took a financial toll on the shop, so it closed down after some time.(add citation 7) In the city, Peltier became involved in a variety of causes championing Native American civil rights, and eventually joined the American Indian Movement .[11] In the early 1970s, he learned about the factional tensions at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota between supporters of Richard Wilson, elected tribal chairman in 1972, and traditionalist members of the tribe.[11] Consequently, Peltier became an official member of the American Indian Movement (AIM) in 1972.(add my citation 8)'' Wilson had created a private militia, known as the Guardians of the Oglala Nation (GOON), whose members were reputed to have attacked political opponents.[11] Protests over a failed impeachment hearing of Wilson contributed to the AIM and Lakota armed takeover of Wounded Knee in February 1973, which resulted in a 71-day siege by federal forces, known as the Wounded Knee incident.[11] They demanded the resignation of Wilson. Peltier, however, spent most of the occupation in a Milwaukee jail charged with attempted murder.[11] When Peltier secured bail at the end of April, he took part in an AIM protest outside the federal building in Milwaukee and was on his way to Wounded Knee with the group to deliver supplies when the incident ended.[11]

The takeover did not end Wilson's leadership, the actions of the GOONs or the violence; in 2012, the Oglala Sioux Tribal Government asked U.S Attorney Brendan Johnson to look at 45 unresolved deaths since that time.[12] In 1975, Peltier traveled to the Pine Ridge reservation as a member of AIM to try to help reduce the continuing violence among political opponents. At the time, he was a fugitive, with a warrant issued in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It charged him with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution for the attempted murder of an off-duty Milwaukee police officer, a crime of which he was acquitted for in February 1978.[13] During this time period, Peltier had seven children from two marriages and adopted two children.(add my citation 7)

Doubts About Legal Proceedings


 * FBI radio intercepts indicated that the two FBI agents had been pursuing a red pickup truck; this was confirmed by the FBI the day after the shootout.[28] Red pickup trucks near the reservation were stopped for weeks, but Leonard Peltier did not drive a red pickup truck.[28] Evidence was given that Peltier was driving a Suburban vehicle; a large station wagon style sedan built on a pickup truck chassis with an enclosed rear section. Peltier's vehicle was orange with a white roof—not a red, open-tray pickup truck with no white paint.[28] The FBI agents' radio message said that the suspect they were pursuing was driving a red pickup truck, with no additional details.[28] At Peltier's trial, the FBI testified that it had been searching for a orange and white van, which Peltier was sometimes seen driving.[28] This was a highly contentious matter of evidence in the trials.[28]

Shootout at Pine Ridge

On June 26, 1975, Special Agents Jack R. Coler and Ronald A. Williams of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) were on the Pine Ridge Reservation searching for a young man named Jimmy Eagle, who was wanted for questioning in connection with the recent assault and robbery of two local ranch hands.[16] Eagle had been involved in a physical altercation with a friend, during which he had stolen a pair of leather cowboy boots.[16] At approximately 11:50 a.m., Williams and Coler, driving two separate unmarked cars, spotted, reported, and followed a red pick-up truck which matched the description of Eagle's.[16]

Soon after his initial report, Williams radioed into a local dispatch that he and Coler had come under high-powered rifle fire from the occupants of the vehicle and were unable to return fire with their .308 Special revolvers .[16] Williams radioed that they would be killed if reinforcements did not arrive.[16] He next radioed that he was hit both had been shot.[16] FBI Special Agent Gary Adams was the first to respond to Williams' call for assistance, and he also came under intense gunfire; Adams was unable to reach Coler and Williams in time, and both agents died within the first ten minutes of gunfire.[16]

The FBI, BIA, and the local police spent the afternoon waiting for other law enforcement officers. At 2:30 p.m., a BIA rifleman fatally shot Joseph Stuntz, an AIM member who had taken part in the shootout.[15] At 4:31 p.m., authorities recovered the bodies of Williams and Coler from their vehicles.[citation needed]. At 6:30 p.m., they used tear gas to storm the Jumping Bull houses, where they found the body of a Native American, Joseph Stuntz.[citation needed]. Stuntz was clad in Coler's green FBI field jacket, which he appeared to have taken from the agent's car.[citation needed]. The two FBI Agents were later confirmed to have died on June 26, 1975.[16]. Stuntz appeared to have died later, during subsequent shooting.[16].

