The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds - 180 - The Occupation of Alcatraz

Episode Date: June 9, 2016

Comedians Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds examine the 1960's American Indian movement Red Power's occupation of Alcatraz. SOURCESTOUR DATES REDBUBBLE MERCH

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everything to you. Lease none on 2023 Tacoma Access Cab TRD off-road from 131 weekly for 60 months at 8.39% with 4950 down in Statenayon. Visit shop Toyota.ca or your local Ontario Toyota dealer today. It's time to Toyota. Okay! All right. You're listening to the dollop. No let's start that again. You're listening to the dollop on the All Things Comedy Network. This is an American History podcast. Each week I read a story to my friend. Gareth Reynolds who has no idea what the topic is going to be about. Was that right? What? What I did? Yeah. I kind of changed around a little bit because I threw in the All Things Comedy

thing. I don't know if you said American History. I did. I said it's an American History podcast. Okay. I didn't say it's a story from American History. So I gotta stop. Okay. You gotta stop what? Just everything? Worrying. Everything. I gotta quit everything. You know your job on this podcast. First of all I don't like your tone and I don't want you telling me what my job is. It's not to think. Uh-huh. It's to just sit there and do your little characters and be funny. Listen, that is really, really... I mean... I do the thinking and you're in my... Do you understand how patronizing that is? You're in my territory. Do you understand how patronizing that is? Look, this is like a monkey in a trainer situation. Do you know what this monkey's about to do? Kill the trainer and have two mics. Now you're talking about a chimp, not a monkey. I'm talking about a little spider monkey. Oh, well then I'll eat Gorp. God, do you want to look who to do? I'll do one buck. People say this is funny. Not Gary Gara. Stay okay. Someone or something is tickling people. Is it for fun? And this is not going to become a tickly podcast. Okay. You are queen fakie of made-up town. All hail Queen Shit of Liesville. A bunch of religious virgins go to mingle and do what? Pray. Hi, Gary. No. Is he dead, my friend? No. No.

Yeah, this podcast is brought to you by our sponsors on Patreon. We love you, each and every one of you. Yes. Very deeply. Yeah. And I want to thank you guys. This podcast, I don't know, might be dead by now if it wasn't for the Patreon subscribers. It's a really good attitude. Well, it's a lot of work. You don't know what I go through. I just went through quite a load of shit. Wow. Okay. Me and Gareth are having some issues right now. Yeah. Gareth just worked on the book and apparently he's mad. No. Well, I don't think it's, I mean, I just put in, I logged a few hours. I think it's safe to say. Okay. This trainer is going to get his nuts ripped off by this monkey. A little spider monkey. Yeah. My spider monkey is very angry right now. Well, I think this one good. I feel like this is with the, I mean, there's just a lot of tension. Yeah, there is. Yeah. There's a lot of tension. Yeah. There's a lot of tension. Gareth's mad. I'm not mad. Come on, spider monkey. 1943. I am not a spider monkey. A survey was taken of American Indian living conditions on reservations. Okay. It was not good. What? Yeah. Weird. I know. First time things didn't go well. That's weird. Reservations are normally great. They're usually like a party. Yeah. It turns out they were poor, devastated by mismanagement of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Geez, this is going to be long. I'm really tired. Yeah. Which led to endless problems. The survey concluded that tribes no longer needed the crutch of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and they would be better off being independent. So that's sort of like the argument we have where it's like, get government out of your lives. You're like, well, we need roads and bridges. It's exactly what it is. And infrastructure. You don't. You know what the problem is, is that you're dependent on us. Right. That's because you, have you heard of genocide? You did that. Yeah. Well, besides that. And then you fucked us. And now we can't really do what we used to do, which is live off the land and stuff. So we're stuck in fucking trailers and shit. Well, see y'all Thanksgiving. Okay. Bye. This led to the Indian termination policy by Congress. Good. Good ring to it. That's what it was called. They didn't think up another name. No. Well, that's what's good now is at least they have like fun, like no child left behind. Fuck the kids. I mean, but Indian termination policy could be worse. Pretty clear. How about sugarcoating it? Yeah. From 1940 to 1950, the Native American Water Slide Act. What is that that we're going to cut off all they can all have one baby.

What? Yeah, like a water slide. From 1940 to 1950, six laws were passed giving states criminal jurisdiction over tribes and reservations. Termination was portrayed as a cost effective and benign in its effects. Sure. Yeah. Well, you don't want your tax bill to go up. That's what I'm talking about. Yeah. So not a fan of tax bill. Well, if you don't want your taxes to go up, then you got to vote on the fuck the Indians bill. Termination was created to assimilate Native Americans as individuals into American society, not as groups, but as individuals. Okay. The end of tribes. Okay. Okay. So right. I mean, look, the best thing you can do if your government is get rid of the thing that people have been living with for century. Keep getting involved in Native American life. It would be it would be like if people cruise in to a little Italy and was like, All right, no more families. Yeah, you can't have families anymore. Italians. Or someone just goes to the NBA and they're like, Yeah, no more teams. No more teams. One ball, but no more teams. It's all fantasy league. Okay. And everybody starts. So basically what we're talking about is American Indian Fantasy League. Right. It was our government's way of ending all relations between tribes and the federal government. Okay. The idea was to grant the privileges and rights of American citizens to Native Americans. And that would be that. Okay. Do you see how this is working?

