Native American occupation

Beginning on November 20, 1969, a group of Native Americans from many different tribes occupied the island, and proposed an education center, ecology center and cultural center. According to the occupants, the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) between the U.S. and the Sioux included provisions to return all retired, abandoned or out-of-use federal land to the Native people from whom it was acquired. (Note: The Treaty of 1868 stated that all abandoned or unused federal land adjacent to the Sioux Reservation could be reclaimed by descendants of the Sioux Nation.) With the clarification, Indians of All Tribes abandoned the Sioux treaty as the basis of their occupation and claimed Alcatraz Island by "Right of Discovery". Begun by urban Indians in San Francisco, some of whom were descended from people who relocated there under the Federal Indian Reorganization Act of 1934), the occupation attracted other Native Americans from across the country, including American Indian Movement (AIM) activists from Minneapolis.

The Native Americans demanded reparation for the many treaties broken by the US government and for the lands which were taken from so many tribes. As part of the Right of Discovery, the historian Troy R. Johnson states in The Occupation of Alcatraz Island, that indigenous peoples knew about Alcatraz at least 10,000 years before any European knew about any part of North America.

During the nineteen months and nine days of occupation, several buildings were damaged or destroyed by fire, including the recreation hall, the Coast Guard quarters and the Warden's home. The origins of the fires are unknown. The U.S. government demolished a number of other buildings (mostly apartments) after the occupation had ended. Graffiti from the period of Native American occupation are still visible at many locations on the island.

The results of Alcatraz inspired other political actions: the Trail of Broken Treaties and the Longest Walk in 1985. The occupation of Alcatraz played a large role in changing self-perception for many Native Americans. It is defined as a key movement in their struggle for what some felt was rightfully theirs. Following a succession of demands at Alcatraz, the U.S. government returned excess, unused land to the Taos, Yakama, Navajo and Washoe tribes.

Дата добавления: 2015-07-19