He Held the Rock

August 2022. Leather and wood.

Richard Oakes

(May 22, 1942 – September 20, 1972)

Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne

“There was one old man who came on the island. He must have been eighty or ninety years old. When he stepped up on the dock, he was overjoyed. He stood there for a minute and then said, ‘At last, I am free.’” -Richard Oakes, 1972

Richard Oakes was a student from New York who attended San Francisco State University, where he helped develop one of the first Native American Studies departments in the nation. He went on to lead the Alcatraz Occupation (1969-1971), in which he and a small group of Indigenous college students lived on the abandoned island in protest of Congress’s Termination Policy towards Natives. Eventually, the Occupation grew and even garnered global attention, resulting in the passage of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975. Tragically, Oakes was murdered at the age of 30 and did not get to witness this success.

This piece was inspired by the Proclamation of Alcatraz (seen above), a message that the occupiers addressed to “the Great White Father and All His People” that used history to highlight past injustices and called for change. The colors were inspired by that of the Akwesasne flag, and the ties represent the connections that Oakes built across tribes, states, and nations.