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Student Name
Candidate Number:
Word Count: 1,716
To what extent was the 1969 Occupation of Alcatraz a success for Native American Indians
during the Civil Rights Movement?
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Plan of Investigation:
The Occupation of Alcatraz during the Civil Rights Movement was the demand for
equality that American Indians had steadily been stripped of in the United States for the past
century. To what extent was the 1969 Occupation of Alcatraz a success for Native American
Indians during the Civil Rights Movement? I plan to examine what goals American Indians had
in mind by reading primary sources accounts of protesters, whether their definition of success
was met by analyzing changes made following this plight, and if overall the movement would
have significant long term effects toward the treatment of American Indians.
Key added by Mr.
Swihart. Do NOT
put these colors in
your H.I.:
Scope
Summary of Evidence:
Method
Goals of Occupation of Alcatraz:

“This [The Occupation of Alcatraz] was the second Native American attempt to use
Alcatraz to attract media attention;” (Scott-Baumann and Stacey 28)

“Hopefully we [American Indians] could use [Alcatraz] that potential to galvanize the
urban Indian community and reach out to the Indians on the reservations”(Eagle 39)

“We [American Indians] wanted the government and the public to take to heart that this
so called ‘Alcatraz Island’ is more than suitable as an Indian reservation, as determined
by the white man’s own standards.” (Eagle 45)

“Alcatraz became a symbol for self-determination.” (nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu)

“But another motive for the occupation was the government's general treatment of
Indians.” (CNN.com)

“The initial group demanded control of Alcatraz so it could develop a center of Native
American studies, a spiritual center and a museum.” (CNN.com)
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Immediate Results:

“Direct action at Alcatraz brought more national and international recognition than the
BIA and the NCAI had ever achieved.” (Scott-Baumann and Stacey 28)

“We [American Indians] were partially successful; at least Alcatraz didn’t become some
real estate speculator’s private domain and source of fat profit.” (Eagle 46)

“They [American Indians] saw more attention lavished on their community in the first
few weeks of the occupation than had ever occurred in their lifetimes.” (Smith and
Warrior 110)

“The property rights of Alcatraz were never given to Native Americans.”
(nsdatabase.swarthmore.edu)

“The occupation also succeeded in getting the federal government to end its policy of
termination and adopt an official policy of Indian self-determination. From 1970 to 1971,
Congress passed 52 legislative proposals on behalf of American Indians to support tribal
self-rule. President Nixon increased the BIA budget by 225 percent, doubled funds for
Indian health care and established the Office of Indian Water Rights. Also during Nixon's
presidency, scholarship funds were increased by $848,000 for college students.”
(pbs.org)

“By the early 1980s, over 100 Indian studies programs had been created in the United
States. Tribal museums opened, and the United Nations recognized an international
indigenous rights movement”(pbs.org)
Long Term Effects:

“The Occupation of Alcatraz brought international attention to the plight of Native
peoples in the U.S. It also sparked more than 200 instances of civil disobedience among
Native people.” (nativevillage.org)
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
“Alcatraz inspired many other similar occupations in the years following and some say
the demonstration ignited the Red Power movement.” (nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu)

“The scarcity of jobs and lack of economic opportunity meant that, depending on the
reservation, four to eight out of ten adults on reservations are unemployed.”
(nrcprograms.org)

“About 40% of on-reservation housing is considered inadequate (2003, U.S. Commission
on Civil Rights).” (nrcprograms.org)

The median household income of single-race American Indian and Alaska Native
households in 2012 is $35,310. This compares with $51,371 for the nation as a whole.”
(census.gov)

"Native sovereignty, repatriation, environmental justice, the struggle for basic human
rights -- these are the issues Native people were fighting for then, and are the same
things we are fighting for today."(CNN.com)

