In recent years, there's been a growing movement of Native Americans reclaiming land that historians say the government stole from tribes in the early 1900s. Historians say the birth of this movement was a 1969 occupation on the island of Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay.

Surrounded by strong currents and cold water, the island of Alcatraz was designed to imprison some of the country's most notorious criminals. However, the penitentiary shut down in 1963. Six years later in 1969, Eloy Martinez stepped foot on the island to participate in a Native American Occupation. It's now a key part of the island's history.

Historians say Native Americans chose to take the island because of an 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie that allows the indigenous people to occupy land abandoned by the federal government. Yale professor of American Studies Ned Blackhawk says Native Americans were demanding reparations for what had been taken from them. Blackhawk is a member of the Te-Moak Western Shoshone tribe and the author of The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History.

He says the federal government had passed laws in the late 1940s and early 1950s that called for tribal nations to be terminated. It was known as the era of assimilation.

"The activists are trying to think through how do we articulate what we want in relationship to these current government policies, as well as the future of an Indian world that we would like to inhabit," Blackhawk said.

Today, Martinez visits often. His hope is that the occupation is never forgotten. He points out the welcome sign that was painted by Native Americans soon after they arrived on the island.

He says nostalgic feelings flood back every time he returns.

"Free, it was free, happy," Martinez said. "It was exciting because people were doing things, you know, I mean, it was fresh. Nothing, nothing like that had ever happened anywhere else."

He often returns with his good friend, Ilka Hartmann. She's a photographer who was born in Germany during World War II. She says the genocide Native Americans faced during the Gold Rush in the US reminded her of genocide during WWII, igniting her passion to stand up for marginalized communities.

"I was trying to take pictures of the Indians here having taken this land, and I was trying to show them with their pride and their success," Hartmann said.

She captured dozens of photos during the 19-month occupation. They are now on display at an exhibit on the island that she hopes becomes permanent. Other photographers at the exhibit include Brooks Townes and Alan Copeland.

"I remember hearing all the sounds here, the beautiful sounds of the riots that were loose everywhere," Hartmann said. "And it was like a sing-song everywhere. It really, really impressed me. And there were only here and there a few people, so it was very desolate."

Only about 89 Indigenous men, women, and children seized the land, but as Blackhawk states, they also seized the nation's attention.

"And for the first time, really in the 20th Century, Native Americans land literally on the front pages of the national headlines and newspapers," Blackhawk said.

"It was right there," Martinez said. "You had to look at it."

Blackhawk says the occupation sparked a movement of change in the years that followed.

"The occupation of Alcatraz was part of an era that launched a whole range of Native American, what are known as self-determination efforts in education, in the arts, in gaming or economic development, in land management," Blackhawk said.

"Termination policies were ended, the Indian Child Welfare Acts was reenacted, religious acts reenacted, gravesite protection, all that was enacted," Martinez said. "And that would've never happened if Alcatraz hadn't happened."

Blackhawk, Martinez and Hartmann all mention the federal government also returned millions of acres of land back to the tribes in the years that followed.

"45,000 acres of land to the Taos Blue Lake in New Mexico," Hartmann said. "And about 160,000 acres of land to Warm Spring Oregon tribe."

Sacred land is still being returned to Native tribes today. A revolution they say started with the Alcatraz occupation.

 

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A helicopter with a shooter will fly over a portion of the vast Gila Wilderness in southwestern New Mexico next week, searching for feral cows to kill.

U.S. Forest Service managers approved the plan Thursday to protect sensitive spots in the nation's first designated wilderness area. The move sets the stage for legal challenges over how to handle unbranded livestock and other stray cows as drought deepens in the West.

The Gila National Forest issued the decision amid pressure from environmental groups who raised concerns about nearly 150 cattle whose hooves and mouths are damaging streams and rivers. Ranchers, meanwhile, have criticized the plan to shoot cows from a helicopter as animal cruelty. They said the action violates federal regulations and will be problematic when carcasses are left to rot.

A section of the Gila Wilderness will be closed to the public starting Monday. A helicopter will launch Thursday, with shooters spending four days looking for feral cattle in rugged areas that include the Gila River.

