ALCATRAZ IS NOT AN ISLAND: RECOVERING THEMES OF PAN-INDIANISM FROM NEWS ACCOUNTS OF THE 1969-71 OCCUPATION by SHERRI LYNN MCLENDON (Under the Direction of Ruth Ann Weaver Lariscy) ABSTRACT This paper considers news of the 1969-71 occupation of Alcatraz Island reprinted in Akwesasne Notes, the far-left New York-based Mohawk publication. Previously, media studies of the occupation consider it as a dramatic pseudo-event. However, speech communications studies suggest a consummatory perspective that honors the Native American view of the occupation as a critical event. This study illuminates the struggle for cultural survival and self-determination by Native Americans in the 20th century at its "watershed" moment. For the first time, this bounded case study applies the themes of pan-Indianism that are known to exist to the study of news. The study employs a content- analytic framework to identify the characteristics of the themes of self-determination, de- colonization, transformation, mobilization, healing, survival, recovery and development. INDEX WORDS: Pan-Indianism, Red Power movement, Native America, American Indian, Alcatraz Island, occupation, themes, consummatory ALCATRAZ IS NOT AN ISLAND: RECOVERING THEMES OF PAN-INDIANISM FROM NEWS ACCOUNTS OF THE 1969-71 OCCUPATION by SHERRI LYNN MCLENDON A.B., The University of Georgia, 1992. A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF ARTS ATHENS, GEORGIA 2004 © 2004 SHERRI LYNN MCLENDON All Rights Reserved ALCATRAZ IS NOT AN ISLAND: RECOVERING THEMES OF PAN-INDIANISM FROM NEWS ACCOUNTS OF THE 1969-71 OCCUPATION by SHERRI LYNN MCLENDON Major Professor: Ruth Ann Lariscy Committee: Peggy Kreshel Bill Griswold Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia May 2004 iv DEDICATION This paper is dedicated to the spirit of Yakima journalist Richard LaCourse BE RESOLUTE FEAR NO SACRIFICE AND SURMOUNT EVERY DIFFICULTY TO WIN VICTORY v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My heart to Scott Parker, whose belief in me helps me to walk in beauty as well as balance. I place my faith in us, stronger together than separately, yet each our own. Very much love also to my parents, Emory and Phyllis McLendon. Their unfailing belief in me daily expands my capacity to live what I believe. I thank my brothers, Warren and Clarence, for their great patience, which I often test with radical ideas. My sister and brother-in-law, Sabrina and Billy Abare, have provided sincere understanding, encouragement, and the first installment on the next generation, my perfect nephew Will. A very special thanks to Ruth Ann Weaver Lariscy, my elegant and eloquent major professor, and my committee members Peggy Kreshel and Bill Griswald, for their commitment to this unusual project. This paper is dedicated to the late Richard LaCourse, a respected Yakima journalist, who took time on his last day of work to talk with me and encourage me to undertake this project. My Aunt Grace has never wavered in her belief and support, and I am grateful. Much appreciation is also due the individuals helping me endlessly process this work. Among these are Emily Berreth, Rob and Christi Jordan Ervin, Beth Pecoraro, Norman Glassman and Marilyn Rosenberg of Amata Community, Tom and Vicki Perkins, Lake Claire Land Trust friends and neighbors, Dana Sheridan, Holly Howell-Bond and Susan Simmons, and Assistant Principal Karen Davenport of Decatur High School. I'd also like to thank Linda Brooks for planting the seeds of academic aspirations in my heart and mind and Joel Black for making me re-do the vi Tristram Shandy paper. And a last, extra special thanks to everyone who has allowed me to put everything on hold while I finished. Last but not least, thanks go to Travl'r cat, who tells me when to quit and eat, and to my beloved, smiling Sparkle dog who loyally watches my back, saves my sanity, takes me for walks, and keeps my face licked clean. One day in the swamp, I listened and heard this song. As my ancestors taught, I wove a net of wiregrass to catch it in. It is hard to dance with all these words in my basket. So I am telling this song to you now. So it is said. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.................................................................................................v LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................1 The Occupation of Alcatraz ..........................................................................1 Akwesasne Notes ..........................................................................................3 Justification for this Study.............................................................................7 The Occupation and Me ..............................................................................11 2 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ....................................................................13 The Topic and Statement of the Research Problem ....................................13 Purpose and Significance of This Study......................................................14 Research Question.......................................................................................15 Definitions...................................................................................................15 Review of the Literature..............................................................................24 The News Media and Reality ................................................................24 Native Americans and Reality in News.................................................34 3 METHODOLOGY AND METHODS ............................................................52 Underlying Assumptions.............................................................................52 Research Question.......................................................................................53 viii Co-cultural Reality in News ........................................................................55 Data Sources and Forms..............................................................................58 Recording Procedures..................................................................................61 Sample Protocol ..........................................................................................62 Data Collection: Document Selection .........................................................62 Data Analysis and Representation...............................................................63 Coding .........................................................................................................64 Chronology of Events..................................................................................67 4 ANALYSIS OF THE RECOVERABLE THEMES OF PAN-INDIANISM, 1969-1971....................................................................................................70 The Theme of De-colonization....................................................................71 The Theme of Development........................................................................90 The Theme of Self-determination ...............................................................97 The Theme of Mobilization.......................................................................106 The Theme of Survival..............................................................................125 The Theme of Recovery............................................................................137 The Theme of Transformation ..................................................................144 The Theme of Healing...............................................................................151 5 CONCLUSIONS............................................................................................158 WORKS CITED ..............................................................................................................166 ix LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1:1 Co-Cultural Reality in News ............................................................................57 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The occupation of Alcatraz Island in 1969 is often considered a seminal event in modern Native American history and the impetus for indigenous peoples' movements worldwide. Numerous studies and essays have previously been written about the occupation. In journalism and mass communications studies, the majority of these have focused on the ways Native Americans were depicted by the mainstream press during the occupation. However, no study has previously been conducted that examines how Native Americans involved in and responding to the occupation represented their selves, peoples and actions. In order to consider this, I have used a methodology informed at every step by the work of indigenous scholars and peoples. My original methodology, which advances a co-cultural view of media studies, defines the characteristics of pan-Indian performative communication, and identifies for the first time the types of language associated with the eight themes of pan-Indianism known to exist, are unique contributions of this study. Using these criteria, not previously applied to an analysis of news stories, this study examines how native voices, as heard in the dominant liberal Native American newspaper of the time, Akwesasne Notes, present a different