Post prison years
Because it was far more expensive to operate than other prisons (nearly $10 per prisoner per day, as opposed to $3 per prisoner per day at Atlanta), and due to half a century of salt water saturation which severely eroded the buildings, the penitentiary was closed on March 21, 1963 by decision of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. Another contributing factor for the closure was the pollution produced by the sewage deposited into San Francisco bay from the approximately 250 inmates and 60 Bureau of Prisons families on the island. The United States Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois, a traditional land-bound prison, opened that same year to serve as a replacement for Alcatraz.
Native American occupation
Beginning on November 20, 1969, a group of Native Americans from many different tribes occupied the island, and proposed an education center, ecology center and cultural center. According to the occupants, the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) between the U.S. and the Sioux included provisions to return all retired, abandoned or out-of-use federal land to the Native people from whom it was acquired. (Note: The Treaty of 1868 stated that all abandoned or unused federal land adjacent to the Sioux Reservation could be reclaimed by descendants of the Sioux Nation.) With the clarification, Indians of All Tribes abandoned the Sioux treaty as the basis of their occupation and claimed Alcatraz Island by "Right of Discovery". Begun by urban Indians in San Francisco, some of whom were descended from people who relocated there under the Federal Indian Reorganization Act of 1934), the occupation attracted other Native Americans from across the country, including American Indian Movement (AIM) activists from Minneapolis.
The Native Americans demanded reparation for the many treaties broken by the US government and for the lands which were taken from so many tribes. As part of the Right of Discovery, the historian Troy R. Johnson states in The Occupation of Alcatraz Island, that indigenous peoples knew about Alcatraz at least 10,000 years before any European knew about any part of North America.
During the nineteen months and nine days of occupation, several buildings were damaged or destroyed by fire, including the recreation hall, the Coast Guard quarters and the Warden's home. The origins of the fires are unknown. The U.S. government demolished a number of other buildings (mostly apartments) after the occupation had ended. Graffiti from the period of Native American occupation are still visible at many locations on the island.
The results of Alcatraz inspired other political actions: the Trail of Broken Treaties and the Longest Walk in 1985. The occupation of Alcatraz played a large role in changing self-perception for many Native Americans. It is defined as a key movement in their struggle for what some felt was rightfully theirs. Following a succession of demands at Alcatraz, the U.S. government returned excess, unused land to the Taos, Yakama, Navajo and Washoe tribes.
Landmarking and development
The entire Alcatraz Island was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, and was further declared a National Historic Landmark in 1986. In 1993, the National Park Service published a plan entitled Alcatraz Development Concept and Environmental Assessment. This plan, approved in 1980, doubled the amount of Alcatraz accessible to the public to enable visitors to enjoy its scenery and bird, marine, and animal life, such as the California slender salamander.
Today American Indian groups such as the International Indian Treaty Council hold ceremonies on the island, most notably, their "Sunrise Gatherings" every Columbus and Thanksgiving Day.
Glossary:
Lighthouse
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Маяк |
Gannet
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Баклан |
Rock pools |
Водоем, заполняемый только во время прилива |
Manifest Destiny |
Доктрина «предназначенности», «предначертания»
Manifest Destiny was the 19th century American belief that the United States was destined to expand across the North American continent, from the Atlantic Seaboard to the Pacific Ocean. It was used by Democrats in the 1840s to justify the war with Mexico; the concept was denounced by Whigs, and fell into disuse after the mid-19th century.
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Bear Flag Republic |
Калифорния The California Republic, also called the Bear Flag Republic, is the name used for a revolt against Mexico proclaimed by California settlers on June 14, 1846, in Sonoma in the then-Mexican province of California. Declared during the Mexican–American War, the "republic" was a popular revolt; the participants never formed a government, and the republic was never recognized by any nation. The revolt lasted 26 days, at the end of which the U.S. Army took control of the area. It is most notable for creating the "Bear Flag", with insignia that appear on the modern state flag.
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Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo |
Гуадалупе-Идальго мирный договор, заключён между США и Мексикой в Гуадалупе-Идальго (Guadalupe Hidalgo, Мексика) 2 февраля 1848 в результате американо-мексиканской войны 1846—48, закончившейся поражением Мексики. Договор оформил захват США более половины территории Мексики (2,3 млн. км2). Согласно Г.-И. м. д. США выплачивали Мексике за потерянные ею территории "компенсацию" в 15 млн. долл. и, кроме того, американское правительство брало на себя удовлетворение финансовых претензий своих граждан к Мексике в сумме 3,2 млн. долларов. Захваченная у Мексики территория составляет около четверти территории современных США (штаты Техас, Калифорния, Нью-Мексико, Аризона, Невада, Юта, часть Колорадо и Вайоминга) и обладает большими запасами нефти, золота, меди, угля, ценными пастбищами и плодородными пахотными землями. |
Eventuate in |
Приводить к определенному результату, вылиться в… |
Render obsolete |
Устаревать, приводить к устареванию
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To level (the island) |
Сравнять (остров) с землей
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Shell-proof |
Бронированный
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Hopi |
Хопи — индейский народ, проживающий на площади 12 635 км² в резервации Хопи на северо-востоке Аризоны. Традиционно принадлежит к группе народов пуэбло. По всеамериканской переписи 2000 г. население резервации хопи составляло 6 946 человек. Наибольшая по величине община проживала в Фёрст-Меса, штат Аризона. |
Conscientious objectors |
Лица, отказывающиеся нести военную службу по религиозным или другим убеждениям |
Mythbusters |
MythBusters is a science entertainment TV program created and produced by an Australian company, Beyond Television Productions, originally for the Discovery Channel in the United States. The series is screened by numerous international broadcasters, including SBS One and the Discovery Channel in Australia, Discovery Channel Canada, Quest and the Discovery Channel in the UK. The show's hosts, special effects experts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, use elements of the scientific method to test the validity of rumors, myths, movie scenes, adages, Internet videos and news stories. |
Generated incredible media attention |
Привлек невероятное (невиданное) внимание средств массовой информации |
Bootlegger |
Контрабандист
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Numbers operator |
Мошенник
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Tax evasion |
Уклонение от налогов
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Conspiracy |
Преступный сговор, преступная группировка
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Sioux |
Сиу (племя североамериканских индейцев)
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The Trail of Broken Treaties |
The Trail of Broken Treaties (also known as the Trail of Broken Treaties Caravan) was a cross-country protest by American Indian and First Nations organizations that took place in the autumn of 1972, intended to bring attention to American Indian issues such as treaty rights, living standards, and inadequate housing. |
The Longest Walk |
"Длинный марш" в 1978 году, когда за сто пятьдесят один день тысяча индейцев из разных племен прошли четыре с половиной тысячи километров и поставили вигвамы перед Белым домом. The Longest Walk was an American Indian Movement led spiritual walk to support tribal sovereignty and bring attention to 11 pieces of anti-Indian legislation that would among things have abrogated Indian Treaties, quantified and limited water rights, etc. It started on February 11, 1978 with a Ceremony on Alcatraz where a Sacred Pipe was loaded with tobacco and that Pipe was carried the entire distance. This 3,200-mile (5,100 km) Walk's purpose was to educate people about the United States government's continuing threat to Tribal Sovereignty and served as a rallying point for many thousands of Indian People representing many Indian Nations throughout the United States and Canada. Most significantly, traditional spiritual leaders from many tribes came and ran Ceremonies, and even international spiritual people, primarily from Japan, also supported the Walk. |
