In November 1969 a group of Native-Americans called "Indians of All Tribes" occupied Alcatraz Island. The group was initially made up of young urban Indian students inspired by a charismatic Mohawk, Richard Oakes (pictured). The occupation lasted until 10th June 1971, when a force of FBI agents, federal marshals and special forces removed the remaining occupiers.
Read more about the Alcatraz Indians in this excellent article written by Dr. Troy Johnson for the National Park Service.
There follows the texts of two pamphlets issued by the Alcatraz Indians.
WE HOLD THE ROCK!
Indians Of All Tribes greet our brothers and sisters of all races and tongues upon our Earth Mother. We here on Alcatraz Island, San Francisco Bay, California represent many tribes of the United States as well as Canada, Alaska, and Central and South America.
We are still holding the Island of Alcatraz in the true names of Freedom, Justice and Equality, because you, our brothers and sisters of this earth, have lent support to our just cause. We reach out our hands and hearts and send spirit messages to each and every one of you - WE HOLD THE ROCK!
Our anger at the many injustices forced upon us since the first whitemen landed on these sacred shores has been transformed into a hope that we be allowed the long-suppressed right of all men to plan and to live their own lives in harmony and co-operation with all fellow creatures and with Nature. We have learned that violence breeds only more violence and we therefore have carried on our occupation of Alcatraz in a peaceful manner, hoping that the government of these United States will also act accordingly.
Be it known, however, that we are quite serious in our demand to be given ownership of this island in the name of Indians Of All Tribes. We are here to stay, men, women and children. We feel that this request is but little to ask from a government which has systematically stolen our lands, destroyed a once-beautiful and natural landscape, killed off the creatures of nature, polluted air and water, ripped open the very bowels of the earth in senseless greed; and instituted a program to annihilate the many Indian Tribes of this land by outright murder which even now continues by the methods of theft, suppression, prejudice, termination, and so-called re-location and assimilation.
We are a proud people! We are Indians! We have observed and rejected much of what so-called civilization offers. We are Indians! We will preserve our traditions and ways of life by educating our own children. We are Indians! We will join hands in a unity never before put into practice. We are Indians! Our Earth Mother awaits our voices.
We are Indians of All Tribes! WE HOLD THE ROCK!
PROCLAMATION
TO THE GREAT WHITE FATHER AND ALL HIS PEOPLE
We, the native Americans, re-claim the land known as Alcatraz Island in the name of all American Indians by right of discovery.
We wish to be fair and honorable in our dealings with the Caucasian inhabitants of this land, and hereby offer the following treaty:
We will purchase said Alcatraz Island for twenty-four dollars (24) in glass beads and red cloth, a precedent set by the white man`s purchase of a similar island about 300 years ago. We know that $24 in trade goods for these 16 acres is more than was paid when Manhattan Island was sold, but we know that land values have risen over the years. Our offer of $1.24 per acre is greater than the 47 cents per acre the white men are now paying California Indians for their land.
We will give to the inhabitants of this island a portion of the land for their own to be held in trust by the American Indian Affairs and by the bureau of Caucasian Affairs to hold in perpetuity - for as long as the sun shall rise and the rivers go down to the sea. We will further guide the inhabitants in the proper way of living. We will offer them our religion, our education, our life-ways, in order to help them achieve our level of civilization and thus raise them and all their white brothers up from their savage and unhappy state. We offer this treaty in good faith and wish to be fair and honorable in our dealings with all white men.
We feel that this so-called Alcatraz Island is more than suitable for an Indian reservation, as determined by the white man`s own standards. By this we mean that this place resembles most Indian reservations in that:
1. It is isolated from modern facilities, and without adequate means of transportation.
2. It has no fresh running water.
3. It has inadequate sanitation facilities.
4. There are no oil or mineral rights.
5. There is no industry and so unemployment is very great.
6. There are no health care facilities.
7. The soil is rocky and non-productive; and the land does not support game.
8. There are no educational facilities.
9. The population has always exceeded the land base.
10. The population has always been held as prisoners and kept dependent upon others.
Further, it would be fitting and symbolic that ships from all over the world, entering the Golden Gate, would first see Indian land, and thus be reminded of the true history of this nation. This tiny island would be a symbol of the great lands once ruled by free and noble Indians.
What use will we make of this land?
Since the San Francisco Indian Center burned down, there is no place for Indians to assemble and carry on tribal life here in the white man`s city. Therefore we plan to develop on this island several Indian institutions:
1. A CENTER FOR NATIVE AMERICAN STUDIES will be developed which will educate them to the skills and knowledge relevant to improve the lives and spirits of all Indian peoples. Attached to this center will be traveling universities, managed by Indians, which will go to the Indian Reservations, learning those necessary and relevant materials now about.
2. AN AMERICAN INDIAN SPIRITUAL CENTER which will practice our ancient tribal religious and sacred healing ceremonies. Our cultural arts will be featured and our young people trained in music, dance, and healing rituals.
3. AN INDIAN CENTER OF ECOLOGY which will train and support our young people in scientific research and practice to restore our lands and waters to their pure and natural state. We will work to de-pollute the air and waters of the Bay area. We will seek to restore fish and animal life to the area and to revitalize sea life which has been threatened by the white man`s way. We will set up facilities to desalt sea water for human benefit.
4. A GREAT INDIAN TRAINING SCHOOL will be developed, to teach our people how to make a living in the world, improve our standard of living, and to end hunger and unemployment among all our people. The training school will include a center for Indian arts and crafts, and an Indian restaurant serving native foods, which will restore Indian culinary arts. This center will display Indian arts and offer Indian foods to the public, so that all may know of the beauty and spirit of the traditional INDIAN ways.
Some of the present buildings will be taken over to develop an AMERICAN INDIAN MUSEUM which will depict our native food and other cultural contributions we have given the world. Another part of the museum will present some of the things the white man has given to the Indians in return for the land and the life he took: disease, alcohol, poverty and cultural decimation (as symbolized by old tin cans, barbed wire, rubber tires, plastic containers, etc.). Part of the museum will remain a dungeon to symbolize both those Indian captives who were incarcerated for challenging white authority, and those who were imprisoned on the reservations. The museum will show the noble and tragic events of Indian history, including the broken treaties, the documentary of the Trail of Tears, the Massacre of Wounded Knee, as well as the victory over Yellow Hair Custer and his army.
In the name of all Indians, therefore, we re-claim this island for our Indian nations, for all these reasons. We feel this claim is just and proper, and that the land should rightfully be granted to us for as long as the rivers shall run and the sun shall shine.
Signed,
Indians Of All Tribes
November 1969
San Francisco, California
Source: P. Stansill and D. Z. Mairowitz (eds.), BAMN: Outlaw Manifestos and Ephemera 1967-70 (Harmondsworth, 1971)
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