Well, I feel like it's I feel like this is yeah. I don't know how I can go wrong. No, no, the government's helping finally making the right steps. What it did end. It's like when you tell a schizophrenic to just leave the hospital and figure it out. That's that's exactly what it is. Well, I mean, we can't compare Native Americans to schizophrenics. But I see the analogy. Well, I'm really taking the doctor's position on this one day. What it did end was tribe sovereignty and freedom and the exclusion of Indians from state laws. So they're no longer excluded. So now they were before excluded from state laws. Now they're not. Now they are. Now they have to face the justice system that they didn't. They were more independent. Right. You get it. Yeah. Oh, and now they had to deal with taxes, which they've been, which they've been exempt from. That's good. That's probably an easy thing to explain. You know what the problem with the American Indian is? He's not paying taxes. I know a way to pay them back. Make them pay us. A lot of the guys who sold this compared it to the Emancipation. These are receipts receipts. I mean, this is fucking ridiculous.

I don't know how this is right off. You can write off your wig. Well, oh my God, this is unfucking believable. A lot of the guys who sold termination compared it to the Emancipation Proclamation. Wow. I mean, how? Taking some liberties. How? I mean, because they're being freed. This pile of poo is a lot like ice cream. There you go. See you licked both. And there are lights very much like ice cream. Yeah. Oh, well, point is going to need some money. Oh, what a sex using in 1952 investigative report of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1953, the official federal termination policy was passed. Good quote.

Whereas it is the policy of Congress as rapidly as possible to make the Indians within the territorial limits of the United States subject to the same laws and entitled to the same privileges and responsibilities as are applicable to other citizens of the United States to end their status as wards of the United States and to grant them all the rights and prerogatives pertaining to American citizenship. So they're so it's it's a good thing. I mean, they're it's an exciting time that this that sounds great. It sounds like they're getting their green cards. Yeah. Citizenship actually. Finally. Yeah, they've had green cards. Now they're going to citizenship. It's pretty great. It can be part of it. They've sat in the sidelines long enough. It passed Resolution 108, which demanded the immediate termination of the Flathead, a Klamath Menomini Menomini.

Yeah. Potawatomi and Turtle Mountain Chippewa and all tribes in New York, Florida, California and Texas and to seek other tribes who were ready for termination. So what is the idea? So the idea is that they're just fucking cut off. They're all now the same. They're cut off and now they're American citizens, so they can get jobs and do everything that American citizens do. Oh, I was worried about them for a second, but now that they can go be part of capitalism, that'll be fun. They can vote and hang out at the cafe.

Yeah, come run a print shop. Okay. Termination was the end of all federal aid, services and protection and the end of reservations. So in a way, this federal aid was sort of a way to finally be like, we've given you enough. We're not paying for this. Okay. Now I think it's time that we all get on the same platform. The Indians all became US citizens immediately.

Congrats. No. I'm very excited for you. No, we don't want this. I know you don't, but you know what this land is? Mine. It's ours. No.

So you should find a place to live. I don't. I have a place to live. Do you know what rent is? I know what it is, but I don't think I should pay it. Now you are. Welcome to America. I hate America.

It used to be called something else. No, I don't think so. Amazingly, termination didn't go well. Why? I don't know. That's so shocking. There was a... Who was the pose?

There was a significant negative impact in education. In Wisconsin, the... Manominee. Manominee. This is your... Yeah. Manominee falls. Ernie Von Schleidhorn, he's a car dealer out in the falls.

There you go. Yeah. The manominee now had a high school dropout rate of 75%. Oh, good. Good. An entire... So it was working? Yeah.

Yeah. An entire generation pretty much without a high school degree. Good. That's good. The tribes also suddenly had no access to the Indian Health Service. Good. And another... Check the good box on this one, obviously.

That's good. The health of Native Americans quickly dropped below that of white Americans where before it had been above it. Good. Again, the good boxes checked. It's equalizing everything. Yep. And the tribes had no industry or businesses to fall back on, but now they had to pay taxes.

Again, Dave, I look at this as a positive. I think that this is really a good thing. I agree. Yeah. You're finally getting them into the system. Yeah. And it's working. It's working great.

Yeah. And unemployment at the same time isn't great. For who? I mean... I think I know someone who's benefactin'. The terminated tribes swiftly dropped into poverty. It also ended federal support of most of the utility services, police, and fire departments on reservations.

I mean... So we just overnight turned a bunch of places into Somalia. It's almost like we were doing one of those like restaurant renovation shows, but we didn't build it back up after we took everything down. We're like, how do you like your new bar? It's just a piece of ground. Hey! We'll be right back.

What do you mean we'll be right back? I said we'll be right back. No, you just... You won't be. We will be right back. The show's out of time, though. Yeah, it's out of time. Well, great meeting you guys.

