Occupation of Alcatraz

A sign on Alcatraz Island that was used for the prison. Native American protestors wrote graffiti on it.

The Occupation of Alcatraz (November 20, 1969 – June 11, 1971) was a protest where 89 Native Americans and other people occupied Alcatraz Island. At one point, the protest had 400 people.[1] It was led by Richard Oakes, LaNada War Jack, and others. The group lived on the island until the United States government made them leave.

The group of protesters named themselves the Indians of All Tribes (IOAT).[2] They said that, because of the Treaty of Fort Laramie (a treaty made between the United States and Lakota tribe), all of the land that was owned by the government that was not being used should be given to Native Americans.[1] Alcatraz stopped being used as a prison in 1963, so many Red Power protestors thought it should be taken by Native Americans.[3]

The Occupation of Alcatraz changed how the United States government made laws about Native Americans for a short time. It was an important Native American protest, and inspired other protests.[1][4] Richard Oakes was killed in 1972. The American Indian Movement was later targeted by the FBI.[5]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Johnson, Troy (Autumn 1994). "The Occupation of Alcatraz Island: Roots of American Indian Activism". Wíčazo Ša Review. 10 (2). Cheney, Washington: Eastern Washington University: 63–79. doi:10.2307/1409133. ISSN 0749-6427. JSTOR 1409133.
  2. ↑ Kelly, Casey Ryan (2014). "Détournement, Decolonization, and the American Indian Occupation of Alcatraz Island (1969–1971)". Rhetoric Society Quarterly. 44 (2): 168–190. doi:10.1080/02773945.2014.888464. S2CID 143586269.
  3. ↑ Kamstra, Jerry (December 7, 1969). "The Grim Plight of the .... (pt. 1)". The San Francisco Examiner & Chronicle. San Francisco, California. p. 22. Retrieved August 12, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. and Kamstra, Jerry (December 7, 1969). "Urban Indian (pt. 2)". The San Francisco Examiner & Chronicle. San Francisco, California. p. 23. Retrieved August 12, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ Kotlowski, Dean J. "Alcatraz, Wounded Knee, and Beyond: The Nixon and Ford Administrations Respond to Native American Protest," Pacific Historical Review, 72(2):201–227.
  5. ↑ "Groups targeted by COINTELPRO". Archived from the original on 10 September 2012.