The FBI reported that Williams had received a defensive wound to his right hand (as he attempted to shield his face) from a bullet which passed through his hand into his head, killing him instantly.[16]. Williams received two gunshot injuries, to his body and foot, prior to the contact shot that killed him. Coler, incapacitated from earlier bullet wounds, had been shot twice in the head.[16]. In total, 125 bullet holes were found in the agents' vehicles, many from a .223 Remington (5.56 mm) rifle.[16]. The shooters took apart Williams’s car and stole four guns belonging to the agents.[16].

Leonard Peltier provided numerous alibis, to different people, about his activities on the morning of the attacks.[17] In an interview with the author Peter Matthiessen (In the Spirit of Crazy Horse 1983), Peltier described working on a car in Oglala, claiming to have driven back to the Jumping Bull Compound about an hour before the shooting started.[17] In an interview with Lee Hill, he described being woken up in the tent city at the ranch by the sound of gunshots.[17] To Harvey Arden, for Prison Writings, he described enjoying a beautiful morning before he heard the firing.[17]

Aftermath

'' On September 5, 1975, Agent Coler’s .308 rifle and shells from both agents' handguns were found in a vehicle near a residence where Dino Butler was arrested On September 5, 1975, Agent Coler’s .308 rifle and handgun and Agent Williams’s handgun were recovered from an automobile in the vicinity of Darrelle Butler’s arrest location.[16] On September 9, 1975, Peltier purchased a Plymouth station wagon in Denver, Colorado. The FBI sent out descriptions of the vehicle and a recreational vehicle (RV) in which Peltier and associates were believed to be traveling. The FBI forwarded a description of a recreational vehicle (RV) and the Plymouth station wagon recently purchased by Peltier to law enforcement during the hunt for the suspects.16 An Oregon State Trooper stopped the vehicles and ordered the driver of the RV to exit; however, after a brief exchange of gunfire, the driver escaped on foot. Authorities later identified the driver as Peltier. The RV was stopped by an Oregon State Trooper, but the driver, later discovered to be Peltier, fled on foot following a small shootout.16 Agent Coler's .308 Special service revolver was found in a bag under the front seat of the RV, where authorities later reported finding Peltier's thumbprint. Both Peltier’s thumbprint and Agent Coler’s handgun were discovered under the RV’s front seat.16''

''On September 10, 1975, AIM members Robert Robideau, Norman Charles, and Michael Anderson were injured in the explosion of a station wagon on the Kansas Turnpike close to Wichita.[16] Agent Coler’s .308 rifle and an AR-15 rifle were found in the burned vehicle.[16] A burned AR-15 rifle was recovered, along with Agent Coler's .308 rifle. [16] The car was loaded with weapons and explosives, which apparently ignited when placed too close to a hole in the exhaust pipe. Injured in the blast were Robert Robideau, Norman Charles, and Michael Anderson, who were all members of AIM. [16''Leonard Peltier]

'' On December 22, 1975, Peltier was named to the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. ''

'' Peltier fled to Hinton, Alberta, where he hid in a friend's cabin. On February 6, 1976, Peltier was arrested after being found in a friend’s cabin in Hinton, Alberta.[16]'' In December 1976, Peltier was extradited from Canada based on documents submitted by the FBI that Warren Allmand, Canada's Solicitor General at the time, would later state contained false information.[18]

