For the family of Anna Mae Pictou Aquash, the news that President Biden had granted clemency to Native American activist Leonard Peltier shortly before leaving office came as a surprise."We were not given a head's up as a family,

President Joe Biden on Monday commuted the sentence of Leonard Peltier, a Native American activist convicted of killing two FBI agents nearly 50 years ago in South Dakota. Peltier, 80, is a citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa in North Dakota.

The 11th hour clemency of Leonard Peltier has touched off a wave of joy, but it also brings pain to those who believe he should remain in prison for murder.

In one of his last acts before leaving office, former President Joe Biden commuted the life sentence of Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier, convicted in the 1975 killings of two FBI agents.

Leonard Peltier has his life sentence commuted by President Biden during one of his last acts in the White House.

On his final day in office, President Joe Biden commuted Leonard Peltier, an 80-year-old Turtle Mountain Chippewa man convicted of killing two FBI agents. Many Indigenous communities around the state and nation are celebrating the decision.

HuffPost unpacks why Joe Biden granting clemency to Native American activist Leonard Peltier in the final moments of his presidency is so significant.