1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:07,120 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello, Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:09,960 Speaker 1: where we flipped through the book of history and bring 4 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:14,520 Speaker 1: you a new page every day. Today is June eleventh, 5 00:00:15,160 --> 00:00:27,600 Speaker 1: nineteen The day was June eleventh, nineteen seventy one. After 6 00:00:27,720 --> 00:00:32,120 Speaker 1: nineteen months of protesting, the occupation of Alcatraz ended when 7 00:00:32,159 --> 00:00:36,239 Speaker 1: federal marshals removed the Native Americans who remained on the island. 8 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:41,560 Speaker 1: Native oral histories referenced tribal use of Alcatraz Island, but 9 00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:45,560 Speaker 1: by the eighteenth century it was attracting the attention of Europeans. 10 00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:49,000 Speaker 1: In the mid eighteen hundreds, the U. S. Army began 11 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:53,800 Speaker 1: to use Alcatraz Island to house military prisoners Native Americans 12 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:57,760 Speaker 1: who resisted the dominance and assimilation imposed by the U. S. Government. 13 00:00:58,040 --> 00:01:00,440 Speaker 1: We're also locked up on the island with out any 14 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:05,000 Speaker 1: legal proceedings. Other Native Americans who were tried in military 15 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:09,039 Speaker 1: courts as prisoners of war were sentenced to time at Alcatraz. 16 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:14,240 Speaker 1: In nineteen thirty four, the island operated as a US prison. 17 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:19,600 Speaker 1: By March of nineteen sixty three, United States Penitentiary Alcatraz 18 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:23,360 Speaker 1: Island closed due to financial and operating issues and a 19 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:28,319 Speaker 1: declining reputation. The next year, a group of Native Americans 20 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:32,000 Speaker 1: went to Alcatraz Island, claiming the property as Native land 21 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:36,119 Speaker 1: based on the Treaty of Fort Laramie. The treaty, signed 22 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:39,280 Speaker 1: in eighteen sixty eight, was an agreement between the United 23 00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:44,319 Speaker 1: States and Lakota, Dakota, and Arapaho people. The treaty provided 24 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:47,080 Speaker 1: that the U s would return defunct federal lands to 25 00:01:47,200 --> 00:01:51,279 Speaker 1: Native American tribes. So when the group of about forty 26 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:55,000 Speaker 1: Native Americans and supporters landed on Alcatraz Island in nineteen 27 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:58,919 Speaker 1: sixty four, one of the protesters offered to pay forty 28 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:02,880 Speaker 1: seven sins per aker to purchase the island, which was 29 00:02:02,920 --> 00:02:05,640 Speaker 1: the same amount of money that the state of California 30 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:09,639 Speaker 1: had offered Native tribes for land claims based on eighteen 31 00:02:09,639 --> 00:02:14,320 Speaker 1: fifty three land values. Federal marshals removed the group from 32 00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:18,120 Speaker 1: the island, but this demonstration encouraged Native Americans in the 33 00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:23,840 Speaker 1: Bay Area to occupy Alcatraz. Years later, Native Americans began 34 00:02:23,919 --> 00:02:28,239 Speaker 1: advocating for the transformation of Alcatraz into a Native American 35 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:32,680 Speaker 1: cultural center and school. The occupation of Alcatraz that began 36 00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:35,720 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty nine was a part of the Red 37 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:39,560 Speaker 1: Power movement. The movement grew out of opposition to the 38 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:44,240 Speaker 1: US government dissolving treaty agreements, terminating recognition of more than 39 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:48,840 Speaker 1: one hundred tribes as severeal dependent nations, and encouraging Native 40 00:02:48,880 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 1: Americans to leave reservations in traditional lands and assimilate into 41 00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:58,800 Speaker 1: urban areas. Calls for self determination and protests of the 42 00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:03,720 Speaker 1: government's treatment of name of Americans, including issues of land rights, abounded. 43 00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:08,400 Speaker 1: Since the federal government had abandoned Alcatraz, Native Americans claimed 44 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:10,519 Speaker 1: they had a treaty right to file a claim on 45 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:15,360 Speaker 1: the island or November nine, nineteen sixty nine, a group 46 00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:19,000 Speaker 1: of Native Americans gathered at Peer thirty nine in San Francisco, 47 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:23,280 Speaker 1: and Mohawk activist Richard Oakes read a proclamation by the 48 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:26,680 Speaker 1: Indians of all tribes the name. The activist group took 49 00:03:27,919 --> 00:03:31,040 Speaker 1: as a boat called the Monte Cristo took fifty passengers 50 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:34,520 Speaker 1: to circle Alcatraz. Some of the people jumped off and 51 00:03:34,639 --> 00:03:38,720 Speaker 1: attempted to swim to the island. One person made it, 52 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:42,640 Speaker 1: but the rest had to be rescued. After a fisherman 53 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:45,080 Speaker 1: agreed to take some of the activists to the island, 54 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:48,960 Speaker 1: fourteen Native Americans ended up staying the night at Alcatraz. 