“The Alcatraz-Red Power Movement declined in the late '70s”(pbs.org)
Evaluation of Sources:
Alcatraz! Alcatraz!: the Indian Occupation of 1969-1971, written by Adam Fortunate
Eagle, was published in 1992 by a nonprofit company known as Heyday Books. Based on their
mission statement, Heyday Books continually seeks to spread awareness of California’s history.
Because Heyday Books agreed to publish a work about the Occupation of Alcatraz, we see how
media acknowledged this American Indian protest as a significant event toward the making of
present day California. Adam Fortunate Eagle was born in 1929 on the Chippea reservation in
Red Lake, Minnesota. At a young age he was taken from his family and sent to Indian boarding
schools due to federal government policy. There he was banned from practicing the tribal
customs of his Indian heritage (Eagle 156). This is important to know about the author because
this experience from his youth would “motivate him to become an advocate for the rights of
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urban Indians. And thus begins his activism, which eventually leads to the Indian takeover of
Alcatraz Island in 1969” (lillimar.com). The purpose of this work is to inform its readers of the
Indians motivations and stipulations behind the Indian Occupation of Alcatraz in an
understanding, narrative manner. This work presents itself as a primary source of evidence
because Eagle participated in the Occupation of Alcatraz himself. Therefore, the value from this
work is that is an account of someone experiencing the movement firsthand and not someone
from a different time period. However, because this work is written in first person and especially
since Eagle was an oppressed American Indian himself there is inevitably bias. Eagle takes a
strong pro-Occupation perspective therefore the need for unbiased factual based evidence was
pursued elsewhere.
Like a Hurricane: the Indian Movement from Alcatraz to Wounded Knee was written by
Paul Chaat Smith and Robert Allen Warrior and published in 1996 by New York Press. Chaat
and Warrior are both American Indians writing to “unlike most other books written about
American Indians, this work does not seek to persuade readers that government policies were
cruel and misguided…but a gripping account of how for a brief, but brilliant, season Indians
strategized to change the course and tone of American Indian-U.S. government interaction”
(paulchaatsmith.com). The value of this work is that because it provides accounts of the Alcatraz
leaders and members themselves the reader is able to grasp in detail what American Indians
endured during their journey. Also because the publisher, New York Press’, mission is to only
publish works that express the transformation of intellect and culture, this work can be a
publicly confirmed symbol of evolution in American Indian affairs. Yet, because this work is a
collection of accounts from people involved in the movement itself, the information presented
itself to be one-sided. If one was looking for factual data and perspectives of non-American
Indian citizens during the movement another resource would be needed.
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Analysis:
The Occupation of Alcatraz, though authentically symbolic of the unjust treatment of
American Indians since European occupation, only achieved nominal short term change with
little long term effect on daily life. I’ve based this reasoning by comparing the movement’s goals,
according to my primary source account of an actual Indian protester, Adam Eagle, in his book
Alcatraz! Alcatraz! The Indian Occupation of 1969-1971(Eagle) to outcomes from the movement
and living conditions today.
I found Eagle’s account authentic because not only was he was an actual activist involved in
planning and executing the movement in 1969, but his details aligned with other historical
details about the movement from my other sources. Eagle stated that one of the goals was, “We
wanted the government and the public to take to heart that this so called ‘Alcatraz Island’ is
more than suitable as an Indian reservation, as determined by the white man’s own standards.”
(Eagle 45). Based on the fact that, “The property rights of Alcatraz were never given to Native
Americans.” (nsdatabase.swarthmore.edu), I would argue that American Indians were not
successful in reaching their goal of permanently occupying the land. However, looking at the
bigger picture I would argue that they did have a bigger success because this occupation gained
“more national and international recognition than the BIA and the NCAI had ever achieved.”
