cover image The Occupation of Alcatraz Island: Indian Self-Determination and the Rise of Indian Activism

The Occupation of Alcatraz Island: Indian Self-Determination and the Rise of Indian Activism

Troy Johnson. University of Illinois Press, $22 (273pp) ISBN 978-0-252-06585-9

On November 20, 1969, 89 young Native Americans laid claim to the former prison island of Alcatraz and used the ensuing 19-month occupation to broadcast their demands and raise awareness of grievances of their people. It was, says former Cherokee chief Wilma Mankiller, ""liberating....I'd never heard anyone actually tell the world... that our people had given up an entire continent, and many lives, in return for basic services like health care and education, but nobody was honoring those agreements."" Mankiller, Grace Thorpe, John Trudell et al. add breadth through interviews included in a chapter titled ""Voices from Alcatraz."" But the interviews were done by others during or soon after the occupation and Johnson missed a chance to make his book stronger by conducting more of his own interviews. Also, the narrative becomes disjointed when Johnson lumps government officials' reactions into one chapter instead of blending them with events as they unfolded. Still, the book provides illuminating, behind-the-scenes looks at Alcatraz's occupiers, the dreams that united them and realities that splintered them; the reaction of the Bay Area Native American community; and the White House efforts to solve a public relations dilemma. Included is an extensive summary of other Native American actions that grew out of the Alcatraz experience. Photos not seen by PW. (Nov.)