Sunday, July 19, 2009

Another Side to Alcatraz




Look at the first two comments for the story.
Posted by at

2 comments:

  1. About the FamilyJuly 19, 2009 at 1:02 PM

    Indian Occupation of Alcatraz

    The inside would have been scary with all of the convicts but the outside was very majestic. It consisted of tall buildings that were once in good repair. People lived there year round, the Warden and his family, guards and their families. Many children grew up on that island.
    Something that I didn’t remember was the Indian occupation of the island. It's hard to know when they first started using the island. They were native to the area and the island before Europeans discovered it. They used the island as sort of a punishment for tribal members who had violated the tribal laws. It was also used as camping spot for them. They also gathered the bird eggs for food and various sea life. Another reason the Indians used the island was as an escape to flee the missions. Once Alcatraz became a prison many people were incarcerated military prisoners and civilian alike. The most concentrated confinement of Indian prisoners happened in 1895 when the US captured, convicted and took 19 Moqui Hopi to Alcatraz. Indians continued to be restricted to Alcatraz as prisoners from the late 1800's to early 1900's. On November 9, 1969 after the prisoners were gone and the prison was closed the Indians once again controlled the rock. "We Hold the Rock" was their saying. On this day they came over to symbolically claim the island for the Indian people. On November 20, 1969 it turned into a full scale occupation that lasted until June 11, 1971. Many different tribes came to the island in support of the cause. They wanted use of the island for an Indian cultural center and university. 80 Indian students from UCLA were among the 100 Indians to occupy the Island.
    The Indian leadership fell into disarray in 1970 when several groups disagreed with the Leader of the movement Richard Oaks. Many of the Indian students returned to school. Another blow to the organization was other non-Indian people came over to occupy the island - Hippies from San Francisco and people in the drug culture. The last blow to the movement was when Richard Oaks step daughter who was 13 fell 3 flights of stairs to her death. He then left the island.
    To try to end the stay the US Government played a waiting game. Try to see if they would get tired and leave. They shut off the electricity and removed the water barge from the island. In the meantime fire broke out and destroyed several historic buildings. The US Government blamed the Indians and the Indians blamed the Government for placing undercover agents to try to turn non-Indian support against them.
    In 1971 in an attempt to buy food several Indian occupants allegedly took copper wiring from several of the buildings. Three Indians were tried and convicted. At that point the Press which up to now had been largely sympathetic to their cause turned against them and started publishing non favorable articles about them.

    ReplyDelete
  2. About the FamilyJuly 19, 2009 at 1:02 PM

    In 1971 two oil tankers collided in the San Francisco Bay. Although it was not found that the lack of a fog light from Alcatraz played any part in the collision that was the last straw. President Nixon ordered removal of the occupation. It was to take place when the least amount of people were on the island and to use as little force as possible.
    On June 10, 1971 Federal Marshals, FBI Agents and Special Forces came on the island. They removed 5 women, 4 children, and 6 unarmed men. The occupation was officially over.
    Although the American Indians were removed from the island one cannot say their initial mission either succeeded or failed. Their actual underlying goals were to awaken the American public to the plight of the American Indian – the first occupants of this great land. As a result of the occupation either directly or indirectly the official government removal of Indian Tribes was stopped. A policy of Indian self-determination was adopted as official US Government Policy.
    During the period that the Indians occupied Alcatraz President Nixon returned Blue Lake and 48,000 acres of land to the Taos Indians. Lands occupied near Davis California would become home to a Native American University. The Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington DC would hire Native Americans to work within the organization that had such a great impact on their culture and their lives.
    The Indians may have lost Alcatraz but they gained a political movement that is still alive today.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)