(Scott-Baumann and Stacey 28).
Politically, media coverage of Indian reservations definitely raised recognition in the
White House toward the need for change in American Indian policy (Smith and Warrior 110),
evident in “getting the federal government to end its policy of termination and adopt an official
policy of Indian self-determination” as well as “Congress passed 52 legislative proposals on
behalf of American Indians to support tribal self-rule” (CNN.com). Therefore, one could argue
that change was ‘happening’ for American Indians but whether that change would be long term I
would disagree. Based on the recent statistic that, “About 40% of on-reservation housing is
considered inadequate (2003, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights)” (nrcprograms.org). This data
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as well as the fact that Native Indian households in 2012 yearly received $16,061 less than the
average American income (census.gov) supports my rationale that long-term, the Occupation of
Alcatraz was not as successful as it was symbolic of the need for change.
Socially, the initial goal of the occupation was to motivate American Indians from distant
reservations to unite (Eagle 39). Similar to political reforms created after the occupation of
1969, their aim to create an organized allied people was successful yet only in the short term. I
would argue so because of the creation of the Indian Red Power Movement as a partial result of
this movement. This group would create similar protests to the Occupation of Alcatraz later on,
but like the political changes I would argue that long term they had little effect due to the fact
that this group “declined in the late 1970s” (pbs.org). With this evidence I would furthermore
argue that whether American Indian protesters believed long term or short term policy change
would bring them more success, they would never know due to their inability to manage a
consistent protest. Ultimately resulting in their ongoing “fight for native sovereignty,
repatriation, environmental justice, the struggle for basic human” (CNN.com)
Conclusion:
After investigating the aims, outcomes, and impacts of the Occupation of Alcatraz it can
be concluded that this movement was not as impactful in the long run as it was just a brief
victory. American Indians did achieve change in political policy but most of those changes were
in name alone. American Indians still border the poverty line according to the 2013 census
(census.gov) and many reservation living conditions continue to not meet the standard.
(nrcprograms.org). Fundamentally, the reasons for the Occupation of Alcatraz were just and the
immediate reforms made in government policy were a success, but because Native Americans
lacked unification, this movement had minimal long term effect on their treatment, evident in
their continued struggle for equality today.
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Bibliography
"1969 Occupation of Alcatraz." Native Village. Ed. Gina Boltz. Native Village Publications, n.d.
Web.
"American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month: November 2013." United States Census
Bureau. N.p., 2013. Web. 20 Aug. 2014.
"Contrary Warrior: Life and Times of Adam Fortunate Eagle, Native American Activist, Artist,
and Author." Lillimar.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Aug. 2014.
Eagle, Adam Fortunate. Alcatraz! Alcatraz!: The Indian Occupation of 1969-1971. Berkeley:
Heyday, 1992. Print.
Lapin, Nicole, and Kristopher Campa. "1969 Alcatraz Takeover 'changed the Whole Course of
History'" CNN. Cable News Network, 20 Nov. 2009. Web. 10 Aug. 2014.
"Native American Living Conditions on Reservations - Native American Aid." Native American
Aid. N.p., 2014. Web. 20 Aug. 2014.
PBS. "Indian Activism." PBS. PBS, 2002. Web. 20 Aug. 2014.
Reinhardt, Akim D. "Review of Like a Hurricane: The Indian Movement from Alcatraz to
Wounded Knee By Paul Chaat Smith and Robert Allen Warrior." Digital Commons@UNL.com.
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 1 Jan. 1998. Web. 8 Aug. 2014.
Ross, Alexa. "Native Americans Occupy Alcatraz for Land Rights, 1969-1971." Global Nonviolent
Action Database. Swarthmore College, 2010. Web. 10 Aug. 2014.
Scott-Baumann, Michael, and Mark Stacey. Civil Rights and Social Movements in the Americas.
Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2013. Print.
Smith, Paul C. "Hurricane." Paul Chaat Smith. Paul Chaat Smith, 2001. Web. 17 Aug. 2014.
Smith, Paul Chaat., and Robert Allen. Warrior. Like a Hurricane: The Indian Movement from
Alcatraz to Wounded Knee. New York: New, 1996. Print.