THE INCEPTION OF THE RED POWER MOVEMENT AND 227 EXAMINATION OF CONTRIBUTING FACTORS Danielle Magana during this age of chaos that the cry for certain fundamental rights—de- segregation, access to schools, equal opportunities, etc.–-began to surface. Within the San Francisco Bay Area, S.F.S.C. became a hotbed of activity. Few moments in American history are as simultaneously momentous At the same time, the federal government, under the jurisdiction of House and overlooked as the birth of the Red Power Movement. Formed during the Concurrent Resolution 108 (HCR-108), was in the midst of relocating hun- chaotic atmosphere of the 1960s, the Red Power Movement developed quietly dreds of Native people to urban environments, including San Francisco. at first, barely audible above the clamor of the largely African American-focused Civil Rights movement and anti-Vietnam War demonstrations. Indeed, some In 1943, the United States Government began taking steps to fully as- Native scholars, Vine Deloria Jr. among them, felt the Civil Rights movement to similate all persons of Native American descent into American society and cul- be an exclusively Black demonstration, with little to no room for the grievanc- ture. This process, known as Termination and Relocation, started with a number es of non-Black minorities.1 In 1968, however, the situation changed; the Black of surveys of tribal conditions, and eventually morphed into 1953’s HCR-108. Student Union (B.S.U.) and the Third World Liberation Front (T.W.L.F.) began This act officially put the dissolution and subsequent relocation of over a hun- a five-month-long strike on campus at San Francisco State College (S.F.S.C.).2 dred tribes, including “five large tribes (the Flathead, Klamath, Menominee, The strike initially began as a cry for the reinstatement of George Mason Pottowatomie, and Turtle Mountain Chippewa) and all tribes in four states Murray, a graduate student and Black Panther Party Minister of Education. (California, Florida, New York, and Texas)” into effect.5 This meant that tribes Murray, who was originally hired as a teaching assistant in San Francisco State that had previously received reservation land and financial assistance were com- College’s English department, was reassigned to a non-teaching position (and pletely stripped of their status as federally recognized tribes, removed from fed- subsequently suspended) for making inflammatory remarks at both Fresno and eral land, and officially abolished. Because of the need to move large numbers San Francisco State Colleges.3 Ultimately, the strike, now known as the Third of now-tribeless Native Americans from government land, these terminations World Strike, succeeded in creating the nation’s first College of Ethnic Studies.4 resulted in a large, federally sponsored surge of Native individuals into urban areas, where they struggled to maintain their sense of culture and identity. The 1960’s were a tumultuous time for the United States of Amer- ica. As the conservative lifestyle of the older generation began to fade, As the war in Vietnam escalated and the Civil Rights Movement the generally more radical youth of America found their voices and began gained momentum, persons of color who had previously been largely ignored to cry out at perceived injustices in society. With an unpopular war raging by the government began to assert themselves.6 S.F.S.C. students cried out in Vietnam and racial tensions coming to a head in the South, the Unit- against the unequal treatment of students who belonged to ethnic minori- ed States seemed to be headed toward inescapable societal conflict. It was ties; in 1968, the B.S.U. and T.W.L.F. began their strike, and the College of Ethnic Studies was soon formed. Almost nine months later, on the night of 1 Vine Deloria, Jr, Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto. (Norman: University of November 9, 1969, a group of S.F.S.C. students, led by Richard Oakes, him- Oklahoma Press, 1988. First published 1969 by Macmillan Publishing Company), 168-69. 2 San Francisco State College became San Francisco State University in 1974. self a Native American of Mohawk descent, began their nineteen-month- 3 “On Strike! Shut it Down! (Exhibit 1999) Case 3: Prelude / Demands,” San Francisco State long occupation of Alcatraz Island, starting a series of events that would University, February 2, 2015, http://www.library.sfsu.edu/exhibits/strike/case3-text.html. 4 “San Francisco State University 1899 – 1999: A History of SF State,” San Francisco State University, last modified March 20, 2009, http://www.sfsu.edu/~100years/history/long. 5 Charles F. Wilkinson, Blood Struggle: The Rise of Modern Indian Nations. (New York: Norton, htm#6769. 2005), 57. 6 Deloria, Custer Died for Your Sins, 171. 