Native American Displacement

Since the time of the first European settlers landing, the Native people of America have been seemingly continually oppressed and persecuted. During the nineteenth century, the government's policy towards Native Americans was one which, should it occur today, would be considered to be genocide, with public calls for the extermination of the Sioux and bounties placed on Indian heads. The nineteenth century also saw the forced migration of Native Americans, in what has come to be known as the "trail of tears".

After Andrew Jackson's implementation of the "Indian Removal Act" in 1830, thousands of Native Americans living east of Mississippi found themselves forced to leave their homes and their lands and move to designated "Indian Territory". The marches were long and cold, and this coupled with a shortage of wagons, horses, blankets and food enusured thousands of Native Americans did not survive the journey. A hundred and twenty three years later, the U.S government's treatment of Native Americans was not much improved, with Indians now being displaced once again. This time, however, the move was away from the reservations and into the cities, something which resulted in Native Americans losing the "special relationships they had been given under federal law, including the tax-exempt status of their land and federal responsibility for Native economic and social well-being. "

Once again, Native Americans found themselves being forced to move and having their lands seized, something which like the trail of tears, proved immensely damaging for the Indian community. It was this forced migration which served as a catalyst for the occupation of Alcatraz, something which served to raise awareness of the Indian's plight, in both a contemporary and historical context.