People of the West — Season 1, Episode 8: Red Power
70 min • 1 season, 10 episodes
Episode synopsis
In the ashes of San Francisco’s American Indian Center, a new generation rises. Mohawk activist Richard Oakes and student leader LaNada Means rally Native voices from across the nation to reclaim Alcatraz Island—transforming a former prison into a symbol of freedom. As the “Indians of All Tribes” occupation captures the world’s attention, unity and defiance collide with loss and sacrifice. Through courage and conviction, they ignite the Red Power Movement and declare to America—and the world—that Native people are still here, and always will be.
About People of the West
People of the West is a ten-part premium documentary series that reclaims the history of California through Indigenous perspectives. Blending oral histories, tribal archives, expert insight, and cinematic recreations, the series spans from creation stories and pre-contact life through colonization, state-sponsored violence, resistance, and cultural survival. Each episode centers Native voices and lived experience, reframing well-known events—from the mission system and Gold Rush to Alcatraz and modern sovereignty movements—through those who endured them. Visually ambitious and emotionally grounded, the series pairs sweeping landscapes with intimate storytelling to reveal California as it has always been: Native land. Designed to live both on screen and in classrooms, People of the West offers a corrective to dominant narratives while highlighting the resilience, continuity, and contemporary presence of Native nations shaping the state today.