Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary in the United States, visited Alcatraz Island Saturday on the 52nd anniversary of when it was occupied by Indigenous protestors.
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From 1969 to 1971, a group of Native American activists called the "Indians of All Tribes" occupied Alcatraz to rally against the U.S. government's Indian termination policy and show the resilience of Indigenous communities.
"Many of us are the descendants of people who endured horrific brutality at the hands of those who oppressed us," Secretary Haaland said in a speech Saturday heard on KCBS Radio's "Bay Current" on Monday. "In November of 1969, history began with acts of defiance to take the rock. That history in many ways paved the way for tribal self-determination policies that President Biden and I championed just this week."
Secretary Haaland's visit comes amid the completion of the first
"White House Tribal Nations Summit," where the Biden Administration and leaders from the 574 federally recognized Native American tribes met to discuss ways the government can support the progress being made in Native communities.
Haaland said the government's support of Native Americans is long overdue and is needed to bring sovereignty to Indigenous communities and their land.
"Many Native communities had lost large swaths of their lands," she said. "When Indigenous people are separated from their homelands, the impacts are more than physical, they are spiritual. They have intergenerational consequences."
There will be events on Alcatraz celebrating Indigenous communities throughout the month of November, including the Indigenous Peoples' Thanksgiving Sunrise Gathering.
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