[1] IAT claimed that, under the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) between the U.S. and the Lakota tribe, all retired, abandoned, or out-of-use federal land was to be returned to the Indigenous peoples who once occupied it.

The Sioux activists were led by Richard McKenzie, Mark Martinez, Garfield Spotted Elk, Virgil Standing-Elk, Walter Means, and Allen Cottier.

[6] The United Council of the Bay Area Indian community initially considered writing a proposal and filing an application for the use of Alcatraz by Sioux people under the conditions of their treaty.

Adam Fortunate Eagle convinced Ronald Craig, the owner of the Monte Cristo, a three-masted yacht, to pass by the island when their own boats did not arrive.

[6] Oakes, Jim Vaughn (Cherokee), Joe Bill (Inuit), Ross Harden (Ho-Chunk) and Jerry Hatch jumped overboard, attempting to swim to shore,[10][11] and claim the island by right of discovery.

The following day, November 10, Oakes surprised the student occupiers, by delivering a proclamation, written by Fortunate Eagle, to the General Services Administration (GSA) which claimed the island by right of discovery, after which the groups were removed.

The students distanced themselves from Adam Nordwall, Lehman Brightman who wanted to manipulate the movement, as they distrusted their motives because of their social position in mainstream society.

[15][16] This decision by LaNada Means to choose November 20, 1969, began the successful 19-month occupation of Alcatraz opening up hearts and minds to Native American issues and struggles throughout the country, a forerunner of the Red Power movement and the Self Determination Era.

[15] In the late evening hours of November 20, 1969, 89 American Indians, including more than 30 women,[6] students, married couples and 6 children, set out from Palo Alto to occupy Alcatraz Island.

"[18] On December 10, 1969, on Alcatraz, protesters, including Stella Leach and Earl Livermore, had a conference with government officials, led by Kim Robertson, San Francisco's regional GSA representative, with members of the Labor Department.

[19][20] On December 24, 1969, Richard Oakes, Earl Livermore (Niitsitapi),[21][22][23] and Al Miller, held a press conference at Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary.

[8] Native women, like Aranaydo, Woesha Cloud North (Ho-Chunk–Ojibwe), and Vicky Santana (Blackfoot) ran the school with the help of Douglas Remington, (Ute) and teacher's aids Justine Moppin, (Mono), and Rosalie Willie, (Paiute).

[18][31] An employee of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Doris Purdy, who was also an amateur photographer, accompanied a group who went on November 29, stayed the night and recorded video footage.

The first landing party was joined later by many others in the following days, including Joe Morris (a key player later as a representative of the Longshoreman's Union, which threatened to close both ports if the Occupiers were removed), and the man who would soon become "the Voice of Alcatraz", John Trudell.

Although she would not receive the same recognition from mainstream media as Trudell and Oakes would, LaNada Means, who was one of the first to arrive and one of the last to leave, organized written statements and speeches that outlined the purpose of the occupation.

Joseph Morris, a Blackfoot member of the local longshoreman's union, rented space on Pier 40 to facilitate the transportation of supplies and people to the island.

[44][45] And at least one contemporary article written in Gidra, a newspaper dedicated to the Asian American movement, documented multiple local community members involvement in and support of the protest.

[8] After Oakes left, LaNada Means, John Trudell, Stella Leach, and Al Miller were challenged with reorganizing and did so upon creating Indians of All Tribes.

Means, having been in a family that was always active in tribal politics, was comfortable briefing reporters on how reservations operated or directing occupiers on island clean up.

[53] So when Robert Robertson, a Republican working for the National Council on Indian Opportunity, arrived on the island in 1970, just a week after Yvonne Oakes' passing, Means took the lead in trying to negotiate her planning grant for the cultural center, museum, and Thunderbird University of Alcatraz that she wrote.

So she travelled further and further away from the island and found a high-profile supporting attorney by the name of Edward Bennet Williams who was willing to work pro-bono, to secure Alcatraz as Indian Land for all time, and to fight for justice against Native American Injustices in this country.

Spurred in part by Spiro Agnew's support for Native American rights, federal policy began to progress away from termination and toward Indian autonomy.

While this was a step toward substantial reform, the administration was hindered by its bureaucratic mentality, unable to change its methodical approach of dealing with Indian rights.

The American Indian Movement noted from their visit to the occupation that the demonstration garnered national attention, while those involved faced no punitive action.

When AIM members seized the Mayflower II on Thanksgiving, 1970, the Occupation of Alcatraz was noted as "the symbol of a newly awakened desire among Indians for unity and authority in a white world".

It broadcast half-hour programs at least 39 times via Pacifica stations KPFA (Berkeley), KPFK (Los Angeles), WBAI (New York), regularly at 7:15 pm PST, to more than 100,000 listeners.

[65][66] Its content consisted of discussions with various members of the occupation, whether American Indian or not; and addresses by its prime mover, John Trudell, a Santee Sioux veteran.

[66] Some 50 of the Alcatraz occupiers traveled to the East Bay and began an occupation of an abandoned and dilapidated Nike Missile installation located in the hills behind the community of Kensington in June 1971.

[69] The Alcatraz Occupation led to an annual celebration of the rights of Indigenous people, Unthanksgiving Day, welcome to all visitors to a dawn ceremony under permits by the National Park Service.

In March 1970, a Seattle-based group called the United Indians of All Tribes occupied Fort Lawton, demanding the return of Indigenous lands that were about to be declared surplus.