Of All Tribes: American Indians and Alcatraz

by Joseph Bruchac

In Of All Tribes, Abenaki children’s book icon Joseph Bruchac tells the stirring history of the 1969 occupation of Alcatraz by Native Americans, which established a precedent for Indian activism.



“Alcatraz is not an island. It’s an idea.” —activist Richard Oakes (Akwesasne Mohawk)



On the night of November 20, 1969—the end of one of the most tumultuous decades in American history—eighty-nine young Native American activists crossed the San Francisco Bay under cover of darkness, calling themselves the “Indians of All Tribes.” Their objective? To claim the former prison island of Alcatraz, basing their actions on an 1868 treaty that said abandoned federal land could be returned to Indigenous peoples.



Taking a stand on an island reclaimed as “Indian Land,” these peaceful protestors brought worldwide attention to the issues facing present-day Native Americans, as well as the centuries of unjust federal Indian policy. From award-winning Abenaki author Joseph Bruchac, Of All Tribes is the riveting story of the occupation that ignited the modern American Indian Movement and inspired activists everywhere.

Genres: Nonfiction, Middle Grade, History, Social Justice

256 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 26, 2023

About the author

Joseph Bruchac lives with his wife, Carol, in the Adirondack mountain foothills town of Greenfield Center, New York, in the same house where his maternal grandparents raised him. Much of his writing draws on that land and his Abenaki ancestry. Although his American Indian heritage is only one part of an ethnic background that includes Slovak and English blood, those Native roots are the ones by which he has been most nourished. He, his younger sister Margaret, and his two grown sons, James and Jesse, continue to work extensively in projects involving the preservation of Abenaki culture, language and traditional Native skills, including performing traditional and contemporary Abenaki music with the Dawnland Singers.

He holds a B.A. from Cornell University, an M.A. in Literature and Creative Writing from Syracuse and a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the Union Institute of Ohio. His work as a educator includes eight years of directing a college program for Skidmore College inside a maximum security prison. With his wife, Carol, he is the founder and Co-Director of the Greenfield Review Literary Center and The Greenfield Review Press. He has edited a number of highly praised anthologies of contemporary poetry and fiction, including Songs from this Earth on Turtle's Back, Breaking Silence (winner of an American Book Award) and Returning the Gift. His poems, articles and stories have appeared in over 500 publications, from American Poetry Review, Cricket and Aboriginal Voices to National Geographic, Parabola and Smithsonian Magazine. He has authored more than 70 books for adults and children, including The First Strawberries, Keepers of the Earth (co-authored with Michael Caduto), Tell Me a Tale, When the Chenoo Howls (co-authored with his son, James), his autobiography Bowman's Store and such novels as Dawn Land, The Waters Between, Arrow Over the Door and The Heart of a Chief. Forthcoming titles include Squanto's Journey (Harcourt), a picture book, Sacajawea (Harcourt), an historical novel, Crazy Horse's Vision (Lee & Low), a picture book, and Pushing Up The Sky (Dial), a collection of plays for children. His honors include a Rockefeller Humanities fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts Writing Fellowship for Poetry, the Cherokee Nation Prose Award, the Knickerbocker Award, the Hope S. Dean Award for Notable Achievement in Children's Literature and both the 1998 Writer of the Year Award and the 1998 Storyteller of the Year Award from the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers. In 1999, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers Circle of the Americas.

As a professional teller of the traditional tales of the Adirondacks and the Native peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Joe Bruchac has performed widely in Europe and throughout the United States from Florida to Hawaii and has been featured at such events as the British Storytelling Festival and the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesboro, Tennessee. He has been a storyteller-in-residence for Native American organizations and schools throughout the continent, including the Institute of Alaska Native Arts and the Onondaga Nation School. He discusses Native culture and his books and does storytelling programs at dozens of elementary and secondary schools each year as a visiting author.

Reviews

[J R · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first came across this book on October 1, when I picked up 500 Nations and Of All Tribes, and this book was displayed during Indigenous Holiday books for young adults. Of All Tribes, American Indians and Alcatraz by Joseph Bruchac, should be required reading for young people in our school curriculum.


NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

Most Indigenous Americans commonly refer to themselves as "Indians." Many people believe “Native American" is the preferred term to use, but that is not true. While the word "Indian" is the result of a geographical misunderstanding on the part of Europeans, it has been in common use for hundreds of years among our Indigenous peoples. When a Smithsonian museum devoted to the cultures and histories of the original inhabitants of America was founded in 1989, it was the consensus of Indigenous scholars, elders, tribal leaders, and historians that it should be called the National Museum of the American Indian.

Indigenous Americans, while generally comfortable with the English word "Indian," prefer to be identified first by their own tribal nation, such as Lakota or Dine. There are hundreds of different Indigenous languages, each with its own name for itself (a name usually meaning something such as "the People").

Great must read indeed

[Natalie Scherck · Rating 4 out of 5]

After visiting Alcatraz, I discovered this was a piece of history I knew nothing about. Very informative and a good perspective on the history of the American Indian takeover of Alcatraz.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

On November 20, 1969 a sizeable group of Native Americans, from a variety of tribes joining in a movement Of All Tribes landed on and claimed ownership of Alcatraz Island, site of the abandoned former Federal Prison Alcatraz relying on the legal justification from a clause of a treaty with the United States Government from the 1800s. The action continued until June 11, 1971 when the Federal Government reclaimed the land without resistance nor bloodshed.

