American Indian Culture and Research Journal

INTRODUCTION The liberation of Alcatraz Island by Native Americans in November 1969 occurred when I had just started teaching newly developed courses in our brand-new Native American studies program at the University of California, Davis. I was engaged in the political work of securing additional teaching positions, writing up a major, setting up a student community center (Tecumseh Center), securing adequate space, and all of the other things needed to bring our dreams to reality. I had just moved to Davis from Berkeley in July, and my energy was focused on prying resources loose from administrators and crossing swords with faculty committees. Several of our Davis students went down to Alcatraz immediately, and some of my fellow members of United Native Americans were among the leaders of the Alcatraz community. I began to realize the unique importance of Alcatraz, even though I personally was only a supporter and visitor, never an occupier. Alcatraz was perhaps the first Indian-controlled “free” piece of real estate within the United States since the whites had conquered southwestern Colorado and southwestern Utah in 1910–15 and assumed control over interior Alaska during the same general period. One thing that made Alcatraz so significant was the fact that, when you left the pier, you left the United States and soon arrived on a native-ruled island, temporarily beyond the jurisdiction of any white authorities. Another significant aspect of Alcatraz was that it liberated the psyche of native peoples, making it “all right to be Indian, headbands and all.” Finally, it was an experiment in native self-determination in a communal and political sense.