One of those documents was an affidavit signed by Myrtle Poor Bear, a local Native American woman.[19] While Poor Bear stated that she was Peltier's girlfriend during that time and watched the killings, Peltier and others at the scene claimed that Poor Bear did not know Peltier and was not present during the murders.[19] Poor Bear admitted to lying to the FBI, but emphasized that the agents interviewing her coerced her into making the claims above.[19] When Poor Bear tried to testify against the FBI, the judge barred her testimony because of mental incompetence.[19]

Peltier fought extradition to the United States, even as Bob Robideau and Darrelle "Dino" Butler, AIM members also present on the Jumping Bull compound at the time of the shootings, were found not guilty on the grounds of self-defense by a federal jury in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.[19] Peltier returned too late to be tried with Robideau and Butler, and he was subsequently tried separately.[19]

Peltier's trial was held in Fargo, North Dakota, where a jury convicted Peltier of the murders of Coler and Williams.[19Leonard Peltier] Unlike the trial for Butler and Robideau, the jury was informed that the two FBI agents were killed by close-range shots to their heads, when they were already defenseless due to previous gunshot wounds.[20] Consequently, Peltier could not submit a self-defense testimony that could have lead to an acquittal.(insert my citation #3) They also saw autopsy and crime scene photographs of the two agents, which had not been shown to the jury at Cedar Rapids.[20]  In April 1977, Peltier was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences.(add my citation #5)

Editorial about Deaths of Agents and Aquash[edit]
In January 2002 in the News from Indian Country, the publisher Paul DeMain wrote an editorial that an "unnamed delegation" told him, "Peltier was responsible for the close range execution of the [FBI] agents. ..." Peltier murdered the FBI agents.[44] DeMain described the delegation as "grandfathers and grandmothers, AIM activists, Pipe carriers and others who have carried a heavy unhealthy burden within them that has taken its toll."[44] DeMain said he was told the motive for the execution-style murder of the AIM activist Anna Mae Aquash in December 1975 "allegedly was her knowledge that Leonard Peltier had shot the two agents, as he was convicted."[44] DeMain did not accuse Peltier of participation in the Aquash murder.[44] In 2003, two Native American men were indicted and later convicted for the murder.[44]

On May 1, 2003, Peltier sued DeMain for libel for similar statements about the case published on March 10, 2003, in News from Indian Country.[44] On May 25, 2004, Peltier withdrew the suit after he and DeMain settled the case. DeMain issued the following statement:

I do not believe that Leonard Peltier received a fair trial in connection with the murders of which he was convicted. Certainly he is entitled to one. Nor do I believe, according to the evidence and testimony I now have, that Mr. Peltier had any involvement in the death of Anna Mae Aquash. [45][46]

DeMain did not retract his allegations that Peltier was guilty of the murders of the FBI agents and that the motive for Aquash's murder was the fear that she might inform on the activist.[47]

Presidential Candidate [ edit ]
Peltier was the candidate for the Peace and Freedom Party in the 2004 election for President of the United States. While numerous states have laws that prohibit prison inmates convicted of felonies from voting (Maine and Vermont are exceptions), [60] the United States Constitution has no prohibition against felons being elected to federal offices, including President. The Peace and Freedom Party secured ballot status for Peltier only in California, where his presidential candidacy received 27,607 votes, [61] approximately 0.2% of the vote in that state.

2007 Political Controversy [ edit ]
In 2007, billionaire David Geffen, a Peltier supporter, shifted his financial support from Hillary Clinton 's presidential campaign to that of Barack Obama. Geffen said he switched his support because he was disillusioned by Bill Clinton 's refusal to pardon Peltier, although he had pardoned Marc Rich. [65]

Denial of Clemency[edit]
In 1999, Peltier filed a habeas corpus petition, but it was rejected by the 10th Circuit Court on November 4th, 2003.(add my source # 6) Near the end of the Clinton administration in 2001, rumors began circulating that Bill Clinton was considering granting Peltier clemency. Opponents campaigned against that, culminating in a protest outside the White House by about 500 FBI agents and families, and a letter opposing clemency from FBI director Louis Freeh. Clinton did not grant Peltier clemency. In 2002, Peltier filed a civil rights lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the FBI, Louis Freeh, and FBI agents who had participated in the campaign against his clemency petition, alleging that they "engaged in a systematic and officially sanctioned campaign of misinformation and disinformation." On March 22, 2004, the suit was dismissed.[36] In January 2009, President George W. Bush denied Peltier's clemency petition before leaving office.[37][38]

