2100 AT ALCATRAZ "UNTHANKSGIVING" RALLY
By Gloria La Riva
San Francisco
Over 2,100 people rode by ferry for the 21st annual sunrise
"Unthanksgiving" ceremony on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay.
The event, organized by the International Indian Treaty Council, featured
drums, ceremonial dance and prayer by various Indian nations.
Dennis Banks, American Indian Movement's national field director, presided
over the ceremonies, which included the Pomo Dancers, Aztec dancers, and
All Nations Singers.
After the Pomo dancers--mostly young children--danced in the cold morning
fog, author Alice Walker gave tribute to them, saying, "There is so much
to be thankful for, for the fact that the women of Native people brought
up their children in such beauty and glory and to be strong."
Banks explained the historic significance of the takeover of Alcatraz
Island by Indian activists in 1969, one of the sparks that forged the
Indian liberation movement in the U.S. "[The takeover in] 1969 was a huge
statement about how we felt about the government and our land. We moved to
reclaim it and purify it, and held it for 18 months.
"This notorious Alcatraz first housed political prisoners. The very first
were 19 Hopi men and women from Arizona who refused to send their children
to government schools. They made the Hopi suffer here, tried to conquer
their ways, but they couldn't do it."
`BRING PELTIER HOME'
Banks reminded the crowd of the struggle to free AIM leader and political
prisoner Leonard Peltier, incarcerated for over 21 years in federal
prison. "There's one Indian still sitting in these prisons. Let him free!
Bring Peltier home!"
The following Saturday in San Francisco's Maritime Hall, a music concert
launched the national "Christmas Clemency for Leonard Peltier" tour. It
featured renowned singer Floyd Red Crow Westerman and other musicians.
Dennis Banks, head of the "Bring Peltier Home" campaign and tour sponsors,
did a count-down, saying, "We hope this is the last campaign that we have
to do to win brother Leonard his freedom."
Peltier was convicted in an FBI frame-up for the deaths of two FBI agents
in a shoot-out at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota in 1975.
In subsequent court hearings, prosecutors have admitted they don't know
who fired the shots. But the courts have refused to give Peltier a
retrial or pardon.
Peltier supporters hope that President Clinton will grant clemency by
year's end. One million signatures have been sent in the last year to the
White House, asking clemency for Peltier.
For information on the concert tour and "Bring Peltier Home" campaign,
call (606) 581-9456.
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