Alcatraz- Prison or Sanctuary?

Alcatraz Island is an interesting place, full of history. Alcatraz is the Island also knows as “the rock”. It is located 1.5 miles off of the coast of California. It was a federal prison until 1963 and was also equipped as a military base. That all changed though, when somewhere in the range of 80 Native Americans started an occupation of the Island. It lasted for 19 months. The Island is now a historic and national landmark, and is a top tourist destination for those visiting the San Francisco area. Most of the Natives were college students (at first) that went to school in San Francisco and wanted to start a rebellion that was similar to the ones going on around the country by other Natives.

Personally, I think that the most interesting thing about Alcatraz is the relationship and irony between Natives seeing the location for a federal prison to be the site for their “liberation” or freedom. It is intensely weird to think about. In what way does a prison promote these feelings of jubilation? They by their very definition are supposed to do exactly the opposite! So, this is why I find it very interesting that Natives today still visit Alcatraz as a historic landmark of something good for their people. Some even go apparently twice a year, on Thanksgiving and Columbus Day, the two times a year where non-Natives celebrate travesties done towards the Native people.

The other interesting part is that Natives don’t see Alcatraz as a victory; they see it as a failure in many ways. It was a success in the fact that it did gain national attention; it just didn’t hold the attention for very long. They also feel that no real good or change had come from the occupation; it was a silent protest, in many ways. Then, after it was all done, the story was told in a much different light than of a peaceful protest. It was told that the Natives were “destructive rebels” and other such things that were not told in a positive light, in the slightest. Of course, outsiders are always the ones that get blamed for things being crazy, or unruly, or they get accused by these critics who probably don’t know the whole story. It reminds me of the Civil Rights Movement, when many peaceful protesters had tear gas used on them, or were even shot. They were not doing anything accept meeting peacefully, but because they were not only the minority in numbers but also ethnicity they are seen as bad.

Alcatraz is a very interesting symbol for the US as a whole. There is an air of mystery based on the fact that it was a prison, and that a lot of interesting things and people were kept there. However, I think the most interesting part about Alcatraz is one of its least known facts, that for 19 months, it was occupied by Native protesters searching for their own identity and their place in life.  They were searching for sanctuary from the judgment, the hate, and the oppression they faced on a daily basis that is still present today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2TXvRpdDTw
This link goes to a youtube video that is a collage of all different pictures taken during the Native occupation of Alcatraz.