Article Evaluations
Article Evaluation for Drama


 * Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?
 * Everything in the article is relevant to the article topic, so nothing really distracted me.
 * Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?
 * A genre/style section and further analysis can be added to account for how the type of literature (comic book) affects perception, awards, and other relevant information about the novel.
 * What else could be improved?
 * The reception section could be lengthened because I feel that there is a lot more than can be said about what reviewers think about the book. There are grammatical mistakes that need to be fixed, as well as clarifications that need to be made to improve clarity in the leading and summary sections.
 * Is the article neutral? Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
 * I believe the article is pretty neutral, but the reception section focuses heavily on the positive views of the novel and not the negative aspects. It mainly addresses negative reception in the "Controversy" section, so it may be best to change the title of the "Reception and Awards" section to just "Awards" or to keep the title the same and also address negative receptions.
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
 * I believe that all the viewpoints are represented well. Nothing is unnecessarily repeated.
 * Check a few citations. Do the links work? Does the source support the claims in the article?
 * All of the links that I went through work and support the claims in the article. Great job with that!
 * Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference? Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?
 * Each of the facts are referenced with appropriate, reliable references. The sources are not all neutral, but if they are bias, it is evident in the title of the source.
 * What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
 * Representation of homosexuality in literature is always discussed and very controversial.
 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
 * It is unrated and I am unable to see if it is a part of any WikiProjects.
 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?
 * The article mentions awards and other themes that we did not necessarily cover in class, and it stays neutral compared to conversation in class.

Article Evaluation for "Mexican American Studies Department, Tucson Unified School District"


 * Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?
 * Everything stated in the article is relevant to the article topic. However, I was distracted by the summary provided of the curriculum because it sounds incomplete and disorganized.
 * Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?
 * The article seems to discuss the Tucson controversy up until the year 2017, so more information could be added about what has happened in the past year. Also, I would like to do more research regarding the list of books that were banned and possibly provide more details about why those specific books were banned.
 * What else could be improved?
 * Overall, each of the sections could be lengthened and discussed further in depth. Also, all of the references need to be double checked, and several more scholarly references need to be added because the current sources are quite bias.
 * Is the article neutral? Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
 * The article is pretty neutral as all of the claims stated are facts that do not show any particular bias.
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
 * The positive aspects of the department are largely overrepresented, while negative aspects are underrepresented in the article.
 * Check a few citations. Do the links work? Does the source support the claims in the article?
 * The link to the eighth and ninth references do not work, and I do not have access to the Acosta article link through the Wiki page. Each fo the sources do support the claims made in the article.
 * Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference? Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?
 * Most of the facts are referenced besides the sentences in the last paragraph. There are a few references to journals, which are appropriate and reliable references. However, most of the references are news outlets or magazines, which are not always reliable sources. These types of sources are typically not neutral sources and often support a specific side based on their respective political agendas/views.
 * What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
 * There is talk about how the information provided about the topic is not complete and needs to be expanded. Also, more scholarly works need to be referenced because a majority of the references are news sources, as I stated above. In addition, more should be said about the curriculum and program itself because these two aspects make up the controversy.
 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
 * The article has been rated as "Start-Class," which means the article "is developing, but which is quite incomplete. It might or might not cite adequate reliable sources." It is apart of WikiProject Articles for Creation.
 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?
 * This article does not go into depth about the program itself and what is done on a daily basis. In class, we focused on the experiences that students within the program had and how those experiences affected them as both students and young people trying to learn more about themselves. The article fails to do this by explaining the program on a surface level, without going into depth about what the program was actually like and its effect on the students.