Forest Supervisor Camille Howes said the decision was difficult but necessary.

“The feral cattle in the Gila Wilderness have been aggressive towards wilderness visitors, graze year-round, and trample stream banks and springs, causing erosion and sedimentation," she said in a statement.

Ranching industry groups and other rural advocates are concerned that the action taken in New Mexico could set a precedent as more grazing parcels become vacant across the West.

Ranchers say fewer people are maintaining fences and gone are the rural neighbors who used to help corral wayward cows. Some have left the business because of worsening drought, making water scarce for cattle, and skyrocketing costs for feed and other supplies.

The New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association estimates roughly 90 grazing parcels are vacant in New Mexico and Arizona. Increased use of public lands — including hunting and hiking — also has resulted in knocked-down fences, the association said. Elk, too, are to blame for damaging fences meant to keep cows in check.

Tom Paterson, chair of the association's wildlife committee, said the group has tried to find a solution that wouldn't involve shooting feral cattle. He pointed to a recent directive issued by the New Mexico Livestock Board that allows neighboring permittees to gather and herd the cattle out.

With snow on the ground, access is limited. Paterson said federal official are not giving enough time to see if the directive will work. His organization also has accused the U.S. Forest Service of skirting its own regulations that call for a roundup first, and shooting as the last resort.

“Easy is not an exception to their own rules. Frustration is not an exception to the rules,” he said. “Our society should be better than this. We can be more creative and do it a better way where you’re not wasting an economic resource.”

Environmentalists in dozens of lawsuits filed in courts around the West over the years have argued that cattle ruin the land and water by trampling stream banks. They applauded the Forest Service's decision.

“We can expect immediate results — clean water, a healthy river and restored wildlife habitat," said Todd Schulke, co-founder of the Center for Biological Diversity.

The position marks a shift from the environmental community's stance on shooting other wildlife — from a fight over protecting bison at the Grand Canyon to annual complaints about the actions of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services, an agency often vilified for killing birds, coyotes, wolves, mountain lions and other animals.

Just last month, environmentalists sued in Montana over a program aimed at managing grizzly bears. In 2021, conservation groups settled another lawsuit over Wildlife Services' practices in Idaho. Environmental groups there and elsewhere have long claimed that the agency's predator-control activities violate environmental laws.

But in New Mexico, the Center for Biological Diversity contends that water quality issues will only worsen if feral cattle aren't removed. The group estimates that 50 to 150 cows graze, unauthorized, in the Gila Wilderness, a remote stretch that spans more than 870 square miles (2,253 square kilometers) and is home to endangered Mexican gray wolves, elk, deer and other wildlife.

The National Cattlemen's Beef Association had asked the Forest Service to hold off on lethal action for a year after the New Mexico Cattle Growers' Association had reached an agreement with federal officials following last year's operation. The New Mexico group is expected to challenge the latest decision.

According to the Forest Service, the feral cattle problem dates back a half-century, when a cattle operation went out of business and subsequent grazing permits were suspended. Hundreds of unauthorized cattle have been removed over the years.

In 2022, a Forest Service contractor killed 65 cows in an aerial gunning operation similar to the one planned for next week.

Photos shared by ranchers of the 2022 operation showed dead cattle upside down in the Gila River. Federal officials said those carcasses were pulled out of the water. A survey done 90 days later found that no carcasses remained. Scavenging birds and other animals consumed them, officials said.

The upcoming operation will cover about 160 square miles (414 square kilometers).

No carcasses are to be left in or adjacent to waterways or springs — or near designated hiking trails or known, culturally sensitive areas.

The work, namely noise from the helicopter, also can't interrupt the breeding season for the Mexican spotted owl, the southwestern willow flycatcher and other endangered species. The aerial gunning operation is expected to be complete before April, when the season begins for Mexican gray wolves to have pups.

Environmentalists used to point to the removal of livestock carcasses as a preventative measure to limit conflict between wolves and ranchers. However, federal officials stated in documents that were released this week that there's no scientific research or observational data to suggest that once wolves scavenge on a livestock carcass, they become habituated to cattle.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — In a country with so much diversity, around 8.75 million people identify, at least partially, as American Indian or Alaska Native.

