1969 Alcatraz (HS)
1969 Alcatraz (HS)
1969 Alcatraz (HS)
Notes to Educators from Ryan: This project is from my 11th grade US History class. I included in
my unit on social movements during the 1960s and 1970s. We read the Background of the
occupation of Alcatraz in 1969. We also read and analyzed the proclamation issued by the
protesters.
1969 OCCUPATION OF
ALCATRAZ
California: From November 20, 1969, to June 11, 1971, Native Americans took over and held
Alcatraz Island as Indian Land. The Occupation of Alcatraz Island" was led by the Native American
group, Indians of All Tribes (IAT).
The take-over lasted 14-months and ended when the Indians were forcibly removed by the federal
government.
Indians of All Tribes claimed the island by citing the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) between the
U.S. and the Sioux. The treaty returned to Native peoples all retired, abandoned, and out of use
federal lands. When Alcatraz penitentiary closed in 1963, the U.S. declared the island as surplus
federal property. So Red Power activists reclaimed it.
On March 9, 1964, Richard McKenzie and other Sioux occupied Alcatraz for four hours.
On November 9, 1969, another group of activists returned. A boat carried Richard Oakes
(Mohawk), Jim Vaughn (Cherokee), Joe Bill (Eskimo), Ross Harden (Ho-Chunk) and Jerry Hatch
close to the island. Then the men jumped overboard, swam to shore, and claimed the island by
right of discovery.
Later that day, a larger group made their way to the island. Fourteen stayed overnight. The next
day, the group proclaimed the island by right of discovery. Then they left the island.
The IAT said they intended took the island over to build a Native American Studies center,
spiritual center, an ecology center, and an
American Indian Museum.
President Richard Nixon's Special Counsel Leonard Garment took over negotiations.[2]
On Thanksgiving Day, hundreds of supporters made their way to Alcatraz to celebrate the
Occupation. In December, John Trudell began daily radio broadcasts from the island. In January
1970, occupiers began publishing a newsletter.
Then, in January 1970, 13-year-old Yvonne Oakes fell to her death. The Oakes family left Alcatraz,
saying they didn't have the heart for it anymore. Some original occupiers left to return to school.
New occupiers soon came to the island, but several had drug addictions. People from San
Francisco's drug and hippie culture joined them until non-Indians were prohibited from staying
overnight.
The Alcatraz Occupation led to a yearly celebration of the rights of indigenous people. It also led
to the island's "Unthanksgiving Day." All visitors are welcome to attend a dawn ceremony under
permits by the National Park Service.
Note: While AIM (The American Indian Movement) is often credited with the takeover, AIM wasn't
involved until later.
ALCATRAZ PROCLAMATION
To the
Great White Father and his People 1969
We, the native Americans, re-claim the land known as
greater than the 47 cents per acre the white men are
that land for their own, to be held in trust by the American Indian Government for as long as the sun
shall rise and the rivers go down to the sea -- to be administered by the Bureau of Caucasian Affairs
(BCA). We will further guide the inhabitants in the proper way of living. We will offer them our religion,
our education, our lifeways, in order to help them achieve our level of civilization and thus raise them
and all their white brothers up from their savage and unhappy state. We offer this treaty in good faith
and wish to be fair and honorable in our dealings with all white men. We feel that this Alcatraz Island is
more than suitable as an Indian Reservation, as determined by the white man's own standards.
By this we mean that this place resembles most Indian reservations, in that:
Further, it would be fitting and symbolic that ships from all over the world, entering the Golden Gate, would first
see Indian land, and thus be reminded of the true history of this nation. This tiny island would be a symbol of the
great lands once ruled by free and noble Indians.
Discussion Questions:
• How did the Alcatraz Proclamation point out the failures of the
U.S. government?
• Although the Native Americans eventually abandoned the
Alcatraz occupation, do you think the occupation was a
success?