Native American activist Leonard Peltier was defiant toward the government but grateful for his supporters as they welcomed him home to North Dakota on Wednesday, a day after his release from a Florida prison where he had been serving a life sentence in the 1975 killings of two FBI agents.

Leonard Peltier, convicted in 1977 of killing two FBI agents, has maintained his innocence for nearly 50 years.

Mr. Peltier was convicted in the killing of two F.B.I. agents. An order from former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. will allow him to serve his remaining time under home confinement.