Good luck with the new bar. I don't feel that way. All right. Onward and upward. I want my own bar back. Bar back. Between 1953 and 1964, the government terminated over 100 tribes. This affected 12,000 Native Americans.

It's going to be weird to get fired from a job you didn't have. Well, you're kind of getting ffff... Yeah. Well, you are. Like someone's coming in and being like, no, it's not working out. This isn't working. What it would be like? I guess it's like getting hired for a job you didn't apply for.

Or your dad coming home and just going, hey, you guys want to go live in the garage? Well, I'm done. What's that? Ah! That's it for me. Good luck. I know you're 13 and 11, but... Daddy?

Good luck. What does good luck mean? Get out. What? No, this is... I'm going to make a man cave. No, but... I'm going to knock the wall down between your rooms and make a man cave.

But we... Get out. Get out. Don't make this painful. We live here... Get out. And... Get out.

Okay. I'm going to put on a pinball machine, have a little dartboard, lights up, a little billiard table. You know what I mean? Maybe someday if your mom starts being a... See you next Tuesday. I'm going to the bowling lane. Oh, dad!

Get out! 2002 million, 500,000 acres of trust land were removed from the protected status and a lot of it sold to non-natives. Oh! That... The golf course surveying. Ah! Excuse me!

Can you move out of the way, please? Jesus. Trying to see if we can fit a 15th hole over here. No, that is the bail ground of our entrance. Ah, please shut up, huh? Have you seen Poltergeist? No, I really feel like we can get some great grains out here. Oh, and the tribes initially picked for termination were the most successful in the United States,

usually because of the natural resources they controlled. So they picked the ones that were best off because they were like, those ones will do fine. Well, Dave, if they were first picked out of a hat, they were first picked out of a hat. You can't blame the system. But those tribes were also the most isolated making this termination decision even worse. Like anything else, when you harm people, a movement will be born. News of communities will speak out.

They meet others from other communities and the movement spreads. In this case, representatives of over 60 tribes met in Chicago in 1961. They wanted to stop the slow death of Native American culture and formulate an Indian political agenda and a shared declaration of principles. The 700 Native Americans came up with and issued a Declaration of Indian Purpose, a little bit from that document. Quote, we, the Indian people, must be governed by principles in a democratic manner with a right to choose our way of life.

Since our Indian culture is threatened by presumption of being absorbed by the American society, we believe we have the responsibility of preserving our precious heritage. Suckers. We believe in the inherent right of all people to retain spiritual and cultural values and that the free exercise of these values is necessary to the normal development of any people. That just sounds crazy. Little wordy, isn't it?

What we ask of America is not charity, not paternalism, we, even when benevolent, we only ask that the nature of our situation be recognized and made the basis of policy and action. But just, honestly, like, they're just too cool. Like the, like, they just, I mean, they got fucked so bad. They're just like, hey, can we be people? Hey, sorry. We were really trying to just be super cool.

Can we be cool? No. Mmm. Sorry. Have you met us? No. We cannot. Adorable.

But no, we're looking for a place for the 15th hole, really. Okay, so now we're entering the years of the civil rights movement, which, as we know, was a little bit of a turbulent time as minorities who had been left out of the New Deal fought for inclusion. Eventually, the National Indian Youth Council was born. It was made up of young, mainly urban, Native American activists, and it was one of the first Native activists organization formed during the civil rights era. Okay.

Every civil rights group had their own protest ideas. These Native Americans used sit-ins and fish-ins. Um, sit-ins I under, I know about. Okay. The fish-ins. Right. Do you mean they just went fishing? Uh, what?

Is that what you think happened? Do you think a fish-in is? I guess I'm going to go ahead and guess that a fish-in is when a bunch of people sit by a river and fish, way better than a sit-in. Oh, you're talking about fish-in. Yeah, fish-in. Or is it where they stayed? A fish-in was fishing illegally in waters that had traditionally been used by Native

people, but where it was now illegal for them to fish are restricted. Or as they call it, fishing. Fishing. Right. Fish-ins were successful and ended with legal victories. Okay. But there was obviously bigger problems than fishing. We solved it!

It's over people, we won! We can now fish in that one river! Check it out, it's a trout, we won! Game over. We are the world, come on guys, grab hands. We are the ch- come on, grab each other's hands, come on guys, grab a fish. We are the ones to, why don't you grab your hands to make a better place, why don't we all grab a hand and a fit, that's not good, do you guys not know the words?

There's a choice. What's happening? I feel like you're over-blowing the fishing thing, we were talking about getting good. We're saving our own lives. Okay, we're going to have to go back to the tribes. We're the ones who make a bigger fish, so let's keep fishing. I'm still toying with some of the lyrics that fit our predicament. I hear you.

Yeah. Still, what they learned as Occupy Wall Street and Tea Party has were important organizational lessons. Bring sandwiches. This included alliances between local tribes and national organizations, as well as using the media to influence popular opinion, and by doing this, they would spawn other American movements. Right.

