Alcatrac+Occupation

= Alcatraz Occupation 1969 = ==== Before the larger occupation of Alcatraz in 1969 there were a couple smaller attempts to occupy the island. The first attempt occurred in 1964, a year after Alcatraz was closed, Native Americans claimed that the Fort Laramie Treaty allowed them the right to any extra federal land and occupied the island for a short time. After a few hours U.S marshals removed the Native Americans from the island. ====

====A second attempt occurred in 1969; about 100 Native Americans arrived to the pier and gave the Alcatraz Proclamation. The Alcatraz Proclamation was a joke mocking white settlers that offered money for land and offered to 'civilize' the Native Americans. In the Alcatraz Proclamation the Native Americans offered $24 of beads and cloth to buy Alcatraz and to create a Bureau of Caucasian Affairs to 'civilize' the Americans. About fourteen Native Americans arrived at Alcatraz and managed to stay the night, but the following day they were escorted off the island by the coast guard. ====

====A week later from the Alcatraz Proclamation Native Americans from twenty different tribes occupied the island around 2:00 in the morning. Once on the island the Native Americans created an elected council, jobs, and chores for others to do. Some of those jobs were cooking, child care, security, and laundry. The Indians had successfully occupied Alcatraz Island and were gathering attention to their cause. This form of protest worked towards gaining American Indians' civil-rights. For a few months many thousands of Native Americans joined the protesters to gain attention and voice their demands for equality and their rights. After two years of occupation of the island the government still refused to grant the Native Americans their demands. The majority of the Native Americans residing on the island had left on June 1st, 1971 due to a fire that had destroyed many of the buildings there. The government, determined to end the occupation and escort the remaining fourteen Native Americans off the island had sent the U.S marshals to raid the island on June 11th.====