Rise of Indian Self-determination

In this weeks’ Tribal Perspective we will explore three specific events that mark the rise of Indian Self-Determination: The occupation of Alcatraz Island; the Trail of Broken Treaties and occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs HQ in Washington, D.C.; and Wounded Knee II.

The nineteen-month occupation of Alcatraz Island began on November 20, 1969, and is a watershed event in the American Indian protest and activist movement. The Alcatraz occupation witnessed hundreds of Indian people from diverse tribal backgrounds across the United States who came together with a common goal to publicize the plight of American Indian people and the need for Indian self-determination. Also see Maps page this week.

In fall 1972, a cross-country caravan of various Indian organizations traveled from the west coast to Washington D.C.. Known as the Trail of Broken Treaties, this protest was sponsored by eight different Indian organizations and continued to publicize issues of American Indian and First Nation treaty rights. This protest resulted in the occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs building in Washington, D.C. and a Twenty-Point Manifesto outlining the reconstruction of Indian affairs.

From February 26 to May 8, 1973, the Pine Ridge Sioux community occupied Wounded Knee. This occupation emphasized Indian rights guaranteed in the 1868 Sioux Treaty, and questioned the validity of tribal government as created by the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act and the loss of territory through broken treaties, land allotment, and land leases.

The following resources explore each of these historical events in more detail:

Sources on the Alcatraz Occupation:
Ben Winton, “Taking Back ‘The Rock’,” in Native Peoples Magazine (Fall 1999), accessed 2/13/08:
http://www.nativepeoples.com/..Taking-Back-%26quot%3BThe-Rock%26quot%3B

Indians of All Tribes' 1969 Proclamation
http://zephyr.unr.edu/outpost/community/com.banks.alcatrazproc.html

"We Hold the Rock," National Park Service
http://www.nps.gov/alca/historyculture/we-hold-the-rock.htm

Aerial Photographs, 1971. National Archives
http://www.notfrisco2.com/alcatraz/pics/gsa/index.html

Alcatraz Photo Collection, courtesy of California State University Library
This collection of photographs documents the occupation of Alcatraz Island
The American Indian Occupation of Alcatraz Island, 1969 – 1971
Professor Troy Johnson, California State University, Long Beach
http://www.csulb.edu/~aisstudy/alcatraz/

“Alcatraz is not an Island,” Montana PBS
http://www.pbs.org/itvs/alcatrazisnotanisland/occupation.html

Contemporary news about Alcatraz: “Alcatraz occupation: 30 years later,” Wishelle Banks, Outpost
http://zephyr.unr.edu/outpost/community/com.banks.alcatraz.html

Prop C: Buy Alcatraz, lose the prison, create good vibes with a peace center Billings, MT., Examiner.com:
http://www.examiner.com/a-1195327~Prop_C__Buy_Alcatraz__lose_the_prison__create_good_vibes_with_a_peace_center.html

“Ballot measure voted down February 8, 2008 – San Franciscans vote to keep the prison tourist attraction rather than build a global peace center with medicine wheel,” Native Headline news:
http://nativenews.wordpress.com/2008/02/08/alcatraz-prison-wont-be-removed-for-peace-center-reuters/

Reuters News
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0628499720080206

Trail of Broken Treaties and BIA occupation:
This link takes you to the text of the 20-Point Manifesto:
http://www.aimovement.org/ggc/trailofbrokentreaties.html

Follow this link to the Indian Country Today article “Trail of Broken Treaties: A 30^th Anniversary Memory,” dated November 1, 2002 (accessed 2/18/08)
http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1036161439

For a brief article on the Trail of Broken Treaties Caravan, please visit
http://siouxme.com/lodge/treaties.html

Wounded Knee II / AIM Documents and Images:
For documents and images related to Wounded Knee II (and AIM), 1973-1983, please visit the American Indian Cultural Survival (AICS) website:
http://www.aics.org/WK/

General sources on Indian Self-Determination:
“What is Indian Self-Determination?” by Samuel R. Cook
http://faculty.smu.edu/twalker/samrcook.htm

Presidential Policies on Indian self-determination and self-government, Oneida Nation
http://oneida-nation.net/sov/selfgovernment.html

From War to Self-Determination
http://www.americansc.org.uk/online/indians.htm

Indian Women and Self-Determination Article:
Donna Hightower-Langston, “The Women of Alcatraz,” Hypatia - A Journal of Feminist Philosophy, vol. 18, no. 2, (Spring 2003)
American Indian Women’s Activism - Donna Hightower Langston