Alcatraz, 1969

On this day forty years ago, a small group of Native American college students boarded a boat bound for Alcatraz. Why? To protest the miss treatment of the Native population and the relocation, and dispersal of many reservations across the country. But it was also because, the site was sitting in ruins, nothing was being done with it, and the students believed the site could be turned into a Native American learning institution or a place for their spiritual worship. What happened next was truly amazing, for 19 months the group stayed on the island, aided only by small outside contributions. 

I don't pretend to stand for anything, nor do I try and act as if I do. To be honest, I feel that my generation is a little too jaded and lost to really understand anything anymore. We are too concerned with our vanity and our material possessions to give a f**k. Could I live on a cold California island, for 19 months, without electricity or running water? I don't know... But I kind of wish I could believe in something enough to have the conviction too.

"It's easy to pass off the Alcatraz event as largely symbolic, but the truth is the spirit and dream of Alcatraz never died, it simply found its way to other fights,"