Alcatraz Island And The Fight For Indian Sovereignty

The history and the establishment of various Indian tribes in America took the path of revolution by human civil rights institutions. The Indian American citizen had to form a movement whose main aim was demand for their rights from the Native Americans and the government by sorting for cultural independent protection, advocating of their human rights and restoration of economic rights. Independence of the human race do not always come as an easy task but is involves a sequence of efforts against the violation of rights by their native colonies.

Security in Alcatraz was intense, and escaping was nearly impossible. The idea was maximum custody. The prisoners were on a strict schedule and were constantly being watched by the correctional officers. Official counts were held every 30 minutes during the day. (need source here) They were locked behind doors at all times, and the bars were tool-resistant.

Alcatraz was finally running in business, and all the worst prisoners were being sent there. All the inmates had a quick idea on how cummings was running Alcatraz. You couldn’t talk or you would be sent to the “hole” for a couple of weeks. The hole is “isolation”. Al Capone [the most famous gangster] was sent for the for a lot of times. And he went crazy because he kept making and remaking his bed. There was many escape attempts at alcatraz but none of them were successful. Two of them were reported missing.

If you’re an indigenous person living in America, you’re most likely to find yourself misrepresented if not attacked. “November 20, 1969, 89 American Indians boarded boats in Sausalito, California and made a five-mile trip across the foggy San Francisco Bay to Alcatraz Island… they declared the former prison Indian land “by the right of discovery” and demanded the U.S. government provide funding to turn it into a Native American cultural center and university. When their terms were ignored, activists spent more than 19 months occupying the Island in defiance of the authorities” (Andrews, Native American Activists occupy Alcatraz Island, 45 years ago). All the Native Americans wanted to do is use the island to build an Indian school, cultural center, and a museum, since the government took their lands. In conclusion, not being recognized by the government is another issue that Native Americans

The 1960’s and 70’s were a turbulent time in the United States, as many minority groups took to the streets to voice their displeasure with policies that affected them. During this time period a large movement for civil rights, including Native American’s, would seek to find their voices, as largely urbanized groups sought ways in which they could reconnect with their tribe and their cultural history. In their book, Like A Hurricane: The Indian Movement from Alcatraz to Wounded Knee, Paul Chaat Smith, and Robert Allen Warrior take an extensive look at the events leading up to the three of the largest civil rights movements carried out by Native Americans. Beginning with the takeover of Alcatraz Island in the San Francisco Bay by Indians of All Tribes in 1969; the authors tell in a vivid fashion of the Bay Area activism and Clyde Warrior 's National Indian Youth Council, Vine Deloria Jr.’s leadership of the National Congress of Indians, the Trail of Broken Treaties and the Bureau of Indian Affairs takeover, the Wounded Knee Occupation and the rise of the American Indian Movement.

The internment of Japanese Americans is often a part of history rarely mention in our society. One of these internment camps was Manzanar—a hastily built community in the high desert mountains of California. The sole purpose of Manzanar was to house thousands of Japanese Americans who were held captive by their own country. Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston was interned at Manzanar when she was seven years old with her family. Their only crime was being of Japanese descent. In her memoir, “Farewell to Manzanar,” Mrs. Wakatsuki Houston transcribes a powerful, heart breaking account of her childhood memories and her personal meaning of Manzanar.

The seizure of Alcatraz is considered to the one most impactful moments in the American Indians rights movement, only second to the Battle of Little Bighorn. The “Alcatraz Proclamation,” was written in November of 1969 as a result of poor living standards facing Americans throughout the west coast. The Indians of All Tribes used the proclamation to inform all American Indian tribes throughout North America their intent to move to Alcatraz Island. The letter

What happened on Alcatraz Island in 1969? A band of young Indians seized and occupied Alcatraz Island for a year as a kind of liberated republic.

The Native Occupation of Alcatraz Island and its Effects on the Greater American Indian Movement.

The American Indian Movement, AIM, was founded in 1968 by Russell Means, Dennis Banks, and other Native American leaders. AIM was founded as a militant political and civil rights organization for the Native Americans. AIM members occupied Alcatraz Island off San Francisco from November 1969 to June 1971, because they said the treaty granted them permission to unused federal land. AIM occupied the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C. in November 1972 to protest the controlling reservation development.

Native Americans have felt distress from societal and governmental interactions for hundreds of years. American Indian protests against these pressures date back to the colonial period. Broken treaties, removal policies, acculturation, and assimilation have scarred the indigenous societies of the United States. These policies and the continued oppression of the native communities produced an atmosphere of heightened tension. Governmental pressure for assimilation and their apparent aim to destroy cultures, communities, and identities through policies gave the native people a reason to fight. The unanticipated consequence was the subsequent creation of a pan-American Indian identity

Native American’s have always been the aspect that shapes our culture and history today. The rise of the new world started with the discovery of the land of which the Native Americans resided. They are referred to as the indigenous people because they were the people who lived and survived off this land first. The Native Americans have a unique culture that consisted of a bond with nature. They had similar gender roles just like the white population. The men were hunters, warriors, and protectors, while the women tended to the children, their homes, and farmed. While the late 1800 's into the 1900 's and beyond began to bring the struggle to the Native American Indians, they fought a tough battle in pursuit of protecting their land. Throughout history the Native American’s have been oppressed and exploited of their identity.

On September 11, 2001 the world watched as the lives of many regardless of age, race, gender, and ethnicity changed as we witnessed a terror attack unfold on our homeland, the United States of America. The graphic images of the twin towers collapsing and an airline jet plan crashing into the Pentagon portrayed an image of what the American Indian’s must have seen as the Unites States Government (USG) made advances on their ancestral lands, threatening their very livelihood. As a direct result of conflicts with the USG, American Indians were relocated on reservations, where they suffered poverty, racism, and termination of their culture, traditions, and language. Despite their tragic history, the American Indian Soldiers has made countless contributions to the freedoms of this great nation. The American Indian’s service to the United States Armed Forces (USAF) is dated back to the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and every major conflict recorded in American history, to the current war against terrorism. Even though congress marked the American Indians for abolishment at one point in American history, the use of the Navajo language during World War II is the only reason that America still reigns “Home of the Brave”.

Alcatraz Island has quite a distinct history. Many people know that Alcatraz served as a federal prison, but most are reluctant to know that this island served as fort. Built before the Civil War, it served two main purposes. First, that it was to guard the San Francisco bay area from enemy ships against a foreign invasion, and second, to hold hostage prisoners of war or POW's as they were called. In this report, I'll show you how this fortress came to be a federal prison, why it is no longer in operation today, and most importantly, to show why it was built in the first place. When the great "Gold Rush" of 1849 first started, California grew from what would be considered a small, unpopulated state, into

The Red Power movement became increasingly evident through a series of organizational and tribal protests. "Some day you 're going to feel like Custer, Baby" is typical of the Red Power outlook. An example of a Red Power activity was the seizure of Alcatraz Island in November 1969. Nearly one hundred Indians, led by college students such as Lehman Brightman and Sid Mills, seized the twelve-acre rock with the legal claim that an old Sioux treaty stipulated Indians could reclaim abandoned federal land, and Alcatraz Island is an abandoned federal penitentiary. So the goal of