The Native Occupation of Alcatraz Island and Its Effects on the Greater American Indian Movement

The Native Occupation of Alcatraz Island and its Effects on the Greater American Indian Movement.

On November 20th, 1969 a group of Indian students, and urban Indians from the Bay Area led by Richard Oakes landed on Alcatraz Island claiming it as "Indian Land" (Johnson). This was a multi-tribal group and so they adopted the name "Indians of All Tribes" (Johnson). The 1969 landing and subsequent 19 month occupation was not the first attempt at an occupation; it was however the last and the longest in a string of 3 attempts (Winton). This Occupation would have a significant effect on the Native American rights movement and also a profound effect on the Country as a whole.

The First attempt was made on March 9, 1964. It was led by Sioux Indian, Richard McKenzie, 5 others of his tribe, and accompanied by their lawyer (Eagle). They claimed the land under the Black Hills Treaty of 1868, which stated

"And it is further stipulated that any male Indians, over eighteen years of age, of any band or tribe that is or who shall hereafter become a party to this treaty, who now is or shall hereafter become a resident or occupant of any reservation or territory no included in the tract of country designated...which is not mineral land, nor reserved by the United States for any special purposes other than Indian occupation ... Shall be entitled to receive from the United States a patent" on the land (Eagle).

This meant that if the government didn't want the land the Sioux could have it. And this was the case. A presidential commission had found that no federal agency could find a practical use for the prison (Eagle). This Occupation however lasted only about 4 hours but it was not unsuccessful, the demands and basis for these demands (Black Hills treaty) made by McKenzie would resurface again in the 2 subsequent occupations led by Oakes (Johnson).

On November 9th 1969 Richard Oakes began his occupation with a handful of supporters (Johnson). They soon realized that a full scale occupation would be possible and began recruiting Native peoples to join them, most of which were urban Indians from Californian Universities (Johnson).

Initial support from both the public and the press was one of solidarity and support (Eagle). They were non-violent. They were well-organized into a community council wherein everybody had a role (Johnson). They had clear demands (the deed to the island). They had clear and well thought out claim to the land (Black hills treaty). And they had clear ideas as to how they would make use of the island (Indian university, a cultural center, and a museum) (Eagle). There was little reason in the public's eye as to why the government would be opposed to the Indian ownership of a barren Island with no natural resources.

However the government was opposed to the occupation. The government initially insisted that the Indian people leave the island. They placed an ineffective Coast Guard blockade around the island (Eagle). Eventually, bent by public opinion, the federal government agreed that formal negotiations be held with the Indian council (Johnson). The "negotiations" accomplished little because the government came with a hard stance that left little leeway for true dialogue. The Indians wanted the deed to the island; they wanted to establish an Indian university, a cultural center, and a museum. Government negotiators continually insisted that Oakes and his supporters could have none of their demands and insisted that they vacate the island (Johnson).

The authorities maintained this stalemate at formal talks in an attempt to wait-out the Indian Occupiers (Johnson). This was a tactic that eventually proved effective. By early 1970 the Occupiers began to divide. Open opposition with the leadership of Richard Oakes began. Many of the students who had initially occupied the island along with Oakes began to return to school (Johnson). This stripped Oakes of much of his support. To add to the growing divide many Non-Indian persons began congregating on the island as well, many of whom were part of the San Francisco hippie and drug culture (Johnson). Then on January 5, 1970 Oakes's daughter Yvonne fell three stories in one of the abandoned building and died (Eagle). With this tragic event Oakes lost a daughter and the occupiers lost a charismatic leader. Richard Oakes left the Alcatraz movement saying "Well, you guys do what you can with it. I don't have the heart for it anymore." (Eagle).

After Oakes departure there was almost no hope of attaining their goals anymore. Even if negotiations could be set up, there was no longer a centralized Indian leadership with whom to negotiate. The government decided to hurry along the stalemate by shutting off all electrical power to the island and removing the barge which supplied water to the occupiers (Eagle). Three days after the removal of the barge a fire broke out on the east side of the island gutting and destroying many historic buildings (Eagle). The government blamed the increasingly out of control occupiers. Many occupiers however claim that a passing boat had fired a flare onto the island. The cause of the fire remains a mystery but it did however succeed in swaying public opinion away from the occupiers and towards a speedy resolution to the problem (Eagle). People were becoming increasingly upset with the stalemate and the burning of the island and damage to the island's lighthouse (a SF icon) was just fuel to the fire. Soon reports of power struggles, assaults and beatings on the island began to circulate through the press and the last of the public support disappeared (Johnson).

On June 11, 1971, nineteen months and nine days after the beginning of the occupation, federal marshals and F.B.I agents armed with automatic rifles swarmed the island (Eagle). They removed the remaining occupiers, six men, four women, and five children. They were taken to the military base on Yerba Buena Island and then put up for one night in a 3rd rate motel in the Tenderloin (Eagle). That was the end of the Indian occupation of Alcatraz.

The success of the occupation can't simply be judged by whether the title to the island was ever obtained. The occupation of Alcatraz, while not realizing its main goal, it did accomplish much in the area of Indian rights. The underlying goal of the Indians on Alcatraz was to awaken the American public to the plight of the first Americans, to the suffering caused by the federal government's broken treaties and broken promises, and to the need for Indian self-determination (Johnson). With these goals the occupiers were successful. As a direct and indirect result of the occupation at Alcatraz the official U.S government policy of termination of Indian tribes was ended and replaced