Hundreds gather on Alcatraz to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day

President Joe Biden is the first U.S. president to ever recognized Indigenous Peoples’ Day

Oct 11, 2021

As the sun rose on Monday morning, hundreds of people traveled from across the state to Pier 33 to a sunrise gathering on Alcatraz Island, to commemorate both Indigenous People’s Day and reflect on the island’s Indigenous history.

The International Indian Treaty Council hosted and organized the sunrise to remember the 1969 to 1971 occupation. “Indians of All Tribes” was the activist group that led in the attempted occupation of Alcatraz Island.

This year marks the first time a U.S. president has ever recognized Indigenous Peoples’ Day. President Joe Biden issued the proclamation on Friday. After being elected president, Biden appointed former Rep. Deb Haaland to the Department of the Interior — the first Native American to hold the position.

“Today, we also acknowledge the painful history of wrongs and atrocities that many European explorers inflicted on Tribal Nations and Indigenous communities. It is a measure of our greatness as a Nation that we do not seek to bury these shameful episodes of our past — that we face them honestly, we bring them to the light, and we do all we can to address them,” Biden wrote in the proclamation.

Between 1964 to 1969, “Indians of All Tribes” had made three attempts to occupy Alcatraz Island, as it was originally Ohlone land before becoming a fort and eventually, a prison.

The leader of the group, Richard Oakes, led about 80 students from the American Indian Studies Center at UCLA to attempt occupying Alcatraz Island and found that prolonged occupation was possible.

The longest occupation period on the island was 19 months, with 400 protesters on the land, and is arguably one of the most crucial acts taken in modern Native American history.

Now, 52 years after those first days of the occupation, the IITC continues to host the sunrise events as a way to remember those involved in the attempted occupation and preserve the gathering of Native peoples.

IITC also organizes a Thanksgiving Sunrise Gathering on the island on Nov. 25, as a way to bring more attention to Indigenous people during the day of Thanksgiving. It is sometimes referred to as Un-Thanksgiving, or unthanksgiving day.

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About the Contributors

Samantha Laurey

Samantha is a freelance photojournalist on staff at San Francisco Examiner. She is a local to the San Francisco Bay Area, specifically the East Bay in Martinez, Calif. Her work has focused on topics ranging from LGBTQ+, gender and more. Alongside her freelance work, she works as the Managing Editor for San Francisco State's school newspaper, Golden Gate Xpress. She served as the Visuals Editor during the Spring 2021 semester. Her work has been published in The DVC Inquirer, Pleasanton Weekly, Bay Area Reporter, Bay City News Wire Service, San Francisco Examiner and looks to publish more.

Chris Ramirez

Chris Ramirez is a senior at SF State who will graduate in May. He is double majoring in journalism and German and minoring in political science. He serves as editor-in-chief for SF State's student publication, the Golden Gate Xpress and is the spring California intern at POLITICO.

Chris lives in San Francisco and hails from Southern California. In his free time, he enjoys reading, running and living vicariously through the women on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. After graduating, he looks forward to catching up on some much-needed sleep.