SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY, WRITING
AMIND141 SDSU Native Indian In America Discussion Help
Question Description
reword a short assignment. five questions. just reword them for me
The American Indian Civil Rights movement emerged after continuous years of forced assimilation from the US federal government. The Termination Act of 1953 and the Relocation Act of 1956 both led up to the movement. Relocation increased the Native population in poor urban areas with already struggling minorities. This inspired many of the young relocated Indians for the civil rights movement. The Education Assistance Act also sparked this movement because it promised natives a better life. However, in reality, this Act ended up taking away rights from Indians that had previously been established. The Occupation of Alcatraz was also referred to as “the cradle of the modern Native American civil rights movement” (1969 Occupation of Alcatraz)
The main goal of the Occupation of Alcatraz was to regain land that had been previously owned by Natives. They wanted to send a message to the US federal government that by the Treaty of Fort Lamarie, the island can be reclaimed by them. They announced to the world the “Alcatraz Proclamation” and accused the US of breaking numerous US treaties. The Indians took over the island “to build a Native American Studies center, spiritual center, and ecology center, and an American Indian Museum” (1969 Occupation of Alcatraz). Although just 14 months later they were forcibly removed from the island, this activist movement brought international attention to this movement and led to over 200 civil disobedient instances by Native Americans.
The “We Hold the Rock” documentary was very inspirational and educational. Due to the relocation of Indians into ghetto environments, they wanted to reclaim their land. The Indians had met at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco to take a boat over to the island and at first the boat didn’t show. Once it did show up, they set out into the water and passengers started jumping overboard to swim to the island but they were eventually picked up and brought back to the mainland by the coast guard. In another attempt, the Indians set out for Alcatraz from Sausalito and there were 80 of them on a boat. The population doubled and tripled and eventually there were 400 Indians who had reclaimed Alcatraz. In this documentary, it was interesting hearing several anecdotes and listening to the event as a story rather than just reading it as an event of the past. These anecdotes made it much more personal. The scene that stood out to me the most was when Indian activists began swimming to Alcatraz. It made me think of how much they must have needed to reclaim this land and how far they were willing to fight for their freedom. The part that stood out to me the most in the documentary was the fact that the Indians jumped overboard and started swimming to Alcatraz. It just really made me think of how badly they must have wanted their freedom.
After reading the Alcatraz Proclamation I can say that the tone was very practical. The proclamation seemed very well thought out and they included reasons to back up their claims. Their intended to address the US federal government and give good reason as to why this land is rightfully theirs. They also had the audience of Native Indians throughout America so that they would get news of the reclamation of Alcatraz, as well. You can tell by the list of reasons they gave as to why the island resembles most Indian reservations that the context of the Proclamation was at a time where Indians were not in good living standards. Their word choice emphasizes how they have been belittled over the years and are willing to fight for this land even though it is not much better than their current reservations because it gives them purpose.
This week’s topic really made me think of what I value in life and how hard I am willing to fight for it. Hearing about the Indians jumping overboard to swim all the way to Alcatraz forced me to look inward. It made me realize that conditions at the time for natives were still so bad even though this really wasn’t that long ago (1969-1971). I really had no idea how long natives were fighting for their sovereignty.

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