And now:[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: American Indians gather on Alcatraz to commemorate occupation of The Rock Sunday, October 24, 1999 Breaking News Sections http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/1999/10/24/state2210EDT0075.DTL (10-24) 19:10 PDT SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- American Indians from the San Francisco Bay Area gathered Saturday on Alcatraz Island to commemorate the historic Indian occupation of ``The Rock'' 30 years ago. During the 1950s and 60s, American Indians from reservations throughout the West were relocated to the area under a controversial government plan to reduce reservation populations and to assimilate Indians into urban culture. Relocation centers were set up in Los Angeles, San Jose, San Francisco and Oakland. In November 1969, a local group of American Indian students decided to claim Alcatraz Island -- home of the infamous former prison -- as their own, as a protest. The takeover lasted for 19 months and received nationwide media attention. The anniversary celebration was worth the trip for Rebecca Duncan of Mendocino County, who woke up at 3 a.m. to make it to San Francisco in time. ``Alcatraz was a big door that opened for us,'' said Duncan, who lives on the Round Valley Reservation in Covelo. ``We are here today to remind people that our culture is not dead. We are reeducating ourselves about our history.'' Historians say the 1969 takeover was a watershed event that launched a new generation of American Indian civil rights activists. ``Alcatraz made it OK to be a native person,'' said Lee Davis, director of California Studies at San Francisco State University. ``People came out of the woodwork to claim that identity. It revived languages and cultural history. The consequences of Alcatraz were quite remarkable.'' The takeover has been credited with persuading the government to end the relocation program. For local American Indians, it was a galvanizing event that is woven into the activist folklore of the San Francisco Bay area of the 1960s. The parents of Berkeley's John Bellanger were relocated to Oakland from Minnesota and Oklahoma. Bellanger was only 9 years old during the Alcatraz takeover, but he remembers it fondly and proudly. ``It started the Red Power movement,'' he said. ``We went to Alcatraz every weekend. There were thousands of Indians all over the place. I remember that every time I went there, I felt like I was with friends.'' The original occupiers from the 1969 takeover were scheduled to speak at the anniversary celebration, as was spoken-word artist John Trudell, who served as national chairman of the American Indian Movement group from 1973 to 1979. [Note: from all of us..to all of you..thank you..thank you..thank you] Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