Right, the American Indian movement, known as AIM or Red Power, was formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Okay. Their inspiration was the Black Panthers. Like the Panthers, they wanted to deal with police harassment, racism, and poverty. AIM was strong in cities and didn't take long for them to become known on reservations across North America. The well-known leaders were Russell Means, Dennis Banks, and Leonard Peltier, who probably

get his own dollop someday. Leonard Peltier? Yeah. Can't wait. I'm already doing research. The island of Alcatraz was named by the Spanish in 1775. Okay. I feel like we took a left turn.

Listen, I think we're always taking left turns. In 1846, it was purchased by the United States for a cool $5,000. Okay. Well, it was not the United States. The military governor of California, who was super in manifest destiny, bought it, thinking the U.S. would pay him back. But the U.S. never did. It's pretty awkward.

Well, that's pretty presumptuous. Yeah. Hey. You know what I think my country would really like? That sweet island, it's like a rock over there. Mr. President, I know they won't let me into the White House, but I just wanted to show you a picture of your new plot of land. Got you something.

It's Alcatraz. Yeah, pretty isn't it? It wouldn't fit in a box, so I just got a picture of it. There are birds on it. Get your hands off of me, gentlemen. Get your goddamn hands off of me. The U.S. never bought it. Suck it.

Legal battles over the cost would continue until the 1880s, and in 1850, President Millard Fillmore ordered the island be used as a military base. So they just took it from the guy. Right. That's fine. Can I get some money? I mean, he was an idiot for buying it. Yeah.

We were going to get it anyway. Yeah. Well, you don't just buy it and then be like, so... If I bought you a Hyundai and I dropped it off, I'd be like, oh, I don't need a Hyundai. Can I get the money? No, I don't need one. Can I have the money for the Hyundai? Yeah.

Yeah, pretty sure I bought you a Hyundai. I know what I never asked for a Hyundai. Pretty sure I bought it for you. Okay. Love to get some money for it. I know you would. I can't afford to be buying Hyundai's. Right.

That's sort of my point that you can't and I don't want one. Split it with you. 50-50. No, I'm... 60-40. I'm perfectly happy. 50-50. You know, I'm just going to kill myself.

Want to... Want to do it in a Hyundai with a pal? Okay, I gotta go. The island was then loaded with cannons during the Civil War, ready for, I guess, an invasion of the San Francisco Bay from the south. You know, it's going to be careful for those dolphins. Red coats! During the war, it was also used to imprison Confederate sympathizers.

After the war, a jailhouse was built. Before that, all the prisoners... Yeah, what was the deal? They were kept in a basement. In a basement? Yes. Like there was a tornado alert? That just really kept all the Confederate prisoners in a basement.

Boy, that was it. That's so fucked up. How's it going down there? Real bad food! We ate Larry! Real bad food, please. Real bad food, please. Alcatraz was now officially a military prison.

Among those in prison were the many American Indians fighting the U.S. And the Joker. And the Joker. The biggest group were 19 hoppy men in the 1870s. Native Americans would be held there through the early 1900s. When the Spanish-American War was in full swing in 1898, there were 450 prisoners being held on the island. Then came the 1906 earthquake, which led to civilian prisoners being transferred to the

island. Okay. Because the prisons were fucked. Just because they put them on the island. Put them on the ferry. Get them on the boat! The prison was deactivated as a military prison in 1933 and turned over to the Bureau of Prisons.

For the next 29 years, it would hold some of Americans' worst criminals, like George Machine Gun Kelly, Bumpy Johnson, Nate... Sorry. I'm not familiar with Bumpy, but we'll get back to him. He is very Bumpy. Okay. Mickey Cohen. Sure.

And Alvin Creepy Karpus. Well, you know, Dave, as normal with the lists of names on the dollops, they do keep getting worse and worse. What was his name? Alvin Creepy... Karpus. Karpus? Yeah.

Was he always feeling bumpy? He... I mean, he... Hey, Bumpy! He did a lot of bad things to Bumpy. Hey, Bumpy! I got it, Creepy! Come on, Leap Bumpy!

Oh, your bumps! What? All of your bumps! Oh, God, this is so creepy. Whitey Bulger was also kept there. Oh, good. The island became known as The Rock. It was a very expensive prison to run because it was on an island.

And because of how much Sean Connery asked to stay there. Right, a lot. Yeah, it's just not cheap. The prison was ordered closed on March 21st, 1963. Very quickly, Bay Area Native Americans began pushing to have the island redeveloped as an Indian cultural center and school. Okay. But it wasn't happening.

A treaty between Native Americans and the federal government stated that surplus federal lands could be appropriated by Native Americans. So that's why. Because otherwise it's really crazy. Right. Can we have Alcatraz? Huh? Please?

Yeah. May we? Please? Activists began targeting urban centers and national monuments or property as surplus government land that belonged to the indigenous people. Okay. So on March 4th, 1964, five Sioux led by Richard McKenzie landed on Alcatraz and tried to seize it under the treaty.

Whoa. Whoa. Tried to seize it. Yeah. This is ours. Now ours. You guys haven't been here. You guys have been dicks.

