THERE'S SOME STINKIN' fish in this somewhere," says Canadian rocker Greg Keelor. "And it's gotta be figured out...it's gotta be found out somehow." He's referring to the murky facts surrounding the extradition of Native American activist Leonard Peltier from Canada back to the U.S. for the 1977 trial that found him guilty of the murder of two government agents in the midst of an FBI-American Indian Movement (AIM) shootout on South Dakota's depressed Pine Ridge reservation. "What we're trying to do is bring the information a little bit more to the forefront," Keelor explains, phoning from his farm outside Toronto. The 17 Canadian artists--including Blue Rodeo, The Tragically Hip, Sarah McLachlan and Jane Siberry--who contributed to Pine Ridge: An Open Letter to Allan Rock offer it up as "a collective prayer" and a message to their Minister of Justice, whom they believe can play an important role in liberating Peltier, who's now served 20 years of the two consecutive life sentences he was given. According to Amnesty International, which lists Peltier as a political prisoner, the FBI has admitted to "fabricating evidence in order to attain his extradition from Canada to stand trial." Other evidence suggests Peltier was the chosen target of an FBI vendetta against AIM. All appeals in the case have now been exhausted and supporters feel chances for retrial or executive clemency hinge on the outcome of a special commission headed by Canadian Justice Minister Allan Rock to investigate the legality of the 1976 extradition process. For Keelor, singer-songwriter with Blue Rodeo, spearheading the Pine Ridge project grew out of a lifetime of "frustration with the world as it exists, especially the whole North American western civilization...and trying to find some sort of way of explaining my experience and incarnation here. "The native myth has been...well, just one that I understand better. And when you see that world being manipulated and incarcerated and a structured genocide against the people, it's very infuriating." A year ago, while immersed in several books on Lakota history and culture, including Black Elk Speaks and In the Spirit of Crazy Horse (author Peter Mathiessen's account of the Peltier case), a chance meeting with Frank Dreaver, head of the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee (LPDF) of Canada, offered some constructive focus for the frustration Keelor was feeling. Soon after, he approached Warner Canada executives and found them immediately receptive to his idea for a compilation of Canadian artists to bring attention to Peltier's situation and to generate funds for the Defense Committee. (North America) deals with information through the media," Keelor says. "And Frank being an activist, I thought this record might give him a few more poker chips at the table." Keelor also created a powerful sampler of some of Canada's most dynamic artists, many of whom tend to be overlooked by the U.S. market. In the years since the band's rise from Toronto's Queen Street club scene to multi-platinum status, Blue Rodeo has cultivated a close circle of musical acquaintances. Keelor didn't have to go far to enlist an impressive list of performers. "All were aware of the case and "eager and honored to be involved." For the most part, the artists who joined in Pine Ridge went ahead with what they wanted to do, delivering final tracks to Keelor. The Tragically Hip turned in a live version of the provocative "Flamenco" from their recent Trouble at the Henhouse record. Producer-songwriter Bob Wiseman reprised his moving "Response of a Lakota Woman to FBI Intimidation, Circa 1973 Pine Ridge," and madcap fiddler Ashley MacIsaac recorded a traditional tune, "King of the Fairies." When Jane Siberry, Sarah McLachlan and Anne Bourne asked for some direction, Keelor's advice was, "Just think of him in his cell, just sing to him in his cell." Siberry's improv-flavored live track, "The White Dove is Not My Mother," McLachlan's angelic cover of "Unchained Melody" and cellist Bourne's exquisitely tender "Robin's Egg Blue/What's That My Love" are among the finest cuts on the album. Other standout tracks include Keelor's own "Pine Ridge"--a bare, compelling ballad with the power to remind that native people are living daily with the events that punctured their lives more than 100 years ago--and Blue Rodeo partner Jim Cuddy's hypnotic "Smoking Gun," featuring a role reversal, with Keelor on drums and the group's powerhouse drummer Glen Milchem turning out stunning guitar work. The Skydiggers, arguably one of Canada's most exciting bands, contributed a stirring allegorical dirge, "St. Dunstan's One Request," showcasing their passionate harmonies and ringing guitars. Other featured artists include sultry Crash Vegas vocalist Michelle McAdorey and peripatetic rockers Change of Heart. A luminous presence on the record is Michael Ondaatje, one of Canada's most revered authors and, as it turns out, Keelor's English professor from university days. Ondaatje's two readings from In the Skin of a Lion (predecessor to The English Patient), nestle between musical tracks with soothing and reveberent calm. According to a Warner Canada spokesman, the Pine Ridge CD is the property of the LPDF-Canada, which will receive all profits and will also decide if the record is to be released outside Canada. Today, at age 50, Leonard Peltier, father of five and a grandfather as well, is an accomplished oil painter whose prints are sold through the Defense Committee. In interviews he's spoken of his desire to teach painting and farm buffalo with his family if is he is released. Asked if he'd met Peltier, Keelor said his planned meeting at Leavenworth maximum security federal prison was cancelled just as he was about to depart for Kansas. "That's sort of what they do with him...they're screwing around with his visitation, screwing around with his phone rights." The Pine Ridge project joins forces with a broadbased clemency movement that may be Peltier's last hope for justice. A petition for clemency filed with U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno more than two years ago awaits her decision before going on to President Clinton, who has the power to grant an executive pardon. The Canadians hope that prodding their own government officials will help. "Hopefully we can get the Minister of Justice to intervene on Leonard's behalf, either asking for clemency or at least making some formal protest about the extradition," Keelor explains. Pine Ridge: An Open Letter to Allen Rock can be ordered through HMV (1-800-567-8468). Or LPDC-U.S., P.O. box 583, Lawrence, Kansas 66044, (913) 842-5774.

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