The Idea That is Alcatraz

I remember stepping onto the dock of Alcatraz. It was cold and the wind was sharp and crisp. I latched onto my big sis for warmth. I was thinking of Sean Connery and Nicholas Cage and that one gangster from Chicago. Al Pacino? Al Paso? I was thinking of that 70s movie I saw once about the three prisoners that escaped, wondering how they did it.

The first thing we saw was a big white crumbling building that didn’t look like much. And as we passed the visitors center and entered the gift shop I found a peculiar object. It was a simple postcard with a picture of a Native America tipi and the Golden Gate in the background. At the time the image seemed so out of place, so random. What were Indians doing on Alcatraz? What a cool idea… I never thought about it again. And it didn’t come up on the guided tour, so I figured it was something miscellaneous. Little did I know…

Five Years later, I now know what Indians where doing on Alcatraz. We go to school to learn and become less ignorant; I now know that the image I saw was a snapshot of a Native America demonstration.

The film we saw in class was not only entertaining but inspiring. It was an example of how a group of dedicated students with a noble cause can actually make a difference, cause commotion, and get in the hair of the government. The film was rich in portraying the experiences of the occupiers, before, during, and after the take over. It opened our eyes the continuous struggle that Native Americans have to deal with. A few things really stuck with me after watching it:

1.One occupier during the film, an old man with feathers in his hair, was holding up a sign to the camera that read: “I am not a mascot” (referring to the Washington Redskins). It made me laugh.

2.The befitting irony of the occupier’s demands of purchasing Alcatraz for 24 dollars in cloth and beads, the price that Manhattan Island was purchased for. And then adjusting prices to because of retail increases.

3.The comparison of Alcatraz’s poor condition to Indian reservations. As Fortune Eagle put it: “It's removed from society, and there's no running water, and unemployment will be very great. There's not enough game to support the population. And all of these things are just typical of any Indian reservation in the country, so it was a good kind of satire, if you will, to use all of that to say.” Life on Alcatraz will be no better than the life on any reservation.

4.It was very inspiring to me that a forgotten group of individuals, like Native Americans, to stand up and tell their oppressing government that “We want our freedom. We want to be made a people. We want the right to self-determination."

5.I enjoyed the symbolic idea of when boats come in from all over the world to see Indian land first as a remind of the great heritage of the United States.

The idea of converting an abandoned decaying prison into a university/cultural center/ etc, seems utopian. 19 months of occupation…That’s a long time. It hard to image anything but a prison on that island. But as the film said… it’s not an island… it’s an idea. An idea that one day, all the Native Americans of North America, will have their own gathering spot to promote and remember their heritage.

Questions: When I visited Alcatraz 5 or 6 years ago, their was no genuine mention of the occupation. Why do you think that is? Has any body been their recently? Have they changed the tour in any way? Could it have been a result from this PBS program?