Alcatraz Becomes a Mecca for Most American Indians | May 12, 1970

“It is the government’s aim to break down our families and break down our resistance. A lot of reservation Indian children spend their young lives separated from their parents in boarding schools. They separate children from parents with schools that do not teach. We have seen them trying to turn us into white people called Indians, stereotype us, suppress the history of our heritage and culture in the books. All this has produced a militancy. A non-violent militancy. But we’re not going to be put down by the Bureau of Indian Affairs anymore.” – John Trudell

SOURCE: Akwesasne Notes, May 1970.