Occupy Alcatraz: Indigenous Rise and Resistance
A story of Native American activism during the 1960s
Early in the morning of November 20, 1969, 89 First Nations activists piled into a few boats and set out across San Francisco bay with a mission: occupy Alcatraz. The group was made up of women, children, and men, with the goal of setting up an indigenous community on the abandoned island. The secondary goal, however, was to shine some light on the ongoing struggles of Native Americans throughout the continent. Their eighteen month long occupation was both the beginning and end of a series of movements centering around Indigenous identity and self-determination during the mid-century.
San Francisco and AIC
It is no secret that the U.S government historically has made life very difficult for Native Americans. The reservation policies, extermination attempts, and assimilation programs decimated the traditional way of life in irreparable ways. In 1940, a new program called the Indian Termination Policy called for an end to tribal recognition and a push toward “American Assimilation.” It ended tribal sovereignty, delisted recognized tribes, and brought federally-supported health and financial support programs to a screeching halt.
This policy had numerous lasting effects, most notably in the diaspora that pushed individuals off the reservations and into major metropolitan areas through Bureau of Indian Affairs relocation programs. Minneapolis, San Francisco, Phoenix, and Seattle were some of the more common destinations. It comes as no surprise that those cities were hotbeds of Indigenous activism through the mid-century. These cities were refuges: havens for tribal members without tribes.
In 1940, the first American Indian Center of San Francisco was established by diasporic First Nations people. The center had great success not only as a place of education, but a place of Indigenous activism. People were encouraged to speak and learn their native languages, practice traditional skills, and most importantly, advocate for tribal interests. San Francisco itself was teeming with social change, and the American Indian Center was an important part of the city-wide social activism.
Fire and phoenix rising
In October of 1969, a fire gutted the American Indian Center. The fire was a huge blow to the Native Americans living in the Bay Area, many of whom had become organized activists under the name “Indians of All Tribes” or IoAT. In the search for a new location, members set their sights on a small uninhabited island in San Francisco bay: Alcatraz.
It wasn’t the first time indigenous people formulated plans for the island. When the famous prison closed in 1963, tribal members lobbied for the island to be turned over as part of reparations. The burgeoning Bay Area tribal coalition hoped to build a Native American cultural center and school based on Alcatraz, even before the fire that destroyed the AIC.
In 1964, a few members of Sioux Nation attempted to seize the island based on the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie. An article in the treaty stipulated that tribes could appropriate surplus federal property, and the newly shuttered Alcatraz prison was prime real estate. Although the 1964 attempt failed, Alcatraz Island stood as a symbol of the struggles First Nations people endured under U.S Government control. It was a tempting and highly visible location from which American Indians could organize and educate about their ongoing struggles.
Fast forward to early November 1969. Shortly after the loss of the AIC, a small contingency of urban Indians led by Richard Oakes (Akwesasne Mohawk) chartered a boat to occupy Alcatraz. The quick day trip became the inspiration for a more large-scale occupation launched on November 20th, an occupation that would last over a year and a half.
Richard Oakes was a charismatic leader in San Francisco indigenous community, and had many ties to student and civic organizations. The full-scale occupation of Alcatraz depended on his leadership, as well as his ability to recruit students and Indians of All Tribes to help push the message of Alcatraz — that US Government policies were actively undermining First Nations communities, and that all tribes had the right to self-determination. Oakes saw the early November trip as a precursor to a more permanent social movement for Native Americans that would emanate from Alcatraz. The possibilities seemed endless for Oakes.
Early Occupation
Like many egalitarian societies, the early days of the Alcatraz occupation were awash in idealism and excitement. About one hundred people joined the occupation on November 20th, many of whom were students from UCLA’s American Indians Study Center. Families moved with their children to the island, a school was established, and occupiers divided daily duties equally.
Indians of All Tribes issued a proclamation with their demands, the most important of which was establishing Alcatraz Island as an official Indian Reservation. To Oakes and IoAT, Alcatraz represented everything that was wrong about reservations: lack of clean water and sanitation, no exploitable resources, no on-site health care, and most importantly, its history as a prison. Reservations were prisons for First Nations people, and occupying Alcatraz brought many of the issues of self-determination to the forefront of national conversations.