This is now ours. The occupation lasted for four hours. Most good ones. I feel like this is not. Most good ones go a little longer. Occupy Wall Street was like eight hours. Is it? Yeah.

Or nine. It was a lot longer. Though their effort was unsuccessful, the rock became a symbol of the federal government's indifference towards Native Americans and the push to reclaim Alcatraz was on. Okay. Interesting. Although, no where could I find that any Native Americans actually lived on Alcatraz ever, but they picked this as a symbol.

Well, because, but like you're saying, because they're in their bullshit deal, there's like Right. It's like a back end deal. Yeah. We just get a little bit. We want this. You know what? We're going to take this one.

We want Alcatraz. This part. Please. Five years. We want it. You want to pay that guy for it? You turned it into a goddamn basement. Look, we can put some nice rugs in there.

Really nice stuff. Repaint stuff. Really nice stuff. We're talking about a nice cultural center. Get some nice furniture. A lot of art. Lots of learning. Make some dream catchers.

Look at this. Making rugs over here. This is how you make maize. We'll wrap the whole thing in maize. The whole thing will be maize. We're thinking of a maize maize. I got to go. Well, well, I believe I know where I lost you, sir.

Oh, yes. It's a maize maize, right? Right. Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking. Well, it's good to know from my next pitch. I found myself completely uninterested in that point. Right. Okay.

We want to turn it into a strip club. I got to go. All righty. Five years passed. October, 1969. A fire destroyed San Francisco's American Indian Center. A group of San Francisco Bay Area Indians led by Mohawk College student Richard Oakes decided to take the island.

So again, they're taking it. Number two, Oakes was a born leader type. He inspired being handsome, charismatic and a gifted speaker. Because there were so many tribes as part of the party, they took the name Indians of all tribes. Good. So that makes sense. Yep.

On November 9th, 1969, under a dozen Indians went to Alcatraz and claimed the island in the name of all American tribes. So here's what I'm going to, if I, if I may give notes, I will say the, the, so far the numbers, they're not going with enough numbers. Not great. Under a dozen is not a lot of guys. You always want to have the more, more, lot more. If a dozen is being said, you want someone saying over, oh, more than a dozen, more than

a dozen. If someone says, Hey, we can all fit on one boat. What's not attacking Island? Yeah. Yeah. We need boats. So they were only there for one night before law enforcement removed them. Right.

But while they were there, they realized a long-term occupation was something that could be pulled off. Okay. Richard Oaks quote. Get thrown into prison. If a one day occupation by white men on Indian land years ago established squatters rights, then one day occupation of Alcatraz should establish Indian rights to the island. That is such a, I mean, okay.

That is, I mean, essentially it's the, like you win a car. If you all put your hands on a car in the first person, the last person to keep it on their way. A little bit like, yes. It's a little sweepstakesy. It is like, I mean, it's, it's a squatter's law. Yeah. It's a little sweepstakesy.

That's a movie. Oaks then went to UCLA and recruited other Indian students. Richard Oaks was about to be. You had to be like DL'd about it though. Yeah. How you doing man? Never met? Never met?

What? What'd you say? Never met? Hey, don't talk to your buddy. I'm talking to you. What? Where you from? I'm here.

In America? What? Indian? Yeah. Am I, am I Indian? Yeah. What? What?

Are you? Yeah. I'm a Native American. I go to school here. Cool. I'm a Native American. What? Same small, small, small world dude.

What? I'm a Native American. I'm a Native American. What? Same small, small, small world dude. What you doing? I'm just studying. Ever heard of Alcatraz?

Yeah. Native American? Yeah. You never heard of Alcatraz? Yeah. Wanna go there for a day? Then get it forever? What?

Get it forever? Yeah. If we go there for a day, get it forever? Like a sweepstakes? You're an American, right? Yeah. Yeah. Like sweepstakes.

Okay. Wanna do it? And then I own it with? Yeah, we own it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That sounds great.

I get a bad vibe from you. I'm not a... Ah... ...offer for Nick. Sorry. At dawn, on November 20th, 1969, 89 American Indians boarded... Numbers. Good numbers.

Numbers now. Boarded boats. Not loving the transpo. In Sausalito, and that's the only way to get to an island. Yeah. If I can fly in. Yeah, you can fly. It's a tiny island.

I mean, they could buy planes. They headed the five miles to Alcatraz in a dense fog. When they landed, they declared the rock Indian land, quote, by right of discovery, and demanded the U.S. provide funding to turn it into a Native American culture center. Who's on Alcatraz at this point? Well, there's some caretaker type people. So there's like some people who are just kind of there like making sure that nobody comes to take it?

Yeah, basically. Well, they just take care. They just make sure that... Yeah, they're just walking around. They're going like, ah! You know, I think they take care of the prison. I don't know if they had tours there. Yeah, they hose it down.

Maybe give a tour, but it's really nothing. So the group included men, women and children. Many of them were the children of Indians who had been relocated by termination. They moved into the old warden's house and guards quarters. I like. A message appeared on the water tower spray-painted. Peace and freedom. Welcome home of the free Indian land.