Article Evaluation for "Leonard Peltier"


 * Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?
 * Everything in the article is relevant to Leonard Peltier, and I was not distracted by anything in the article. In fact, I was very interested in Leonard Peltier's life story and criminal timeline.
 * Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?
 * From what I have reviewed and learned about Leonard Peltier through the references and other sources, there is no information out of date. However, more information could be added about what has happened to Peltier in the past year.
 * What else could be improved?
 * There are some claims/facts that are not cited, so it is important to recheck where all the information came from and give credit to the original source.
 * Is the article neutral? Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
 * The article is neutral, in my opinion, because all of the information is factual.
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
 * All of the information presented paints Peltier as a true criminal, but there may be additional information regarding his legal/criminal history that is not mentioned in the article.
 * Check a few citations. Do the links work? Does the source support the claims in the article?
 * Each of the lines work, and the sources that I double checked do support the claims in the article.
 * Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference? Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?
 * Many of the references are not very reliable, since they are biased sources that mainly tell Peltier's story from a single perspective. Not many journals or government websites are used within the article, which means the information can be slightly incorrect or very biased toward one side of the story. News articles often get minor details wrong or over/underrepresent certain aspects of their articles for media rating purposes, miscommunication, etc. Therefore, the timeline of events about the killing of the two FBI agents and future crimes may not be accurate.
 * What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
 * Just as I had stated above, there is a lot of concern about the reliability of the information because the sources are not entirely accurate or tell incomplete accounts of the events mentioned in the article. One particular user emphasized that the article is weakened by using Peltier's website as one of the main sources, which I thought was interesting because I did not pay attention to how frequently each source was cited and how that may affect the article's effectiveness.
 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
 * The article is rated Class C (article is substantial, but is missing important information or contains a lot of less important information). It is a part of the following WikiProjects: Biography/Politics and Government, Indigenous peoples of North America, Crime, Criminal Biography, and Montana.
 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?
 * Leonard Peltier was introduced in Rethinking Columbus, but we did not discuss him specifically. Thus, the article gives a lot of information regarding his young life and alleged criminal history, which is useful when trying to understand his significance in recent Native American history.

Structural Evaluation for A Wrinkle in Time (novel)


 * Does article follow basic format for a novel described in the handout?
 * The article does not follow the basic format for a novel as described in the handout and the sections do not flow very logically. Likewise, some of the information within each section is not exactly relevant to the main point of the section. Overall, this article needs a lot of editing, so I will go further into detail about the major aspects of the article and whats needs to fixed/added/taken away below.
 * What does the article have/cover that is mentioned in the handout?
 * The article has a lead section, but it is very short and does not contain very relevant information. It lists out some of the awards the novel received, but those are more meant for the Reception section. Also, the leads section does not do a good job of summarizing the content of the article, which is necessary.
 * The second section in the article is the Publication section, which should be moved lower in the order of sections; the second section should be a Background section about the book and how it came to be. The Publication section in the article also needs to have more citations because there is an entire paragraph without citations.
 * There is a Summary section, but it is extremely long and too detailed for a summary. Thus, it needs to be shortened and made more concise. It is not extremely necessary to quote specific sections of the book.
 * There is an Infobox, which is good.
 * There is a Reception section, and it does a good job of using direct quotes when necessary.
 * What is missing and could be added to the article?
 * The Background section is missing and some of the information that is pertinent to the Background section is sprinkled throughout the other sections in the article. The Background section could include information provided at the end of the novel itself about the author and how she wrote the book. It should also include basic information about when the book was written and the author's purpose for writing the book.
 * The article is missing a Genre/Style section, which is important to add, since it directly relates to the controversy surrounding the novel.
 * While there is a Major Themes section, more analysis should be included in the article.
 * The Characters and Locations sections should be shortened because the lists are extremely long and distracting.
 * Extra Source for article from Literature Resource Center:
 * L'Engle, Madeleine. "Childlike Wonder and the Truths of Science Fiction." Children's Literature Review, edited by Tom Burns, vol. 116, Gale, 2006. Literature Resource Center, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/H1420072605/LitRC?u=wash43584&sid=LitRC&xid=18d9a702 . Accessed 9 Oct. 2018. Originally published in Children's Literature, vol. 10, 1982, pp. 102-110.
 * Sheffer, Susannah. "Breaking the Rules: A Defense of A Wrinkle in Time." Children's Literature Review, edited by Jelena Krstovic, vol. 172, Gale, 2012. Literature Resource Center, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/H1420107873/LitRC?u=wash43584&sid=LitRC&xid=c9c3588f . Accessed 9 Oct. 2018. Originally published in Censored Books II: Critical Viewpoints, 1985-2000, edited by Nicholas J. Karolides, The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2002, pp. 452-457.

