Alcatraz is Not an Island

“For Native Americans across the United States, the infamous Alcatraz is not an island…it is an inspiration.” After the U.S. government closed the prison on Alcatraz Island (and before it became a much-used movie set), pan-Indian activists from the San Francisco Bay area, whose Oakland community center had burned down, unsuccessfully petitioned the government for the title to the island. Of course, the irony of wanting a place the government declared unfit for prisoners was not lost on the organizers, who hoped the publicity surrounding their claim would draw attention to the miserable conditions on reservations. During Thanksgiving weekend in 1969, a group of Indians chartered a tall ship to the island, thus beginning a 19-month occupation and standoff that ultimately ended in the removal of the occupiers, but also witnessed the overturning of the hated “Relocation and Termination Act” and saw the institution of new jobs and educational programs. To Native Americans, Alcatraz is not an island, but rather a symbol of the renaissance of the people's pride, the prelude to the “Red Power” movement of the 1970s, and overall heightened cultural awareness. Winner of the Best Documentary Feature award from the American Indian Film Festival, this program--narrated by actor Benjamin Bratt, whose mother Eldy (a Quechuan from Peru) was one of the activist occupiers--interweaves archival footage of this historic event with contemporary commentary. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (R. Reagan)