Remembering Richard Oakes, the face of the Red Power movement

Native American activist Richard Oakes helped lead the iconic 1969 occupation of Alcatraz Island when Indigenous rights activists took over the abandoned federal prison to protest their treatment by the U.S. government.

Oakes’ unique and charismatic activism inspired a wave of similar demonstrations across the country for Indigenous land rights and sovereignty. But then in 1972, he was shot and killed in a flash of violence that cut short his life and activism.

Now, 51 years later, loved ones and investigators discuss his legacy, death and the trial of his killer, a story that has largely gone untold.

Credit: Brontë Wittpenn

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