When one looks at the true history of native peoples in the area now comprising the United States, the history before Europeans came, you see an incredibly rich and complex tapestry of cooperative governments, trading and utilization of natural resources. But because the fabric of that tapestry did not match the fabric of the governmental tapestry of Europeans, they were defined as "savages". From the 1500s to the mid 1800s there was constant overt war against these "savages" in addition to the devastation caused by their lack of protection from European diseases.

Have you ever wondered why native peoples were so devastated by European diseases yet you never hear about the impact of native diseases on European settlers? Think about it. There weren't any.

Once wars ended, a second, more insidious attack began -- to destroy native cultures. Children were taken from their homes and put into boarding schools where they were punished if they spoke their native languages or engaged in any of their cultural religious practices. When white people today whine about "cancel culture", I get angry. They have no concept of what cancel culture really feels like. When that failed to destroy native languages and culture, the government tried another tack, to decide which native tribes were legitimate, taking many off the official list and thereby denying treaty-defined rights for the people of those tribes. Speaking of treaties, there is not a single treaty entered into between the United States and native tribes that the United States did not break. Not one.

The ownership claim of Alcatraz was a watershed event in the relationship between the US Government and the tribal people of the US. The people comprising Of All Tribes stook up and said "no more". They said "We shall remain." Since the 1 year encampment comprising that effort, more movements have happened, furthering the awareness of the rights of native people and responsibilities of the US Government toward them, particulary in the arena of returning treaty-protected native lands that were stolen in breaching those treaties.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, I'm a white person.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

When most people think of Alcatraz, they think of hardened criminals and escape attempts in dangerous waters. But did you know Alcatraz wasn’t just a prison- it was more than a prison- an idea? Learn about the 1969 Native American occupation of Alcatraz. The book does a nice job giving a brief history of the San Francisco Bay Area, beginning with the Ohlone, the first and original occupants of the region.See how Manifest Destiny, broken treaties, the Indian Removal Act, and the cultural genocide of the boarding schools all set the stage for tensions leading up to the occupation. You’ll get a much greater understanding of Native Americans, how the government treated them through the years, and even learn why then President Richard Nixon wasn’t quick at all to forcibly remove the occupiers from the island?

[Penny Peck · Rating 4 out of 5]

This in-depth look at the 1969 takeover of Alcatraz Island in the San Fracisco Bay by a group of Native American Indian activists is detailed, and filled with color and b&w photos. Aimed at ages 11-18, middle and high school students will learn about this precedent-setting effort to achieve justice for indigenous people at a time with African Americans, women, the LGBTQ community, and others were seeking civil rights. Although the first 50 of 200 pages is really about the background of the U.S. injustice towards native peoples, and the text has some unnecessary repetition, this is still an essential book for libraries and schools.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
This is all about the Native Americans and their relationship to the island of Alcatraz, including their multiple protests to claim the island based on a treaty that says abandoned federal land can be returned to them. Lots of information about activists from multiple nations who worked (usually) together but also describes some of the fissures between them including some taints from white society like misogyny that crept into their society as well. The 19 month long occupation of Alcatraz was fascinating. Includes a timeline, multiple primary source photographs, authors note, source notes, bibliography, photo credits, index, and acknowledgments.

[Jeanine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book written about the occupation of Alcatraz by a group of Native Americans in the late Sixties. As a former teacher of History, I emphasized with my students that quite often European groups believed that they were better than the residents of the lands that were invaded. I agreed with much of Bruchac’s arguments against theUS government.
I also found it quite telling that Presidents Johnson and Nixon furthered the causes brought forth by Indian groups. Shameful that later presidents did not.

[Jill Eshelman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this book at the Alcatraz gift store because I am trying to learn as much as I can about the indigenous people of Turtle Island. I am fascinated by activist movements and this provided such a great overview of this specific reclamation of land, including the stories of the leaders and supporters of the movement. I appreciated that it was contextualized in the broader history of Native history. Given that the target audience is young adults, it’s a very accessible book, while still being very informative.

[Alexa Hamilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I knew nothing about the occupation of Alcatraz and how it led to so much of the current Native activism. It also includes pretty thorough biographies of 3 important Native activists, both for the occupation and beyond.

I don't know why they chose to print it all on glossy paper though. There were a good number of photos, which were wonderful to have included, but I'm not sure they needed to be glossy.

[Christine Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have somehow never heard about this takeover of Alcatraz Island before and it's a really interesting and kind of important story. The book is not long, but has lots of info in it. This is nitpicky, but for some reason, I hated the glossy paper used. It made the book feel bulky and awkward to read.

[Liz McMillan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one took me awhile to get through...almost 4 months...and I am glad I didn't DNF it. There is so much information in this book that I know I didn't keep all the names of people, tribes or timelines straight, and I learned a ton! I had no idea about the indigenous tribes ties to Alcatraz or any of the occupations, and now I do. Would definitely recommend findinf out more about the occupation of Alcatraz Island by the Indians of All Tribes, whether it is from this book or another source!

[Annika Eggan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for the history fair, but it was actually super interesting. I don’t have much to say other than that it was super helpful for my project.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed reading about the American Indian side of Alcatraz's history.