Evaluation 1 (content/references) on Persepolis (novel) Article


 * Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?
 * From what I can see, everything in the article is relevant to the main article topic (Persepolis the comic). However, I think it would be better if a link to the article about Persepolis the film were provided instead of having the small section about the film.
 * Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?
 * I do not believe any of the information is out of date, but more information could be added about the recent controversies surrounding the book. For instance, information about the book being challenged in Chicago four to five years could be added. Also, it may be useful to have a separate analysis section of the book that goes into evaluations of the novel itself.
 * What else could be improved?
 * The summary section needs to be drastically shortened by removing all unnecessary information and shortening/combining sentences in order to make them less repetitive. Character List may also not be necessary, but if the editor decides to keep it, it would be best to shorten the longer descriptions of certain characters, like Khosro.
 * Is the article neutral? Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
 * The article seems to be pretty neutral overall, but there are certain sections that are too long and certain descriptions that are longer than others. This may appear heavily biased toward the actions of the certain characters, but this is not something I believe is an issue based on the pretty neutral content I have read so far.
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
 * The second book's summary is tooooooo long, so the second Persepolis is overrepresented. Also, certain characters are overrepresented based on their long descriptions.
 * Check a few citations. Do the links work? Does the source support the claims in the article?
 * Each of the citations that I check work and sources seem to support the claims made in the article.
 * Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference? Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?
 * Not all of the sources are appropriate and reliable because certain sources are news outlets/typically biased sources of information. This bias is evident throughout the article when certain descriptions are longer than others.
 * What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
 * The lengthy summary is emphasized as an issue. The inclusion of too many unnecessary details that may only be relevant for some audiences is another issue mentioned. Also, direct quotes need to paraphrased if they are not absolutely crucial to our understanding of the content.
 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
 * Rated: Start class on quality scale; Mid importance on project's importance scale
 * WikiProjects: Comics, Iran
 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?
 * The Genre/Style section discusses the book in a similar way as we did in class by pointing out controversial aspects and certain themes/elements that have a specific purpose.

Evaluation 2 (structural) on Persepolis (novel) Article


 * Does article follow basic format for a novel described in the handout?
 * The article loosely follows the basic format for a novel as described in the handout, but it is missing a few sections and contains sections that are too long (SUMMARY).
 * What does the article have/cover that is mentioned in the handout?
 * The article contains the following sections: Lead, Background, Summary, Genre/Style, Publication, Reception, and a few extra sections. The summary section is way too long, and should be cut down to a couple of paragraphs, if possible. The Lead section has some unnecessary information (little details) that should be moved to their appropriate sections. The Background section contains quotes that need to paraphrased. Also, information from the Lead section can moved down into the Background section. Again, there are too many quotes in the Genre section that should be paraphrased because it is best to paraphrase quotes when the same message gets across to the reader. Also, I am not sure if this is allowed, but there are references in the middle of sentences, which seems weird. Maybe those should be moved to the end of their respective sentences. In addition, there are issues with basic formatting of quotes.
 * What is missing and could be added to the article?
 * There is no Analysis section and some other unnecessary sections need to be shortened (Character List) or entirely removed (Film section). The Infobox also needs to be fixed because some information is missing.