Alcatraz Island

Alcatraz is a rocky island in San Francisco Bay. It served for many years as a prison holding both military prisoners and civilians. Today the National Park Service interprets both the prison and the Native occupation.

Before the prison. Ohlone people lived around San Francisco Bay for thousands of years; oral history suggests Alcatraz was used to isolate tribal members who had broken laws, to gather bird eggs and sea life, and as a hiding place for Indians escaping the Spanish missions.

Prison. Once Alcatraz became a prison, Native Americans were among those held there — in 1895, nineteen Hopi men were imprisoned on the island.

The occupations. On March 9, 1964, five Sicangu Lakota led by Belva Cottier and Richard McKenzie claimed the island for four hours, citing the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty. On November 9, 1969, Richard Oakes and other Native students and Bay Area Indians claimed it symbolically, and on November 20 a full occupation began. The occupiers elected a council, and everyone had a job, from security and sanitation to day care and a school. Over time, leadership fractured, non-Native residents moved in, the government cut off power and water, and a fire destroyed historic buildings. On June 10–11, 1971, federal marshals removed the last fifteen occupiers.