ALCATRAZ HISTORY - Native American Occupation 1969-1971
ALCATRAZ HISTORY
NATIVE AMERICAN OCCUPATION
The Native American occupation of Alcatraz on November 20, 1969 made headlines for many months, yet it was not the first time Native Americans sought to claim the island for the Indian people.
The first attempt happened on March 9, 1964 and lasted only four hours. The effort was led by five Sioux, with Richard McKenzie at the forefront. It symbolized the first time Native Americans would present their list of demands for the island – those same demands would be repeated in subsequent occupations.
The next occupation on November 9, 1969 represented many tribes and was led by Richard Oakes, a Mohawk Indian. They left the island the same day but in the meetings that followed that day, Oakes and his fellow American Indians began to realize that a longer, more serious occupation was possible. So, in the name of "Indians of All Tribes," Oakes, 80 Indian students from UCLA, and 20 Native Americans set out in a chartered boat, the Monte Cristo, to begin the occupation that would last 17 months.
The occupation began with commendable structure and order. Occupiers elected a council, everybody was assigned a job, and decisions relating to security, sanitation, day care, education, and housing were made by unanimous consent of the people.
What did the Native Americans want? They wanted the deed to the island and they wanted to establish an Indian university, cultural center, and museum. Government negotiators refused to consider any demands and insisted they leave the island.
The well-oiled machinery of the social structure on Alcatraz started to break down in early 1970. Small groups opposed Richard Oakes. Students had to return to school and when they left the island, they were replaced by Native Americans from urban areas and reservations who hadn't been part of the initial occupation. People with no Native American blood but lots of interest in drugs began to infiltrate the island. Oakes left the island when his 13-year-old daughter fell down three flights of stairs to her death. His departure created competition for his replacement and more unrest ensued.
Oddly, the government did not interfere for many months. It neither indicated acceptance of the Native American demands nor demanded their evacuation. Those on the island believed that the government was hoping the occupiers eventually would lose interest in their cause and leave of their own accord.
After a while, some negotiations did transpire, but the results were far from acceptable to the Indians, who, by mid-1970, would settle for nothing less than the fulfillment of all their demands. The government began to get impatient, and shut off all electrical power. It removed the water barge that provided fresh water to the people on the island. Three days after the barge was removed, a fire broke out on the island, destroying several historic buildings. Fingers were being pointed by both sides.
Though the occupation continued into 1971, the state of the organization had deteriorated significantly. The drug culture thrived, and fights over authority raged. Then the press discovered that, in an attempt to raise money for food, occupiers had been stripping copper wiring and tubing form the buildings to sell as scrap metal – about 600 pounds of it had been removed from the island. Three people were arrested in conjunction with this activity. Afterwards, and unrelated to this incident, frequent reports of beatings and assaults surfaced, reducing public support for the occupiers' cause more each day.
When two oil tankers collided in the San Francisco Bay in January 1971, the lack of light on Alcatraz was blamed and the event prompted President Nixon to launch of plan of forced evacuation of the island. On June 10, 1971, at a time when the smallest number of people were on the island, armed federal marshals, FBI agents, and special forces police swarmed the island and removed five women, four children, and six unarmed men. Not wanting to have more people removed in a similar fashion, the occupiers conceded and the occupation ended.
Though the Native Americans did not get what they wanted, they did heighten the cause in the American consciousness. The official government policy of termination of Indian tribes ceased, replaced by a policy of Indian self-determination.
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