Last updated: March 2, 2021
Place
The Military Prison Era (1850s-1930s)
Mennonite Lib and Arch
After the US military took control in 1850, Indigenous peoples were incarcerated on the island.
Down the road, to the right, stood a military prison built in the late 1800s. It mostly held soldiers who had broken the law, but dozens of Native Americans were also held there. They were considered “enemy combatants” who had fought the US Army in the Indian Wars.
In 1895, 19 Hopi elders from northern Arizona were incarcerated there. They along with all the tribes had resisted federal policies meant to eradicate their tribal culture by forcing all the children to attend boarding schools where their hair was cut, they were forced to wear western clothes, and they were punished for speaking their own language. These Hopi struggled to retain their culture, as did the 1969 Alcatraz occupiers.
Have you ever taken a risk to stand up for your culture?
During the 1969 occupation, many occupiers stayed in old prison staff apartments in the large yellowish building east of you. Once established on the island, the Indians of All Tribes elected a council and everyone had a job duty; security, sanitation, day-care, school, housing, cooking, laundry. Decisions were made by unanimous consent of the people. They had to transport all their food, water and other necessities to the island.
Continue up the hill around the switchback and up to Stop 3 at the end of the road overlooking the water tank.
Down the road, to the right, stood a military prison built in the late 1800s. It mostly held soldiers who had broken the law, but dozens of Native Americans were also held there. They were considered “enemy combatants” who had fought the US Army in the Indian Wars.
In 1895, 19 Hopi elders from northern Arizona were incarcerated there. They along with all the tribes had resisted federal policies meant to eradicate their tribal culture by forcing all the children to attend boarding schools where their hair was cut, they were forced to wear western clothes, and they were punished for speaking their own language. These Hopi struggled to retain their culture, as did the 1969 Alcatraz occupiers.
Have you ever taken a risk to stand up for your culture?
During the 1969 occupation, many occupiers stayed in old prison staff apartments in the large yellowish building east of you. Once established on the island, the Indians of All Tribes elected a council and everyone had a job duty; security, sanitation, day-care, school, housing, cooking, laundry. Decisions were made by unanimous consent of the people. They had to transport all their food, water and other necessities to the island.
Continue up the hill around the switchback and up to Stop 3 at the end of the road overlooking the water tank.