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Hopi History: The Story of the Alcatraz Prisoners Part 2 Wendy Holliday, Historian Hopi Cultural Preservation Office
On January 4, 1895, the San Francisco Call published a story under the
headline "A Batch of Apaches." The article stated, "Nineteen
murderous-looking Apache Indians were landed at Alcatraz island
yesterday morning." The article misidentified the 19 Hopi men who had
been arrested at Orayvi the previous November. The article is filled
with racial stereotypes of murderous and "crafty redskins" who refused
to live according to the "civilized ways of the white men." In
February, the same newspaper published another story about the "Moquis
on Alcatraz."
"Uncle Sam has summarily arrested nineteen Moqui Indians...and taken
them to Alcatraz island, all because they would not let their children
go to school. But he has not done it unkindly and the life of the
burnt-umber natives is one of ease, comparatively speaking. They have
not hardship aside from the fact that they have been rudely snatched
from the bosom of their families and are prisoners and prisoners they
shall stay until they have learned to appreciate the advantage of
education."
In 1995, the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office began a project to
record the history of the Alcatraz prisoners. It began with an
article in the Tutuveni about the events leading to the arrest of the
prisoners. As the San Francisco newspaper suggested, the men were
imprisoned because they opposed the government's program of forced
education and assimilation. The Tutuveni article was based upon
government records. Subsequent research uncovered these San Francisco
newspaper articles. While they shed light onto the story of the
Alcatraz prisoners, they are all told from the point of view of the
white government and Anglos who supported the forced education
program.
These viewpoints often reflected callous disregard for the human
suffering of the Hopi prisoners.
The San Francisco newspaper article
wrote that the prisoners' days were generally spent sawing large logs
into shorter lengths. Occasionally, their work was interrupted by
trips into San Francisco to visit the public schools, "so that they
can see the harmlessness of the multiplication table in its daily
application." Their accommodations were the same as that of the white
military prisoners, and their food was "like that of any ordinary
second-class hotel."
According to the newspaper, the Hopi prisoners were treated rather
well. The article claimed that the prisoners' only grievance was
being taken from their homes and families. In fact, other sources
provide glimpses into very real hardships faced by both the prisoners
and their families back at Hopi. John Martini described the
prisoner's cells at Alcatraz as "tiny wooden cells...worlds removed
from the western desert and plains." Indeed, a description of
Alcatraz in 1902, just seven years after the Hopi prisoners were
jailed there, suggests that the cells were in poor condition: "The old
cell blocks were `rotten and unsafe; the sanitary condition very
dangerous to health. They are dark and damp, and are fire traps of
the most approved (sic) kind.'"
Furthermore, taking the prisoners from their homes and families was
more than "rude." In a series of letters between H.R. Voth, a
Mennonite missionary at Orayvi, and Guruther, the Commanding Officer
at Alcatraz, family members at Hopi were extremely worried about the
prisoners. There were rumors that some of them had died.
In September, Voth wrote to
Lomahongiwma to report on the prisoners' families and the crops.
These reports must have caused considerable anguish among the
prisoners, especially those who were separated from their families
during important ceremonies and planting and harvesting. In addition,
two of the prisoners' wives gave birth to children who died while the
men were at Alcatraz. Being torn from their villages and families was
certainly more than a rude inconvenience.
The story of the Alcatraz prisoners, in the written historical
records, is incomplete. It is based solely on written records and is
missing Hopi perspectives. The Cultural Preservation Office would
like to complete a written account of the Alcatraz prisoners by using
Hopi remembrances and stories. We would like to gather stories of the
actual hardships endured by the prisoners at Alcatraz, as well as the
friends and families left behind to raise families, plant and tend to
the crops, and worry about their loved ones imprisoned in a distant
place. The Cultural Preservation Office has been able to trace some of
the descendants of the prisoners. We have a current list of these
descendants on file. If you would like to share any stories about the
prisoners' experiences at Alcatraz or the lives of their families
while they were imprisoned, please call Wendy Holliday, at 734-2432,
or Leigh J. Kuwanwisiwma, at 734-2244.
The following is a list of the Alcatraz prisoners and their clans.
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Hopi History: The Story of the Alcatraz Inmates, Part 1 Wendy Holliday, Historian with the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office |
Alcatraz History: The Story of the Indian Inmates Craig Glassner, Ranger The National Park Service on Alcatraz Island Golden Gate National Recreation Area |
