From November 20, 1969, to June 11, 1971, a group called Indians of All Tribes occupied Alcatraz Island off the coast of San Francisco, California. The Alcatraz takeover was done to protest federal laws that contradicted historic land treaties with the Indians and aimed to destroy American Indian cultures, including the right of tribes to self-govern. This occupation was the first of its kind and inspired Native Americans to fight for their civil rights, as well as expose their issues to the North American public. The Alcatraz occupation was forcibly ended by the U.S. government, but was successful in many ways. It publicized the American Indian civil rights movement and fueled the American Indian Movement (AIM) to occupy 74 more federal facilities, culminating in the occupation of Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Reservation of the Oglala Sioux in South Dakota in 1973. Not least of all, this inspirational and highly public political demonstration initiated major changes in U.S. government laws regarding American Indian land claims and their right to tribal self-rule.

Radio Free Alcatraz was conceived to give a voice to the voiceless minority of Native Americans. On December 22, 1969, KPFA began its first live broadcast from Alcatraz, under the direction of John Trudell, a Santee Sioux from Nebraska who was relocated to the Bay Area with his wife and two children. With borrowed and donated radio equipment, the programs originated from the main cell block building on Alcatraz, and were carried live by KPFA and the Pacifica Network.