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The Occupation of Alcatraz (November 20, 1969 – June 11, 1971) was a 19-month long occupation by 89 American Indians and their supporters of Alcatraz Island and its prison complex, classified as abandoned surplus federal land. [1]
A lingering sign of the 1969–71 Native American occupation. Alcatraz Island was occupied by Native American activists for the first time on March 8, 1964. The protest, proposed by Lakota Sioux activist Belva Cottier and joined by about 35 others, was reported by, among others, the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Francisco Examiner. [35]
In 1969, a number of Native American members of the Alcatraz-Red Power Movement group Indians of All Tribes (IAT) occupied the island of Alcatraz, under the terms of the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie that allocated surplus government land to Native Americans. The occupation lasted for 19 months, from November 20, 1969, to June 11, 1971.
On the day of the actual takeover and occupation, November 20, 1969, Nordwall was out of town, but on Thanksgiving when everyone was invited to the Island he came riding across the bay standing on the prow of a ship exactly like George Washington, being the only day he was ever on the island during the 19 month Occupation of Alcatraz. [7]
In 1969, Oakes led a group of students and urban Bay Area American Indians in an occupation of Alcatraz Island [9] that would last until 1971. He also recruited 80 UCLA students from the American Indian Studies Center. Many other Nations had already attempted to circle the island in boats but all were unsuccessful.
After Alcatraz was abandoned as a prison, the island was briefly reclaimed as Native land -- spurring an occupation of over a year. When Native American activists took control of Alcatraz for 18 ...
John Trudell (February 15, 1946 – December 8, 2015) was an American author, poet, actor, musician, and political activist. He was the spokesperson for the Indians of All Tribes' takeover of Alcatraz beginning in 1969, broadcasting as Radio Free Alcatraz.
The Occupation of Alcatraz ended after a series of disorienting events on the island. The January 1970 death of Richard Oakes' 13-year-old stepdaughter due to falling from a building brought Richard and his wife Anne back to the mainland. [2] Some of the student occupiers went back to school when the Oakes' left.