The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Indian Health Service developed a concurrent Relocation policy that worked in tandem with the policy of Termination to deprive Natives of government services. According to Fort Lawton occupier and current UIATF board member Randy Lewis, the result was that “overnight the richest reservations in the country became some of the poorest counties in the country.” 4 During the 1950s the federal government began what it termed the policies of Relocation and Termination in order to deal with the “Indian Problem.” This meant that in an attempt to “liquidate all tribal assets, the federal government set up relocation programs moving thousands of Indians into cities with promises of better employment and educational opportunities.” 3 It was no coincidence that the reservations identified for termination were also those with the most wealth and natural resources. In this sense, the invasion was years in the making. The Fort Lawton invasion was a response to the declining state of Native reservations and to the challenges faced by Seattle’s growing urban Indian population, as well as the government’s apparent lack of concern for either. Urban Indians and the Impetus for Invasion This paper tells the story of the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation’s (UIATF) unique success in its battle for Daybreak Star and, in a larger sense, for what Bernie Whitebear later described as “self-determination.” 2 While similar centers already existed in San Francisco, Minneapolis, and New York, what was to become Daybreak Star Center was the first to be established through militant protest. The Native activists who invaded Fort Lawton that day were ultimately successful in their goal of establishing an urban Indian cultural center at the site. In the midst of the ensuing struggle, the occupation’s principal organizer Bernie Whitebear stated, “We, the Native Americans, reclaim the land known as Fort Lawton in the name of all American Indians by right of discovery.” 1 When the caravans reached their destinations, both the north and south sides of Fort Lawton, the occupants of the cars launched a coordinated effort to occupy the fort and establish it as a cultural and social services center for Seattle’s growing Native American population. As the convoys headed north onlookers could see the red cloth banners streaming from the antennas of the automobiles. The vehicles moved north towards Seattle’s Magnolia neighborhood and the recently decommissioned Fort Lawton Army installation. On the morning of March 8, 1970, two half-mile long columns of vehicles began forming in a south Seattle neighborhood. The University of Washington Daily wrote sympathetically about the takeover and in this article reported on the harsh tactics of the MPs. The Helix, Seattle’s underground newspaper, published the United Indians of All Tribes proclamation March 20, 1970 Karen Smith analyzes that media attention in United Indians of All Tribes Meets the Press: News Coverage of the 1970 Occupation of Fort Lawton.īelow are selected articles. Click the link above to see and read the full list of articles from the Seattle Times, Seattle PI, UW Daily, Seattle Helix, Seattle Medium, Bremerton Sun, and Akwesasne Notes. We have compiled a digital database of newspaper articles starting with the first invasion in March 1970 through the negotiations with the city and federal government and the opening of the Daybreak Star Cultural Center in 1977. Also see Karen Smith, American Indian Women’s Service League: Raising the Cause of Urban Indians, 1958-1971.įor more stories and important perspectives on the Fort Lawton campaigns. Click here to read the nearly complete digital collection of Indian Center News that has been compiled by Teresa Brownwolf Powers. Founded in 1958 and operating out of a downtown church, AIWSL was the core institution for Seattle’s urban Indians, providing health services and a place to gather. Indian Center News was the publication of the American Indian Women’s Service League. Photo: University of Washington Special Collections. Reyes, who helped design Daybreak Star Cultural Center, speaks about his brother and about the Fort Lawton struggle in an interview below.Ībove: aerial view of Fort Lawton, 1948. Lawney Reyes chronicles the life of this brother, Bernie Whitebear, in this recent biography. This 1971 photo is courtesy of the Museum of History and Industry. Click the logo to learn more about it.īernie Whitebear led the campaign to reclaim Fort Lawton and was the director of United Indians of All Tribes Foundation until his death from colon cancer in 2000. United Indians of All Tribes Foundation today operates Daybreak Star Cultural Center.
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