Proclamation: To the Great White Father and All His People
We, the native Americans, re-claim the land known as Alcatraz Island in the name of all American Indians by right of discovery.
We wish to be fair and honorable in our dealings with the Caucasian inhabitants of this land, and hereby offer the following treaty:
We will purchase said Alcatraz Island for 24 dollars in glass beads and red cloth, a precedent set by the white man’s purchase of a similar island about 300 years ago. We know that $24 in trade goods for these sixteen acres is more than was paid when Manhattan Island was sold, but we know that land values have risen over the years. Our offer of $1.24 per acre is greater than the 47 cents per acre the white men are now paying the California Indians for their land.
We will give to the inhabitants of this land a portion of that land for their own, to be held in trust by the American Indian Government for as long as the sun shall rise and the rivers go down to the sea — to be administered by the Bureau of Caucasian Affairs (BCA). We will further guide the inhabitants in the proper way of living. We will offer them our religion, our education, our life-ways, in order to help them achieve our level of civilization and thus raise them and all their white brothers up from their savage and unhappy state. We offer this treaty in good faith and wish to be fair and honorable in our dealings with all white men.
We feel that this so-called Alcatraz Island is more than suitable as an Indian Reservation, as determined by the white man’s own standards. By this we mean that this place resembles most Indian reservations, in that:
- It is isolated from modern facilities, and without adequate means of transportation.
- It has no fresh running water.
- The sanitation facilities are inadequate.
- There are no oil or mineral rights.
- There is no industry and so unemployment is very great.
- There are no health care facilities.
- The soil is rocky and non-productive and the land does not support game.
- There are no educational facilities.
- The population has always been held as prisoners and kept dependent upon others.
Further, it would be fitting and symbolic that ships from all over the world, entering the Golden Gate, would first see Indian land, and thus be reminded of the true history of this nation. This tiny island would be a symbol of the great lands once ruled by free and noble Indians.
What use will we make of this land?
Since the San Francisco Indian Center burned down, there is no place for Indians to assemble and carry on tribal life here in the white man’s city. Therefore, we plan to develop on this island several Indian institutions:
- A CENTER FOR NATIVE AMERICAN STUDIES will be developed which will education them to the skills and knowledge relevant to improve the lives and spirits of all Indian peoples. Attached to this center will be traveling universities, managed by Indians, which will go to the Indian Reservations, learning those necessary and relevant materials now about.
- AN AMERICAN INDIAN SPIRITUAL CENTER which will practice our ancient tribal religious and sacred healing ceremonies. Our cultural arts will be featured and our young people trained in music, dance, and healing rituals.
- AN INDIAN CENTER OF ECOLOGY which will train and support our young people in scientific research and practice to restore our lands and waters to their pure and natural state. We will work to depollute the air and water of the Bay Area. We will seek to restore fish and animal life to the area and to revitalize sea life which has been threatened by the white man’s way. We will set up facilities to desalt sea water for human benefit.
- A GREAT INDIAN TRAINING SCHOOL will be developed to teach our people how to make a living in the world, improve our standard of living, and to end hunger and unemployment among all our people. This training school will include a center for Indian arts and crafts, and an Indian restaurant serving native foods, which will restore Indian culinary arts. This center will display Indian arts and offer Indian foods to the public, so that all may know of the beauty and spirit of the traditional INDIAN ways.
Some of the present buildings will be taken over to develop and AMERICAN INDIAN MUSEUM, which will depict our native food & other cultural contributions we have to given to the world. Another part of the museum will present some of the things the white man has given to the Indians in return for the land and life he took: disease, alcohol, poverty and cultural decimation (As symbolized by old tin cans, barbed wire, rubber tires, plastic containers, etc.). Part of this museum will remain a dungeon to symbolize both those Indian captives who were incarcerated for challenging white authority, and those who were imprisoned on reservations. The museum will show the noble and the tragic events of Indian history, including the broken treaties, the documentary of the Trail of Tears, the Massacre of Wounded Knee, as well as the victory over Yellow Hair Custer and his army.
In the name of all Indians, therefore, we re-claim this island for our Indian nations, for all these reasons. We feel this claim is just and proper, and that this land should rightfully be granted to us for as long as the rivers shall run and the sun shall shine.
Signed,
Indians of All Tribes
November 1969
San Francisco, California
[As published in The Movement newspaper, January 1970]
Declaration of the Return of Indian Land
How Did We Lose Our Land?
Wars – Massacres – Fraud – Occupation – Expropriation – Forced Sales – Division of Tribal Lands – Deprivation of Water – Flooding.
Who Took It?
Government – Railroad – Oil – Mining – Timber Companies – Settlers – Homesteaders – Robbers.
