1968 indian civil rights movement story
Uploaded by azpups on Apr 06, 2015
November 20, 1969
We have made it to the island and managed to escape the White Man’s Coast Guard. Their ships tried to stop us from landing on Alcatraz. This time the White Man will not take away our land. My family and many more will join us. We are only 79 members who have landed, but more of our People will come. We will take back what was always ours before the Whites stole our lands. Tonight we shall build the great fire and hold a powwow with songs of triumph! May the Great Spirit bless our cause to return our lands to us.
November 21, 1969
We have begun a tribal council. Our leader Richard Oakes has phoned the Department of the Interior in San Francisco. Our demands are very few: we want justice for the American Indian. We will peacefully resist the White Man’s attempts to remove us and deny us our rights. We have given every member of this new Alcatraz tribe duties and jobs to do. The White Man’s government has given us 24 hours to leave the island. We will not leave. The White Man will have to do as he has done in the past: he will have to use violence on us.
November 27, 1969 (Thanksgiving Day)
Our families and friends have joined us on the island for a day of feast and victory. We have been here for a week and our numbers continue to grow. The White Man cannot defeat the truth. He has stolen our native lands and used genocide to destroy our Indian nations. How can they pretend to want to negotiate with us now after all they have done in the past? My daughter presented me with a bead necklace she made in our new school. Tonight she and the other young members will dance around the great fire.