On November 20, 1969, eighty-nine Native Americans and their supporters landed on Alcatraz Island and maintained a presence until June 11, 1971. The organizers of the protest, Richard Oakes, LaNada Means, and John Trudell, claimed that under the Treaty of Fort Laramie of 1951 between the US and the Lakota tribe, all retired, abandoned, or federal land no longer in use, was to be returned ot the Indigenous people who once occupied it. Since the penitentiary had been closed since March 1963 and the land had been declared surplus federal property in 1964, the Red Power activists felt the island belonged to the Native Americans.
They began the occupation late on November 20, and despite a Coast Guard blockade, fourteen managed to land on the island. At the height of the occupation, four hundred people lived on the island. They set up a daycare, a health clinic, and a school. Doctors volunteered their services and Native and non-Natives brought necessary supplies to the island to support the occupiers.
Coast Guard blockades made it increasingly more difficult to reach Alcatraz, but the occupation began receiving a lot of support from around the world.
In January 1970, Oakes' stepdaughter feel to her death, which prompted Richard and his wife to leave the island. A hippie and drug scene moved to the island creating problems until non-Indians were prohibited from staying over night. The government cut off electrical power, water, and telephone service to the island. In June 1970, a fire destroyed numerous buildings on the island. After that, the number of occupiers began to dwindle. On June 11, 1971, government officers removed the last fifteen people.
The Occupation of Alcatraz established a precedent for Indian activism and spurred such actions as the Trail of Broken Treaties in 1972, the Wounded Knee incident in 1973, and the Longest Walk in 1968.
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