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takeovers 111proclamation, “To the Great White Father and All His People.” An1868 treaty with the Sioux Nation gave Indians “exclusive reversionarytitle” to any unclaimed federal property, the new occupierssaid. Alcatraz may have once locked up the likes of gangster AlCapone, but soon after it deteriorated in salty air and shut down,Indians from thirty tribes mobilized. They united on Alcatraz as theycame together on Washington riverbanks. What they wanted wasrecognition of their treaty rights and a way of life. They wanted anend to poverty and a chance to preserve their heritage. When theytook over Alcatraz, every American with a newspaper read the news.“We’re taking back Indian land,” organizer Dean Chavers toldWillie, Billy’s father, on the eve of the takeover.“Good for you!” Willie replied from Frank’s Landing, informingChavers that supporters were headed to San Francisco Bay and “therock.” The occupation of Alcatraz, which lasted nearly nineteenmonths, is considered a turning point, triggering a wave of seventyfourtakeovers across the country that helped shift public policytoward Native Americans.Uprisings continued in the Pacific Northwest. Billy’s son Sugarhad just turned nine when they arrested him at Fort Lawton, a decommissionedmilitary base on the west end of Seattle. “He was only aboutthat big,” Billy says laughing and extending his arm. “We were allthere, my boys and everybody.” The plan to take Fort Lawton camein the midst of pending legislation that approved a no-cost transferof the post to local government for parks and recreational use. BernieWhitebear, a Colville Indian, led the effort to reclaim the installationas Indian land.On a wind-whipped day in March 1970, Whitebear confrontedHenry “Scoop” Jackson, a longtime and popular U.S. senator fromWashington State:“We believe the time has now arrived for the Indian to use his owninitiative, take charge of his own destiny and at the same time make acontribution to greater society,” Whitebear told the senator.