The Occupation of Alcatraz was a 19-month long protest which began on this day in 1969, when 89 Native Americans and their supporters occupied and reclaimed Alcatraz Island as indigenous land.

The protest was led by Richard Oakes and Grace Thorpe. The group chose the name Indians of All Tribes (IOAT) for themselves and lived on the island together until the protest was forcibly ended by the U.S. government.

IOAT claimed that, under the Treaty of Fort Laramie between the U.S. and the Lakota tribe, all retired, abandoned, or out-of-use federal land was returned to the Indians who once occupied it.

By late May of 1971, the government had cut off all electrical power and all telephone service to the island. Left without power, fresh water, and in the face of diminishing public support and sympathy, the number of occupiers began to dwindle. On June 11th, 1971, a large force of federal officers removed the remaining 15 people from the island.

A Look Back at the Occupation of Alcatraz, 51 Years Later

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  • GalaxyBrain [they/them]@hexbear.net
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    3 hours ago

    Kinds forgot certain things that have happened around me were absolutely fucked, without going into detail and my position at those times as being the least emotionally involved jusr because of the social situation led to me tsking charge pretty much whenever anything goes remotely wrong but yeah…kinda forgetting seeing some gory stuff happen in person as well as having like 30 people you know including 11 who were pretty close and 3 best friends die from fentanyl in all but ine case where it was cancer with 2 year would logically give you a pretty cynical outlook regarding.