Of All Tribes: American Indians and Alcatraz
by Joseph Bruchac (Author)
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.
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Kirkus
A well-balanced, visually appealing, and well-contextualized account.
ALA/Booklist
his account is accessible and factual and offers vignettes and personal profiles that will resonate with readers. Photos, graphics, and rich back matter complement this narrative about an important milestone in American history.
School Library Journal
Gr 5 Up--Prolific author Bruchac presents the history and legacy of the 1960s Indian occupations of Alcatraz Island. Bruchac dedicates the first half of the narrative to the history of the island and vignettes of Native Americans who were imprisoned there or played major roles in its occupations. This history also touches on residential schools, colonization, and the Indian Removal Act. The second half of the book explores Alcatraz's occupations, with its primary focus being the 19-month Indians of All Tribes occupation in 1969 and 1970. The occupation's legacy is complex, and this section explores Alcatraz as a Native American "pilgrimage site"; the work of Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon in regards to American Indians; many Native activists, including Richard Oakes and John Trudell; and sexism, erasure, and cultural appropriation of Native American culture by white people. Forty pages of back matter--including an extensive time line, references, and substantial index, and the contemporary and historical images included throughout--round out this densely packed, textbook-style presentation. Readers should expect a bit of jostling in the narrative's chronology and occasional conjecture, but the overall result is an illumination of what "turned out to be one of the most consequential events for Native Americans in the twentieth century." VERDICT Ideal for classroom use, this title provides an essential and frequently omitted voice to recent history.--Taylor Worley
Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
JNF025210 - Juvenile Nonfiction | History | United States/20th Century
JNF025260 - Juvenile Nonfiction | History | Symbols, Monuments, National Parks, Etc.
JNF071000 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Social Activism & Volunteering
JNF076000 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Indigenous | General
20th century
Civil rights
Indians of North America
Land tenure
Alcatraz Island (Calif.)
Informational works
Government relations
Indian occupation, 1969-1971
