Edward D. Castillo, of the

Luiseño The Luiseño or Payómkawichum are an Indigenous people of California who, at the time of the first contacts with the Spanish in the 16th century, inhabited the coastal area of southern California, ranging from the present-day southern part of ...

- Cahuilla tribes, is a Native American activist who participated in the American Indian occupation of Alcatraz in 1969. Former

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and director of Native American Studies at the

Sonoma State University Sonoma State University (SSU, Sonoma State, or Sonoma) is a public university in Sonoma County, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. Sonoma State offers 92 bachelor's degree programs, 19 master's de ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, he wrote several chapters in the

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's ''Handbook of North American Indians'' and ''Mission Indian Federation: Protecting Tribal Sovereignty 1919-1967'', published in the ''Encyclopedia of Native Americans'' in the 20th century. He is the editor of Native American Perspectives on the Hispanic Colonization of Alta California and The Pomo, A Tribal History. Castillo was a regular contributor of book reviews to historical journals such as Indian Historian, Journal of California Anthropology, Western Historical Quarterly,

American Indian Quarterly The ''American Indian Quarterly'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering studies on the indigenous peoples of North and South America. It is published by the University of Nebraska Press and was established in 1974. The editor-in-ch ...

, and California History.

Early life

Castillo was born in 1948 in California to Edward and Betty Castillo and has two brothers Billy and Randy. He was raised on a rancheria outside San Jacinto.Eagle, Adam Fortunate., and Tim Findley. Heart of the Rock: the Indian Invasion of Alcatraz. Norman: University of Oklahoma, 2002. Print. After high school, he enrolled in the

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of Cali ...

with a major in American frontier history and a minor in

Latin American studies Latin American studies (LAS) is an academic and research field associated with the study of Latin America. The interdisciplinary study is a subfield of area studies, and can be composed of numerous disciplines such as economics, sociology, histor ...

. After graduating in 1969, Castillo took a minority counseling position at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

. In that same year, he was hired as a graduate student instructor in

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

’s newly established Native American Studies program. Ed is the recognized father of Suelumatra with Luwana Quitiquit, and Cassandra and Andrew Castillo (second marriage), although he may have other children.

Participation at Alcatraz

Castillo first got involved with the American Indian occupation of Alcatraz when Richard Oakes, the foremost organizer of the demonstration, gave a speech at UCLA attempting to get more support for the protest in mid-November 1969. Oakes had been giving similarly effective speeches at

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, and University of California, Riverside. Castillo, along with about two-thirds of the Native American studies class he was teaching, agreed to take leave from his position at UCLA and join the occupation. He was 21 years old at the time. When he arrived at Alcatraz, Castillo was one of the original members of the island council, along with Richard Oakes and a number of other college students. The island council oversaw everything that occurred on the island. Castillo also worked in the makeshift mail room of the island. Early on during the occupation, Castillo was voted as security chief of the island, but soon resigned from the difficult position after numerous threats from much larger young Indian males. When Richard Oakes left the island due to the death of his daughter, Castillo began to notice the burgeoning of inner conflicts within the island's population. He believed the original

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of the island was faltering, and many of the island's leaders were focused more on the political and financial benefits of the protest. After nearly three months of participating in the occupation, Castillo decided to return to UCLA to fulfill his teaching duties.

Later life

Castillo was the director of the

Native American studies Native American studies (also known as American Indian, Indigenous American, Aboriginal, Native, or First Nations studies) is an interdisciplinary academic field that examines the history, culture, politics, issues, spirituality, sociology and co ...

program at

. He has worked on numerous books, usually dealing with the history of California Native American tribes. The majority of his scholarly works focus on the impact of Spanish

colonization 475px, Map of the year each country achieved List of sovereign states by date of formation, independence. Colonization (British English: colonisation) is a process of establishing occupation of or control over foreign territories or peoples f ...

on Native Americans in the 17th and 18th centuries. He shocked the mission studies world by publishing an oral history by Lorenzo Asisara given in 1878 which explained how the Indians at Santa Cruz murdered the missionary Andres Quintana in retaliation for whippings the friar had given with a barb-tipped whip, and then set the girls free for a night of sex.Edward Castillo (1989), “The Assassination of Padre Andrés Quintana by the Indians of Mission Santa Cruz in 1812: The Narrative of Lorenzo Asisara” in California History 68. He coauthored ''Indians, Franciscans, and Spanish Colonization: The Impact of the Mission System on California Indians'' with Robert H. Jackson.

Notes

References

*Castillo, Edward D.
California Indian History
" CERES. 1998. Web. 23 Sept. 2010. *Irvine, Keith. ''Encyclopedia of Indians of the Americas''. St. Clair Shores, MI: Scholarly, 1974. Print. *Wasp, Jean.

Sonoma State University. 17 Sept. 2003. Web. 23 Sept. 2010. *Vigil, Delfin.
Disputed Alcatraz Invasion Flag on Block - SFGate.
Featured Articles From The SFGate. 24 Jan. 2008. Web. 23 Sept. 2010. *Castillo, Edward D.

" *Castillo, Edward D.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castillo, Edward Native American activists Living people Luiseño people Cahuilla people Activists from the San Francisco Bay Area Sonoma State University faculty People from San Jacinto, California Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Native American people Native American studies