The proclamation underpinned the goals the IoAT had for the island. They wanted to build a complex of Indian Education, including a spiritual center, a cultural training space, a school, and a museum. The group also proposed an Indian Center of Ecology, with a focus on improving the environment and restoring critical habitat in the Bay Area. The plan included a desalination plant to purify drinking water. Effectively, the proclamation proposed a reservation built by Native Americans, for Native Americans, complete with all the pieces the US Government stripped away from their cultural identity. The occupiers contended that tribal self-determination was more than just a place for home, it included restoring culture that had been actively repressed by the government.
Federal Response
The Federal Government quickly knew they had a major issue on their hands, and at first were unsure how to handle it. The mass uprisings of the late 1960s had given them many options to deal with protestors, and many of those options were inherently violent. When IoAT launched their occupation on November 20th, the U.S government initially barricaded the island and insisted the occupiers leave immediately. When it became clear that Oakes and the Indians of All Tribes had no intention of leaving, the government chose a hands-off approach to the occupation. The IoAT demanded Alcatraz be transferred to Native ownership: the federal government refused. The two sides quickly entrenched at an impasse, and the federal government chose a “wait and see” approach to the unrest.
That is not to say there were not government infiltrators on Alcatraz. In fact, agents provocateur and undercover feds created mischief and discontent on the island. Secret negotiations failed and it was clear that the IoAT had no intention of backing off their original demand — full ownership of Alcatraz.
The beginning of the end
As the occupation dragged into 1970, the personnel changed as well. The original occupiers were a large group of students from UCLA, and many of them left to finish their studies. At the same time, word was circulating amongst urban Indians about the occupation and people poured into San Francisco from reservations and cities alike. Alcatraz was a galvanizing moment for First Nations people and many wanted to be involved. Additionally, counter-culture folks and hippies looked to Alcatraz as a refuge from the pro-war conservative society in which they lived.
As the personnel changed, Richard Oakes faced leadership challenges from inside the organization. In January of 1970, a tragic accident at Alcatraz took the life of his 13-year-old adopted daughter and he chose to leave the island. His exit left a power vacuum that competing groups attempted to fill. However, the egalitarian movement at Alcatraz meant that no one was really “in charge,” which lead to more confusion when dealing with the U.S Government. Who is there to negotiate with, and what is there to negotiate? No one really knew.
By the end of 1970, it was clear that the intent and nature of the occupation had changed. In an attempt to raise money, some IoAT members stripped Alcatraz of valuable copper wire. As with many social movements, when petty theft is involved, outside sympathy wanes. Additionally, a fire at the complex helped turn the tide of public opinion: many thought the rag-tag group of Native Americans had overstayed their welcome. Coupled with a rampant nationwide press campaign to discredit the occupiers, it seems that the Federal Government’s waiting game was paying off.
In January 1971, two oil tankers collided in foggy San Francisco Bay. Despite the fact the occupiers were in no way responsible for the accident, the Nixon administration saw it as an opportunity to remove the Indians of All Tribes from Alcatraz. Plans were set in place to remove people as peacefully as possible, as to not inflame the tense social climate. It wasn’t until June when federal agents swooped in to forcefully remove about 20 occupiers comprised of women, children, and unarmed men. After 18 months, the occupation of Alcatraz came to an uneventful and generally peaceful end.
The Aftermath
There is a lot of discussion as to whether the Alcatraz Occupation was successful. Although the residents did not get their demands of ownership of the island and the massive cultural center, their requests did not fall on deaf ears. Public attention turned to the plight of First Nations people in the United States and Canada, especially around the concept of self-determination for tribal members. In the years following the occupation, the Federal Government shifted policy to include native voices when making decisions about First Nations people. The termination and assimilation programs of previous generations slowed after Alcatraz, while Native American activism increased.
Another key success of the Alcatraz Occupation was the formation of coalitions. Black Panthers provided security, Brown Berets held solidarity marches. Worldwide, indigenous uprisings took inspiration from IoAT. Maori tribal members marched for sovereignty. Aboriginal Australians organized for autonomous rights. In 1976, native Hawaiians staged a similar takeover of an island to reclaim sacred sites that had been used as a military bombing range. The biggest coalition to emerge was the World Council of Indigenous Peoples, an international network of tribal leadership and communication.
In history, success is relative. The outcome of the Alcatraz Occupation of 1969 continues to reverberate in First Nation activism today. Although their demands weren’t specifically met, the activists in Indians of All Tribes showed the world that indigenous people have power, and that power is inherent in all people, especially those who have been pushed aside for far too long.