55 00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:54,760 Speaker 1: But the occupation that lasted the longest began on November twentieth, 56 00:03:54,960 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty nine, about ninety Native Americans went to Alcatraz 57 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:03,960 Speaker 1: Us and set up a permanent occupation, and they issued 58 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:07,920 Speaker 1: a proclamation. The proclamation was addressed to the Great White 59 00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:12,360 Speaker 1: Father and all his people. In it, they offered twenty 60 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:15,960 Speaker 1: four dollars in glass beads and red cloth to purchase 61 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:19,960 Speaker 1: Alcatraz Island. The following is part of a proclamation that 62 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:23,680 Speaker 1: the Indians of all tribes drew up. We will purchase 63 00:04:23,920 --> 00:04:27,479 Speaker 1: said Alcatraz Island for twenty four dollars in glass beads 64 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:30,640 Speaker 1: and red cloth, a precedent set by the white man's 65 00:04:30,680 --> 00:04:33,680 Speaker 1: purchase of a similar island about three hundred years ago. 66 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:36,839 Speaker 1: We know that twenty four dollars in trade goods for 67 00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:40,520 Speaker 1: these sixteen acres is more than was paid when Manhattan 68 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:43,520 Speaker 1: Island was sold. But we know that land values have 69 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:48,200 Speaker 1: risen over the years. Our offer of one dollar four 70 00:04:48,279 --> 00:04:51,160 Speaker 1: cents per acre is greater than the forty seven cents 71 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:54,200 Speaker 1: per acre the white men are now paying the California 72 00:04:54,279 --> 00:04:59,719 Speaker 1: Indians for their land the proclamation continued, this tiny island 73 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:02,599 Speaker 1: would be a symbol of the Great Lands, once ruled 74 00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:06,520 Speaker 1: by free and noble Indians. The Native Americans on the 75 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:10,279 Speaker 1: island established an elected council in jobs on the island, 76 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:14,000 Speaker 1: there was a security force, a nursery, a school, and 77 00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:19,400 Speaker 1: health clinic, and other establishments. Outside activists sent supplies for 78 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:23,320 Speaker 1: the occupation, and people sent donations from around the country. 79 00:05:24,440 --> 00:05:28,400 Speaker 1: A Dakota tribe member set up Radio Free Alcatraz, which 80 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:31,320 Speaker 1: broadcast a daily program for people to keep up with 81 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:35,640 Speaker 1: the occupation. The demonstrators called for the deed to the island, 82 00:05:36,040 --> 00:05:40,680 Speaker 1: a native university, a cultural center, and a museum, but 83 00:05:40,760 --> 00:05:43,560 Speaker 1: the U. S Government wanted them off the island and 84 00:05:43,600 --> 00:05:47,960 Speaker 1: did not agree to these terms. Over the next several months, 85 00:05:48,279 --> 00:05:52,320 Speaker 1: divisions arose in the organization and non native people began 86 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:56,720 Speaker 1: living on the island, and in January of nineteen seventy, 87 00:05:56,920 --> 00:05:59,800 Speaker 1: the step daughter of Richard Oaks, a thirteen year old 88 00:05:59,839 --> 00:06:03,599 Speaker 1: girl role named Yvonne Oakes, died at Alcatraz after she 89 00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:08,080 Speaker 1: fell off of a balcony. The US entered a policy 90 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:12,560 Speaker 1: of non interference with the occupation, but as leadership disintegrated, 91 00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:16,240 Speaker 1: three occupiers were arrested and found guilty of selling copper, 92 00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:20,320 Speaker 1: and the press began publishing stories of assault. The occupation 93 00:06:20,520 --> 00:06:25,120 Speaker 1: began losing steam. The power and telephone service was cut 94 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:28,520 Speaker 1: to Alcatraz, and at one point a fire bird some 95 00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:32,239 Speaker 1: of the buildings on the island. People began leaving the island. 96 00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:38,400 Speaker 1: On June eleven, nine, federal marshals arrived armed on the 97 00:06:38,440 --> 00:06:43,000 Speaker 1: island and arrested the last fifteen occupiers. But over the 98 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:46,640 Speaker 1: course of the occupation, President Richard Nixon announced an end 99 00:06:46,720 --> 00:06:50,000 Speaker 1: determination and the return of Blue Lake to the Taos 100 00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:55,000 Speaker 1: Pueblo Native Americans. Occupied lands near Davis, California, will become 101 00:06:55,040 --> 00:06:59,480 Speaker 1: home to a Native American university. Legislation was passed that 102 00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:04,760 Speaker 1: supported a tribal self rule. The occupation also sparked other actions, 103 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:08,960 Speaker 1: like the occupation of Mount Rushmore and Wounded Knee. The 104 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:12,240 Speaker 1: National Park Service opened Alcatraz to the public in ninete. 105 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:16,880 Speaker 1: I'm Eve Jeffcote and hopefully you know a little more 106 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:20,960 Speaker 1: about history today than you did yesterday. And if you're 107 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:24,880 Speaker 1: so inclined, you can follow us at T D i 108 00:07:25,400 --> 00:07:30,840 Speaker 1: h C Podcast on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. And if 109 00:07:30,880 --> 00:07:33,480 Speaker 1: you've been listening for the last couple of weeks, then 110 00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:35,840 Speaker 1: you know that I have a new show called Unpopular. 111 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:39,960 Speaker 1: Unpopular is about people in history who resisted and we're 112 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:44,760 Speaker 1: sometimes persecuted for it. Thanks again for listening and we'll 113 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:54,920 Speaker 1: see you tomorrow. For more podcasts from I Heeart Radio, 114 00:07:55,040 --> 00:07:57,600 Speaker 1: visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 115 00:07:57,680 --> 00:07:58,840 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.