LibGuides: Indigenous American Studies: Occupation of Alcatraz

A group of indigenous occupiers on Alcatraz from LOOK Magazine, June 2, 1970.

On November 20, 1969, Richard Oakes (Akwesasne Mohawk), LaNada Means and other indigenous supporters came to Alcatraz Island and claimed the island for indigenous people. This occupation lasted until June 11, 1971. This occupation was the third (one on March 9, 1965 and another on November 9, 1969) and lasted the longest.

Articles

Poetic Resistances and the Indian Occupation of Alcatraz
Analyzing the contentious historiography of the Occupation, Alanna Hickey argues that the activists on the island (who collectively called themselves the Indians of All Tribes) deftly invested in media forms that could contest false narrative accounts reported from the mainland.
Détournement, Decolonization, and the American Indian Occupation of Alcatraz Island (1969-1971)
In this essay, Casey Ryan Kelly illustrates how the IOAT engaged in a rhetoric of détournement, or a subversive misappropriation of dominant discourse that disassembles and imitates texts until they clearly display their oppressive qualities.
The Occupation of Alcatraz Island: Roots of American Indian Activism
We Hold the Rock
An article by Dr. Troy Johnson, Cal State Long Beach for the National Park Service.