So there's the clocks ticking. Yep. Other buildings are also tagged with red power and Custer had it coming. See? Just like when you go to a protest and some dude, you're like, oh, not the Hitler guy. Dude, stop with the Hitler shit. Stop with the Hitler signs. They were ready for occupation this time and organized immediately.

They elected a council and everyone was given a job to do. A daycare was set up as was a school. Why don't want to run the daycare? You're running the daycare. I don't even like kids. Come on. You're so you guys are good with kids. Fine.

I don't know. I'm from I'm Chippewa. We're not good with kids. People were put in charge of sanitation, housing, cooking, food, laundry. And I'll be the king. This was an oil well oiled machine. Well, Richard Oaks was called the chief of Aquatras. There we go.

That's where I'd be. They issued a proclamation addressed to quote the great white father in all his people. Okay. That's bus. They claimed I wish we had a great white father. That would be like if there was just one guy. At least then you just get at least it was a little more straightforward. Yeah.

Instead of worrying about this man who works in the shadows. What if our great father is Donald Trump? I'm going to retract my sentence. Okay. So they claim Aquatras and they offered to buy it for $24 in glass beads and red cloth. So which was the amount? That was the amount Indians had been paid for Manhattan. Whoa.

Because that's pretty sweet. That's pretty fucking great. That is great. Isn't that? At first it sounded like a shit offer, but then. Yeah. Now you think about it and it's pretty fucking. That's what you guys paid for Manhattan.

Oh, point made. Can we have Rock Island, motherfucker? They also said they didn't mind the shitty condition of the island or lack of good water because that's how they have been raised on government reservations. So they're making some points. They're making some serious points. They're fucking dropping mics all over the island. Yeah.

We have a boat full of mics to drop. The government told them to leave and put a shitty barricade around the island that was pretty ineffective. After a while, the U.S. agreed to hold formal negotiations with the Indian Council, which didn't go well. Okay. The Native Americans wanted the deed to the island. An Indian university established on the Rock, a cultural center and a museum. Yeah.

Just give in. Yeah. Why not? It gives a shit. Federal negotiators said no to all of that, but the Indians were welcome to leave. We have a counter offer for your Native Americans. Okay. No.

Oh. But you can go. No to. Everything. Okay. Wait. Go. And we.

Are you in or out? We're talking about it. I think it's gone pretty well. We're going to stay. I don't. Oh, shit. My finger was still on the button. The occupation continued for months.

Months? So they win. And more Indians continue to arrive and settle. Well, some barricade. The population of Alcatraz was often more than 600 people. It's decent. It's really big. It's not that big.

Yeah. It's not a lot of room. And at this point it feels like it's like wood stock. Right. It feels like when a bunch of penguins get on like a little glacier. That's exactly it. And then I'll just sort of. A bunch of penguins on a glacier.

Thank you. A government council was formed and the island soon had its own clinic, kitchen, public relations department and even a nurse. That PR department's like we're swamped. We're having a lot of trouble turning over this shit. Oh, you know what? We still wish Larry not written a customer. We're happy about customers.

Fuck Larry. A security force was created called the Bureau of Caucasian Affairs. Dude. I don't know who was coming up with the name. Have we ever needed that more? They are so good. We need a BCA more than ever. We need a Bureau of Caucasian Affairs now.

Oh, so bad. Like we never have. So bad. Just the van that drives around and finds the shady whites. Get in the van asshole. What? Yeah, we get your deal. The Bureau of Caucasian Affairs patrolled the island shoreline to watch for interlopers.

A Sue started broadcasting radio updates on what he called Radio Free Alcatraz. Sounds like they really started this with a bang. No shit's fucking going off. They have a town. Yeah. Others supported the occupation by sending supplies from a base that was set up at San Francisco's Pier 40. They asked for donations and canned goods, clothes, and cash rolled in.

Celebrities like Anthony Quinn, Jane Fonda, and Merv Griffin actually visited the rock to give their support. Wow. The band Creedence Clearwater Revival gave them a boat, which was named the Clearwater. Hey. They're from right near there. Are they? Yeah, they're from.

They always struck me as southern. No, Moran, I believe. Yeah, they should be southern. They're playing washboards and dealing with it, man. Blowing into jugs. Everything's not a fucking stereotype, bro. You can relax, first of all. I don't know if you're one of the founding members of CCR, but you have the attitude

of someone who is. I'm sorry. I'm from the Bureau of Caucasian Affairs. Oh, god. I knew you guys would get me. So everything's looking up a month and a half in, right? Yeah. I'm sure nothing bad's going to happen.

But with the new year came some problems. Life on the island began to change. By January, a lot of the college students left to go back to school. So the UCLA kids are out. They were replaced by others. Some were Native Americans. But a lot began to be replaced by non-Indians. Like who?

Vagrants and hippies. Interesting. Well, it's 1960. Hey, man, we're all part of the same thing, man. We can help you guys. Hey, you guys want to tune in, man? Instead of being in charge of, like, sweeping, I think I'm going to be in charge of, like, sleeping, man.

