The occupation would become one of the greatest acts of political resistance in American Indian history. The group made it to Alcatraz Island and took it over. Many of the protesters were Bay Area college students, including two of the group’s leaders: Richard Oakes, an Akwesasne Mohawk, from San Francisco State University, and LaNada War Jack, a member of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, who was attending UC Berkeley.Īs the activists neared Alcatraz, they bypassed a Coast Guard blockade, which had been set up after earlier takeover attempts. government terminated the status of more than 100 tribes, withdrawing aid and services and seizing millions of acres of Native land. This was happening at a time when Native American livelihoods and cultures were acutely threatened by ongoing termination policies in which the U.S. The federal prison on Alcatraz had been closed for six years, and the 89 protesters aimed to occupy the island, stating that the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie required that unused federal land be given back to Native Americans. 20, 1969, a group of Indigenous Americans that called itself Indians of All Tribes took boats in the early morning hours to Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay. (AP Photo) Read a transcript of Berkeley Voices episode 102: Exploring the sound of the American Indian occupation of Alcatraz. 25, 1969, five days after the 19-month occupation began. Members of the activist group Indians of All Tribes stand on Alcatraz Island on Nov. After taking several classes with John-Carlos Perea, who last year was a visiting associate professor in Berkeley’s Department of Music, Reyes was inspired to research how radio and music were used during the Alcatraz takeover to capture mass attention and amplify the Red Power movement. The 19-month occupation that followed would be regarded as one of the greatest acts of political resistance in American Indian history.Įverardo Reyes is a Ph.D.

They bypassed a Coast Guard blockade and took control of the island. 20, 1969, a group of Indigenous Americans that called itself Indians of All Tribes, many of whom were UC Berkeley students, took boats in the early morning hours to Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay.

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