When England ruled our right to our land was recognized by the British Crown. After the revolution, Indian title was recognized by the United States in proclamations by Presidents, in Treaties & in statutes. Vast areas of the United States were ceded by Indian tribes to the government. Could anyone believe that any Indian tribe would voluntarily cede their ancestral land, more precious to them than life itself, and the sole source of satisfaction for their spiritual, religious and material needs? Almost before the Treaties were signed they were broken – in order to take still more land.
Finally within the past two or three decades the government has confirmed the wrongs done to the Indian people. Statutes have been passed concerning illegality, unconstitutionality and unconscionable behavior and the courts and the Indian claims commission have been authorized to find specifically the types, places and victims of these wrongs.
How Does The Government Propose To Right These Wrongs?
In place of their land the government offers to the Indian tribes, and the Indian people, money. How much money? For California they offer 47 cents an acre for land which, in some areas is worth 5 million times that. For the hundreds of billions taken from or earned by Indian land – nothing. For more than one hundred years that Indians have been without their land – nothing.
Will Indians Accept Money For Their Land?
To the government of the United States the Indian people say: You cannot be relieved from your legal and moral obligations, your conscience cannot be assuaged, the historical, spiritual and material needs of the Indian people cannot be satisfied – except by what we demand and by this declaration affirm.
The Return of Our Land
Under the white man’s law we have the right to the return of our land. When your white man illegally deprives another of his land the wronged one always gets back his land. At this very moment the government is promising the Taos Indians that they reject their Indian Claims Commission checks and their historic Blue Lake land will be restored to them. It would have been better for the white man’s conscience, self-esteem & world-image if he had done what we must do. Indian patience and endurance being exhausted, we cannot, will not wait any longer. From the facts, the logic and the verities we have recited it flows as inevitably and relentlessly as the great rivers of our country, that we must, and we do declare,
Our Land Is Ours Again
As a first step we announce on behalf of all the Indian people, or tribes, that from this day forward we shall exercise dominion, and all rights of use and possession, over Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay. Hence forth, from time to time, the Indian people, or tribes or other groupings of Indian people, will similarly announce the restoration of other land to Indian dominion, use and possession. What we have done by this declaration we have done [as] Indians – but to those whites who desire their government to be a government of law, justice and morality we say,
We Have Done It Also For You.
Indians of All Tribes, Inc., Alcatraz Island, May 31st, 1970
Radio Free Alcatraz
Radio Free Alcatraz broadcasted for the first time on December 22, 1969 from Alcatraz Island. Radio Station KPFA FM, Berkeley, California, of the Pacifica Foundation offered us prime time (7:15 PM) in which to broadcast. We are free to air any type of programming we wish.
Radio Free Alcatraz reaches an Indian listening audience of approximately 100,000. Besides KPFA, are her sister stations; KPFK, Los Angeles, and WBAI, New York. We are making use of this opportunity by broadcasting Indian affairs and problems confronting our Indian People all across our lands as well as here on Alcatraz.
We will also stress cultural awareness by presenting the Indian Arts such as music, poetry, legends, and stories of our past and the present.
If anyone is interested in submitting material for broadcast or wishes more information concerning Radio Free Alcatraz, please contact John Trudell through the Alcatraz Relief Fund Office. Participation is needed and will be welcome, as we believe it is one step closer to Indian unification.
JOHN TRUDELL: SANTEE SIOUX
Rock Talk
The following question was asked of Alcatraz residents: “What would you like to see on Alcatraz?”
Vicky Santana, Blackfoot, Browning, Montana, former child welfare case worker, works at the Alcatraz mainland office, said: “My tribe always says when the buffalo comes back they will come from the west, I hope that Alcatraz is the beginning.”
Douglas Remington, Ute, Denver, Colorado, former teacher, current educational coordinator on the rock said: “I would like to see Alcatraz returned to its original state, with a blending of the buildings in harmony with the earth.”
Marilyn Maracle, Mohawk, Six Nations Reservation, Ontario, Canada, former counselor O.E.O., works in Public Relations Alcatraz office said: “I would like to see a new way of life, which is a return of the old life style in today’s terms.”
Willie Lewis, Apache – Pima, Phoenix, Arizona, former upholsterer, currently working on the shuttle boat as a security guard said: “I would like to see hot water.”
David Leach, Colville – Sioux, college student, on the first invasion, former member of Alcatraz council said: “I would like to see the strengthening and the return of our Indian religions by establishing a branch of the Native American Church and a revival of the Sioux and other religions.”
[collected by?] Grace F. Thorpe, Sac & Fox
See also:
We Have Endured, We Are Indians, by the Pit River Indian Council (1970)
Drive behind occupation of Alcatraz lingers 50 years later (AP News)
Alcatraz is not an island w/ LaNada War Jack
Indigenous Resistance, 1960s to 2007, by Warrior Publications
Land Back: The matrilineal descent of modern Indigenous land reclamation, by M.Gouldhawke (2020)