Yeah, man. Hey, can I be in charge of looking at the clouds? Oh, yeah. I also want to be part of that organization. I'm part of the Bureau of Cloud. Man, they just don't even fucking get it when they're not on the island, man. I took nine hits. Like, think about how, like, lame the man is, man.

You know what I mean? Sioux City Indian trying to start his own home. The hippies were there to live rent-free instead of fighting for Native American rights. Dude, tomorrow we're going to so get your rights, dude. It's going to be insane tomorrow, man. Once I come down off this shit. Yeah. Okay.

We are all one, man. Richard Oaks quote, Our biggest problems are freelance photographers and the hippies. They stay and eat up our stores, then leave. Then we have to clean up. Hey, we got to get out of here, man. We're full. Then we have to clean up after them, Jesus.

I ate too much peanut butter from your store, man. I'm sorry to eat all the peanut butter and took a shit behind that house over there, but I didn't know what else to do. Hey, man, have you seen... Hey, man, have you seen flowers? They're so fucking great. Yes, we've all seen flowers. Now please leave the island.

Okay, but first I'm going to take this stuff. No, don't take any more stuff with you. Oh my God, I love cereal. Oh my God, I hate these hippies. All right, I feel like I'm a native American, man. Now see if the government was taking their land away, I'd be okay with that. We're just living off the land. No, you're living off of us.

My dad's a CEO. You know what that is? What is that? I don't know, but how's he just... He just goes... He gave a little meow. Meow, meow. Are we bothering you?

Do we need a mic for him yet? Is he getting to that age? Yeah, I get it. But we just sort of like in sync a mic to his mouth. Yes. All right, so with hippies and vagrants came drugs and alcohol originally banned at the beginning of the occupation. You guys say something about a band?

I can play the guitar. Hey, I got a lot of whiskey. Yeah, all right. The hippies brought with them drugs and everything that comes with doing drugs. Then tragedy struck. On January 5th, Oak's 13-year-old daughter fell three stories and died. Oak's and his wife left Alcatraz. Now, Faction...

How much did she take, man? You know what? How much did she dose, man? No, dude. She probably thought she was a helicopter. Okay, I got it. I'm going to kill you. Oh, man.

I'm about to start peeling myself, bro. Please do. Now, Faction's of fighting activists battled for control of the island. And this was pretty much what the government wanted. As soon as it was learned that the Indians had taken over Alcatraz, the Feds decided on a position of non-interference. The FBI was told to steer clear of the Coast Guard to stay out of it. Everyone was told to leave the Indians there.

They were clearly waiting it out. The negotiations were nothing more than a part of the waiting game. Although, at one point, there were secret negotiations. And the Native Americans were offered part of Fort Miley, which is in San Francisco. That was in the mid-1970. That's right. This thing was now going on for over six months. Jesus Christ.

But the people on the island had now been there so long, and the longer they were there, the more they wanted the deed to the island and the university and the other stuff. So the longer they stayed, the more they wanted it to pay off. Right. So it's just self-perpetuating. They're digging in their heels. Yeah. And may the government realize this wasn't going to end diplomatically,

and they needed to speed it along. So Nixon decided to cut all power to Alcatraz. Cut all of it. And their freshwater supply, which came from a water barge, was taken away. So no lights, no water. Those are pretty important elements. Yeah. Just days after the barge was taken away.

Also remove Clearance Creedwater Revival. Get Clearance out of there. No, it's a boat. It's not the actual boat. I want Creedance out of that island. It's not. Bring John forward into the White House. Okay, never mind.

I'll slack him. Just days after the barge was taken away, there was a fire. A few historical buildings went up in flames, completely destroyed. You mean historical being the buildings they'd built? No, historical buildings like early buildings. Because that would be hilarious if they were like, Not the post office! Spend that for months!

Naturally, the occupiers blamed spies that had infiltrated the group. Either way, the fire was a major blow to morale. Now drug use became an issue. And there was a lot of fighting with and over authority, which stemmed from the battle over leadership. Soon there was no one for the government to negotiate with. I know that our society is so fucked like our government, but every time, it's hard to start something.

It's really hard to start. Like they started it, but keeping it going? Right. You consider the first five years starting. There's just... Everybody, no matter how pure you are, right around the corner, you're like, I could be king? There's always something that happens that you didn't count.

All of a sudden, a bullet of hippie shows up and you're like, wait, we didn't... Hey, man! Can we turn them away? As soon as the hippies stumble, you're like, fuck, this isn't what I was... No, it really is a lot like a protest. When you go to a protest and you're like, what are you protesting?

Social security, you're like, this is against Bush! Yeah. So there's a lot of fighting. The occupation continues and rolls on for months. Right? Things were getting... Tight. And so the occupiers started stripping copper wiring from the buildings

to sell a scrap metal in order to raise money for food. That's, you know, it's going great. That's what's happening in Detroit. Yeah, all over Detroit. I watch Vice too. Three were arrested for selling 600 pounds of copper. Okay. That's a lot of fucking copper.