In Minnesota, a state with more than 100,000 of those residents, the Dakota people have the largest presence.

Shelley Buck, who has devoted her life to her culture and tribe, serves as the president of Friends of the Falls. She is pushing to transform the heart of Minneapolis' Central Riverfront into an iconic destination honoring Indigenous history.

Friends of the Falls has been working with the City of Minneapolis, the Minneapolis Park Board and Dakota nations to possibly reassume ownership of a historic stretch of the city's downtown riverfront that was traditionally a Dakota sacred site.

"I want it to be a place of healing, connecting and reconnecting," Buck said. "A place for education where we can educate the people about things they weren't taught growing up and also that community building."

Dakota people went to Owámniyomni, meaning turbulent waters, for ceremony and women traveled to Spirit Island to give birth. Both sites have since experienced extensive damage and destruction.

"Friends of the Falls did a ton of work to arrive at a vision for what this place could ultimately be, that would highlight it in a way that would set us apart as a city and sets this particular destination apart from anything else you'll find in the rest of the country," said Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.

Frey says acknowledgment of the lost history is one part of the process. He said another part is rectifying broken treaties.

"This is an opportunity for us to use that same legal system that did wrong to do right," Frey said.

Buck points out it's rare for people to want to help tribes get their land back.

"And saying, 'Here you go, it's your project. It needs to be native-led and native-focused, have at it.' You never hear about that," Buck said.

This project began with non-native people. People like Kjersti Duval, the CEO of Duval Companies, which is a real estate development and policy solutions company, first helped to protect the site.

"I was really one of those folks that were there at the beginning," Duval said. "The initial push was to prevent the site from further industrialization."

Quickly, native leaders were brought on board. One of the biggest hurdles is working to change land ownership.

"It has been extremely difficult to move this very small piece of land from federal ownership to local ownership. Like I said, seven years, it should be easier," Duval said.

These leaders want their work to be encouraging and emulated in other parts of the country.

"Great opportunity to touch people to have something that was once invisible become very visible, become a learning opportunity," Duval said.

"I'm excited for this to be a one-of-a-kind and really something that can help other states work towards," Buck said.

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio —

The Middletown community is mourning the loss of an incoming freshman who died Monday at a local water park.

Mykiara Jones, 14, was about to enter her freshman year at Middletown High School. Teachers from the middle school described her as a "rare gem."

"She radiated joy every single day of her life," said Lori Barker, a science teacher at Middletown Middle School. "She kind of lived by the motto to always be your best self, and I think she inspired others around her to do the same."

Teachers said Mykiara was a leader and a role model inside the classroom and out.

"Her bubbly personality was infectious. She wanted to encourage everyone to be the best person they can be," said Mykiara's math teacher Jennifer King.

King said Mykiara excelled in math.

"We do MAP testing, and she actually had the highest score in the winter that I have ever had of a student, and when we took it in the spring, she just wanted to do better. She just pushed herself so hard and did an amazing job," King said.

Staff members at Middletown schools are wrapping their arms around Mykiara's family members, especially her mother, as she works in the district.

On Monday, Mykiara was at Land of Illusion Adventure Park in Madison Township. The Butler County Sheriff's Office said Mykiara was not wearing a life vest when she fell into the water. She was pulled out about 30 minutes later and was flown to Dayton Children's Hospital where she died.

While authorities suspect Mykiara drowned, the Montgomery County coroner has not yet ruled on a cause of death.

The park was closed Tuesday.

Land of Illusion said in a statement posted to its Facebook page that it's fully supporting state and local officials as they investigate the incident.

In the meantime, those who taught Mykiara wanted everyone to know how special she was.

"She didn't know a stranger. She was just very special," King said.

"She was the definition of Middie pride," Barker said.

Superintendent Marlon Styles sent a letter to parents Tuesday and informed them of Mykiara's death. Styles said the district's Student Services Department is working with Access Counseling to make grief counselors available to support students, staff and parents.