bay! It all started on November 9th 1969, when a group of Native Americans

were traveling to Alcatraz and were told to come back. Then all of a sudden one

man by the name of Richard Oaks, a Mohawk Indian, lunged from the boat into

the terrifying waters of San Fransisco bay. He swam for his life towards the rock

until he finally made it to shore. On November 22nd 1969, approximately 100

native Americans joined Richard Oaks, 80 of them being UCLA students. They

were told to leave the island but Richard Oaks and his students refused to leave.

The Indians would not leave until they were granted a deed to the island, an

Indian university, a cultural center and a museum. An elected council was put

into place and everyone on the island had a job; security, sanitation, day-care,

school, housing, cooking, laundry, and all decisions were made by unanimous

consent of the people. The Indians had controlled the island as if it were a small

town even though the government surrounded them.

The government surrounded them but nothing was terribly wrong on the island

until the water supply and electricity was cut off to the island. then disaster

struck for Richard Oaks when his 13 year-old stepdaughter Yvonne fell down a

stairwell to her death. Oaks became depressed and decided to leave the island.

In the year 1970 many of the students left the island . Then on June 11th 1971 the

FBI removed 5 women, 4 children and 6 men on the island. The police found

graffiti on the walls of the prison while they were investigating the inside of the

prison. there has never been another Indian occupation since then.