228 Danielle Magana THE INCEPTION OF THE RED POWER MOVEMENT 229 develop into the Red Power Movement. After experiencing the loss of identity caused by Termination and Relocation, and after feeling dissatisfied with the this period should read this book facing eastward.”7 This text is import- white-washed education provided by S.F.S.C., the Native students chose to ant for contextualizing many of the thoughts and actions of the students, declare that they would, from this point forward, determine their own future as the history of Native American struggles against oppression is intrin- and educate their own people. This concept of education conflicted direct- sically linked the students’ own struggle. Of course, Brown’s work focuses ly with the intentions of Termination and Relocation. The government had on a very limited–-though catastrophic–-period, so it does not provide for aimed to eradicate tribal identity and fully assimilate all Native people within a history of the events immediately before the occupation. It does, how- the United States. Certainly all of these factors–-coerced relocation, campus ever, do a fantastic job of addressing the historical precedent of margin- atmosphere and the 1960s as a whole–-contributed to the shaping of a perfect alization and abuse that laid the foundation for policies like HCR-108. storm; and, were it not for the Third World Strike and the forced urbaniza- tion by HCR-108, it is possible that the Red Power Movement may never In order to analyze the shaping of the mentality of the individuals in have formed. The on-campus actions of the B.S.U. and T.W.L.F. heavily in- question, it is important to have a complete understanding of the environment fluenced Native students like Richard Oakes and fellow Native student Alan in which they were functioning. Vine Deloria Jr.’s Custer Died for Your Sins: An Miller, and it was these factors that ultimately lead to both the occupation Indian Manifesto is an integral text in providing this understanding. Written in of Alcatraz Island and the creation of the Red Power Movement as a whole. 1969, it offers a contemporary look at the problems facing Native people at the end of the 1960s. Deloria discusses a number of issues, including public The events of the occupation of Alcatraz and its aftermath have been perception of Native people, government policies and agencies, as well as is- researched by a number of scholars both within and outside of the Native sues of leadership within Indian society. His intent is mainly to raise awareness community. Though Richard Oakes and his fellow activists were students at among Native youth, as well as to raise awareness among white Americans S.F.S.C., and though Oakes himself was largely responsible for the establish- regarding the reasons behind Native discontentment.8 Deloria argues that the ment of the Native American Studies department within the College of Ethnic general population regarded events such as the assassination of Martin Lu- Studies, little research has been done to address the 1968 Third World Strike’s ther King, Jr. as a sickness that had suddenly overcome American society, but impact on this group. How these events shaped both these individuals and the posits that this sickness had actually begun “when the first Indian treaty was Red Power Movement as a whole also remains largely unaddressed in academia. broken” and has simply continued into the present.9 He also argues that the Civil Rights Movement was exclusively a struggle between black and white A more effective analysis of these issues would look into the relation- communities, which left little room for other ethnic minorities. Although De- ship between the United States government and Native tribes. Dee Brown’s loria offers a candid analysis of the relationships of various minority groups Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West inspects to the white majority, and discusses at length the importance of nationalist this relationship in the years between 1860 and 1890, during which westward movements, he is openly opposed to militancy of any kind, and therefore migration was in full swing. The U.S. Government had either forced aside, or neglects to address the effect of militancy on the Red Power Movement, gen- in some cases outright slaughtered, many Native tribes in order to facilitate erally denying that it had any usefulness. This work suffers mostly from its westward expansion and modernization. Brown’s work is especially important proximity to the events in question, and therefore is unable to benefit from in that he focuses on this history from the viewpoint of Native Americans, stating: “Americans who have always looked westward when reading about 7 Dee Brown, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West. (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2000), xviii. 8 Deloria, Jr, Custer Died for Your Sins, 268.