Important Events That Lead Up To The Occupation

• July 4th, 1848 : the US government agreed to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which protects the property rights and constitutional rights of of all inhabitants of the ceded territory.
• On February 29, 1928 : the House of Representatives in a hearing concerning HR 491, Indian title was based off of immemorial use and occupation.
• “The Spanish and Mexican governments recognized the occupancy title based on possession and use, substantially, the same as the English government from which many American titles originated.”
• The island was destroyed by the building of cement cells. The earth beneath was ruined and IAT believed that “her high grounds had been dug and torn and changed… Finally, in 1962, the invaders decided that the strictures they had cemented to her body were no longer usable, and she was abandoned. She was left with the ghosts of hundreds of damned souls, but it was a relief.”
• After the island was left empty by the US government for 2 years, the occupation began.
• Occupation of 1964 by Sioux members provided a guide and example for the Occupation of Alcatraz that would happen in 5 years.
• 1969 - the Indian Center burned down. This building was a part of the American Indian Center which was located in the Bay Area of San Francisco and was started by and for Inidan families living in the area.
• After the destruction of the Center, members of the AIC met on how to create funding to build another Center. This is where the Occupation of Alcatraz was suggested: Using the island as a temporary location until the Center was rebuilt. At this meeting, the Proclamation was written, qith input from all of the people in the room. The Proclamation was read by Richard Oakes when he, Joe Bill, LaNada Boyr, and Ross Harden jumped overboard and swam to the island.