That's a good amount. Somehow the press had remained on the occupiers' side all this time, but the media finally turned them against the occupiers. Stories about beatings and assaults were published. Very quickly, not many supported the seizure and occupation of Alcatraz. An original occupier who left said, quote, I don't want to say Alcatraz is done, but no organized Indian groups are active there.

It has turned from an Indian movement into a personality thing. It's a bunch of fucking personalities, man. Right? We started a movement and now it's all about fucking Jerry and Phil. And Larry's like, I want to keep my paintings up. And everyone's like, it's not about fucking paintings, man. Why don't you turn these shit into a fucking studio, bro? Rainbow man's there.

Hey! Like, you can just imagine all the fucking assholes here. Yeah, yeah. What if we use this island to stop the war? Hold on. Wait, wait, wait. I got a better idea. Recycling?

Yeah, man. Oh, man, I'm having a pretty intense time up here right now, man. I'm not going to lie. All right, put him back in a cell. Whoa, man, if I could just get a little vitamin B, I'm sure that'll help. The devil's trying to get me to suck his dick, so I just got to wait this one out.

All right. In January, by the way, that's Frank. He's trying to get you suck his dick. He paints his face red. It's Frank again. Every time you do acid, you end up sucking his dick. I got to either stop doing acid or say I'm gay or something, man. Something's got to get.

Everyone's fine with it, man. It's a hippie island. Oh, I'm sick of sucking the devil's dick, man. In January, 1971 to... Jose. He's on the prowl. He's just done with it. Okay, I'm going to say hi to Gareth.

In January, 1971, two oil tankers hit each other at the entrance to San Francisco Bay. This may have occurred because there was no functioning lighthouse on the rock. Well, I mean, it's hard to point fingers. Richard Nixon greenlighted a plan to remove the occupiers. The plan was to take it back when they were smaller than the usual number of people on the island. So if a bunch of people went off the island for a day,

then they were going to fucking swing in and take it. Yeah, you don't have to take breaks in your occupation. Well, that's what they did. Even if you're just a bunch of stone hippies. Now, that was in early 1971 when they came up with that idea. Okay. The plan did not happen until June 11, 1971. Jesus Christ.

We're a year and a half into people living on it. I think it's theirs. I think they won. I think they did too. Claiming they needed to restore Alcatraz's Foghorn and Lighthouse, armed federal marshals, the FBI and police special forces invaded the island. We're just here to change light bulbs. But they quickly learned it wasn't a large Indian group at this point.

They took five women, four children and six Indian men off the island. Is it a daycare center? What is it? It sounds like a family picnic at this point. It is a picnic. The occupation of Alcatraz was over 19 months after it had started. Jesus. It had begun with 89 people and ended with 15.

Now, even though this had clearly turned to shit, especially because hippies started living there, it was successful on a level. It wasn't so much about the demands of getting the deed and setting up the cultural center, etc. It was to draw attention to and make Americans understand the plight of Native Americans and to make people understand they deserve self-determination. Well, and I think, Dave, we can safely say,

being in the future now that it did work. It worked great. Yeah. They're fine if they have a casino. Yes. This was one of the things that helped begin a national dialogue and pushed further Indian protests. Even before the Alcatraz occupation was over in 1970,

in July 1970, Nixon said in a speech, the time has come for a new era in which the Indian future is determined by Indian acts and Indian decisions. A lot of Alcatraz veterans led other occupations in protests, like at Plymouth Rock, Mount Rushmore, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and dozens of places. This all led to the end of the government policy of termination. The U.S. then adopted a policy of Indian self-determination.

The government would return millions of acres of Indian land and passed more than 50 legislative proposals supporting tribal self-rule. The protests started during that time that led to the occupation of Alcatraz and many other actions created a political movement of Native Americans that continues to this day. Alcatraz became a national park in 1973. The graffiti on several of the buildings remain and have at times been repainted by the National Park Service.

That's amazing. Yeah, since 1976. I gotta go repaint some custer graffiti. What are you doing? I'm just putting some nice new touches on fuck custer over there. Yeah, I'm gonna go with a beige this year. Yeah, I still feel weird about repainting whities of cunt, but... Hey, come on.

Yeah, it's for the park. There you go. It's for the park. I know. Since 1975, every November, there has been an un-thanksgiving day celebration held on the island. I think that's every other day besides Thanksgiving. So look, they got what they set out to do,

which was to start an overall dialogue. It really is so messed up to initially decide to completely... I mean, that's just... Decide to what? Decide that you have to now acclimate, like you have to acclimate to the world, this world that's been built around your world. It's fucking insane, but that was always the... A lot of people always wanted them to just acclimate and become...

Like, you know, come on, you guys, breed out. Well, at least we now, as a country, have recognized that when there are big rifts between... And the rifts that cause factions inside of a nation, that the best thing to do is respect it. You know, leave it be. Because, sure, sometimes it could seem like a wasp's nest, but the worst thing to do is to poke it. Right, we would never do that now.

God forbid. God bless. God bless this mess. God bless this mess. God bless.