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The Long History of Alcatraz Island, California - Page 7

️Fri Jul 02 2010

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Alcatraz - Page 7

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The old Officers' Club was burned out during the Indian occupation of the island, July, 2009, Kathy Weiser.

Primarily due to rising costs, its isolated location, and deteriorating facilities, Alcatraz was the most expensive of any state or federal institution. At this same time, prison operating philosophy was changing to reinstitution and rehabilitation, rather than the wholesale warehousing of inmates. The government soon began to build a new prison at Marion, Illinois, with plans to shut down Alcatraz. Though it was said that J. Edgar Hoover was opposed to closing Alcatraz, his power base had eroded over the years and his opinion was ignored.

Attorney General Robert Kennedy officially closed the doors of Alcatraz on March 21, 1963, when the final twenty-seven inmates were taken off the island.

It was the first time that reporters were ever allowed on the "Rock to cover its closing which made headlines across the country. Afterwards, Alcatraz Island was transferred to the General Services Administration in May of 1963.

During its 29 years of its operation as a federal prison, the fog enshrouded island confined more than 1,500 men under intolerable rules and deprivation. Former prisoners continue to tell tales of the "inside with numerous scenes that were seemingly so terrible, that many of the prisoners preferred death to continued incarceration.

Just as Warden Johnston had envisioned it, life was hell for the prisoners on the island, and in no time it was dubbed "Hellcatraz. Suicides and murders were common under the severe and stark rule system of the prison. Infractions of the rules would quickly land a prisoner in "D block, known as the "treatment unit. Here, men could leave their four-by-eight cells only once in seven days for a brief, ten-minute shower. Harsher punishments included solitary confinement, in total darkness, for days without any release, or confinement in the dreaded steel boxes.

As prisoners looked out the barred windows of the prison, they saw party barges passing by, cars traveling on the highways of the mainland, and life going on normally for those not incased upon the Rock. One prisoner described it this way: "I looked out the window once when I first came to Alcatraz and saw that and I vowed to never look out the window again for as long as I was there."

Though one of Americas most escape proof prisons, Alcatraz served as an experiment that would never again be repeated. Segregation on this scale had never before been seen and would never again be practiced.

During the years that the island was occupied by the prison, eight prisoners were murdered by other inmates, five committed suicide, 15 died from illness, and numerous others went insane.

From 1963 to 1969, the island remained abandoned, with the exception of a short Native American occupation in 1964. Lasting for only four hours, the symbolic occupation was led by Richard McKenzie, with four other Sioux Indians, who demanded the use of the island for a Native American Cultural Center and Indian University.

Though viewed as insignificant at the time, these sentiments would later resurface. In the meantime, several other parties lobbied for various development ideas, ranging from a West Coast version of the Statue of Liberty, to shopping centers, and resort complexes.

In 1969, Alcatraz Island again made national news when another group of Native Americans claimed the island as Indian land.

Native American Occupation (1969-1971)

On November 9, 1969, Richard Oakes, a Mohawk Indian and group of supporters set out on a chartered boat to symbolically claim Alcatraz Island for the Native Americans. The demands of the occupation were almost identical to those made in 1964 by the Sioux who had claimed the island.

Just a little more than ten days later, on November 20th, the symbolic occupation turned into a full scale occupation which would last for the next 19 months.

The initial occupation, planned by Richard Oakes, included a group of Indian students, as well as urban Indians from the Bay Area. Since so many different tribes were represented by the Native Americans, the name "Indians of All Tribes" was adopted for the group.

"We Hold the Rock!"

- Indians of All Tribes

The dock at Alcatraz welcomes Native Americans after it

was occupied. Photo by Michelle Vignes, courtesy

California State University

There are still signs of the Native American occupation at Alcatraz today,

July, 2009, Kathy Weiser.

The federal government initially insisted that the Indians leave the island and placed an ineffective barricade around it. However, the government eventually agreed to hear their demands and the group realized that prolonged occupation was possible. Oakes soon recruited eighty more Indian students from UCLA and the group of occupants reached some 100 Native Americans.

In no time, the occupants began to organize with Chief Oaks as the unofficial mayor of Alcatraz, electing a council, and providing for security, security, sanitation, day-care, school, and housing. Their negotiations demanded the deed to the island, and establishment of an Indian University, cultural center, and museum.

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