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‘Our footsteps are prayers’: Portraits from a sunrise gathering on Alcatraz Island

Decades after the island’s occupation, Native Americans continue to gather at dawn on Indigenous People’s Day to celebrate resistance, resilience, and return.

Six people stand together outdoors at dusk, wearing traditional colorful Aztec feathered headdresses and vibrant ceremonial clothing.
Alcatraz Island — once a site of confinement — is transformed by drumbeats and song during the Annual Indigenous Peoples Day Sunrise Gathering. | Source: Alexa Treviño for SF Standard
By Alexa LexMex TreviñoPhotography by Alexa LexMex Treviño

In the subtle predawn twilight over the San Francisco Bay, Alcatraz became sacred ground. 

During the 46th Annual Indigenous Peoples Day Sunrise Gathering on Monday, I began a photographic portrait series to capture scenes in this living sanctuary, documenting Indigenous people in traditional regalia as they gathered in ceremony, dance, and prayer on the ancestral lands of the Yelamu, a local tribe of the Ohlone people.

A person wears an elaborate Aztec warrior costume with tall feathered headdress and ornate patterns, standing in front of a lighthouse against a partly cloudy sky.
A person wearing traditional regalia with feathered headgear crouches on rocky ground under a twilight sky.

The island — once a site of confinement — was transformed by drumbeats, song, and the faint shimmer of light peeking over the horizon.

For them, this is a day of resistance, remembrance, and return.

Colorful flags and people wearing feathered headdresses gather under a dramatic, cloudy sky during a vibrant outdoor event.

Across the Americas and beyond, Native people came together as one on Indigenous People’s Day, offering footsteps as prayers, honoring ancestors, and affirming their truth: That this is Native land. That they are not gone. That they are not relics. That they have always been here.

“Danza es vida,” one dancer told me. “We dance for our ancestors and for our people.”

A smiling person wearing a hat, patterned scarf, and maroon jacket forms a heart shape with their hands against a cloudy sky.
A person wears a fur hat adorned with tall beaded sticks and matching beaded face decorations, set against a clear blue sky.
People gather around a fire at dusk, watching performers in traditional attire with headdresses against a darkening sky.

“I’m my grandma’s dreams,” said another, glowing in the first light of dawn.

Here, history was not confined to textbooks or monuments, but breathed through each step and song.

The annual ceremony on Alcatraz, organized by the International Indian Treaty Council, serves to honor the 19-month occupation of the island by Native American activists, which began in November 1969, as well as to highlight the ongoing struggles to protect sacred lands and celebrate a cultural history that spans thousands of years.

A person wears traditional regalia with a large feathered headdress, beaded necklaces, and a decorated belt, standing against a cloudy blue sky.
A person wearing a traditional headdress with white feathers and beads looks thoughtfully into the distance against a cloudy sky.
A person wears an elaborate headdress with long striped and red feathers, has black face paint designs, and a black outfit with shiny pink and silver decorations.
A woman wears a colorful feathered headdress and traditional attire with feathered arm bands, holding a fan, against a dusk sky background.

“I’m here today to surround myself in loving community,” one participant shared. “To remember why I am, and why we are.”

This year’s celebration held particular significance amidst the renewed efforts by the Trump Administration to reopen Alcatraz as a federal prison, an idea firmly opposed by the International Indian Treaty Council. But the chants rising over the island weren’t just a remembrance; they were a declaration of life. A call echoing through the past and resounding into the future. 

A person in vibrant traditional attire with feathers and colorful decorations poses confidently against a dusky sky, with shadowed figures in the background.
A person wearing colorful traditional clothing stands confidently with a cane in front of a rocky hill topped with a ruined building and lighthouse.
A dancer dressed in vibrant traditional attire with feathers and ribbons moves energetically against a dusky sky, surrounded by silhouetted onlookers.

Nikki Skinaway spoke words that stayed with me: “I came here to honor the ancestors and let the colonized world know we are still here. Our footsteps are prayers for all Indigenous peoples.”

These portraits are my offerings of presence. They carry memory, spirit, and resistance. As the sun rose, so did the truth: That those who came before are still here. Always have been. Always will be.

A crowd of people dressed in jackets and hoodies watch a cloudy sky, with a child in a turquoise jacket sitting on an adult’s shoulders.

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AlcatrazCultureParksPhotography