Adam Fortunate Eagle

Adam Fortunate Eagle
Born	Adam Nordwall 1929 Red Lake Indian Reservation, Red Lake, Minnesota
Nationality	American

Dr. Adam Fortunate Eagle L.H.D. (born Adam Nordwall), hereditary member of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, is a Native American activist and was the principal organizer of the 1969–71 Occupation of Alcatraz by "Indians of All Tribes."

Born on the Red Lake Indian Reservation in 1929, Nordwall was the son of a Swedish man and Ojibwe Woman. At the age of five, his father died and left his mother no choice but to send all of her children away to boarding school. He took advantage of his time at the school and improved many skills that would help him later in life as well as to escape the Great Depression, famine, and disease that were running rampant on reservations at the time. He attended the Haskell Institute in Kansas where he met his future wife and Shoshone Indian, Bobbie.

After marrying his wife Bobbie, the Nordwalls moved to San Francisco in 1951. Nordwall worked as a licensed termite inspector and by the late 1960s he owned his own company called the First American Termite Company. Although living a comfortable life Nordwall felt that he and his family needed to learn and discover more about who they were as Native Americans. He became more involved in local Indian affairs and became chairman of the United Bay Area Council of American Indian Affairs, Inc. It was at this time that he proposed the takeover of Alcatraz.

Nordwall began to seriously plan the takeover of Alcatraz, and he met with Richard Oakes, a local student activist, at a Halloween party at Tim Findley's house in 1969. He proposed the date of November 9 and Oakes agreed to get as many students as he could. Nordwall took care of providing transportation to the island. However, on the date none of the ships were there and the press were wary of the Indians all dressed up in their tribal wear. Nordwall found a captain who seemed interested in the events of the day and talked him into providing transportation. He agreed but said he would not dock on Alcatraz, to this Nordwall agreed. Once near shore, Richard Oakes seized the moment and jumped overboard, followed by a few of his fellow students. Nordwall stayed behind and watched as Oakes and his band struggled to make it to shore. The captain returned to shore a little while later.

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