Many may remember when a group of Native Americans took over Alcatraz Prison Island in 1969, those protestors were led by Horse Capture among other notable figures in the Native American Protest Movement.
A A'aninin, or more commonly known as the Gros Ventre Tribe, Horse Capture grew up on the improverished Fort Belknap Reservation, born in 1937. His more formal birth name was Nay Gyagya Nee or 'spotted otter'. Like many of his peers from the Reservation system the US Government saw fit to 'educate' these young men and women in western styled careers. Horse Capture was sent to a welding school while many of the young women were sent for training as beauticians. He succeeded in his educational studies and went on to receive a Bachelor Degree in anthropology and later a Master's Degree in history. For a time he climbed an important social ladder and promising carreer with the state Department of Water Resources, but then something changed. As Horse Capture tells it he- 'was very happy climbing that white mountain of success. But then I looked down over the top, and there was nothing there'.
Alcatraz changed everything. The solution was to switch mountains. The occupation of Alcatraz lasted 19 months but the effect on the activism for the hundreds of Tribes in the US is still being felt with the pride and history of each culture being preserved for future generations. Horse Capture became the premier curator of Native American culture inspiring others to relearn their native languages and preserve their artifacts.
In one funny encounter with a Catholic priest who wanted entry into a special chamber at the National Museum set aside only for Native American spiritual leaders Capture told the priest why he could not enter was because- 'you are of the wrong denomination'. His pride in the Museum's collection was summed up with the words- 'the buffalo now has his nose firmly in the tipi, before we didn't even have a tipi'.
Pow wows were a favorite experience for Horse Capture and he would envision being with his ancestors in the afterlife. He describes one of his dreams- 'Upon reaching the arena, one of his relatives would spot him and call him over, 'George', what took you so long? We have been saving this chair for you. Sit down and enjoy the music'. He was 75.