Alcatraz occupation inspired late George Paul Horse Capture

Tuesday, May 7, 2013  

George Paul Horse Capture, a respected museum curator who died last month at the age of 75, was inspired to change his life by the takeover of Alcatraz in 1969.

Horse Capture, who was Gros Ventre from the Fort Belknap Indian Community, was working as a steel inspector for the state of California when he participated in the occupation. The movement sparked his dedication to Indian issues.

"He was profoundly important in contemporary American Indian history," Herman Viola, a curator emeritus of the National Museum of the American Indian, told The Los Angeles Times.

Horse Capture helped launch the NMAI in Washington, D.C., which opened its doors to the public in September 2004. He was a strong advocate for the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

Get the Story:
George P. Horse Capture dies at 75; Native American curator (The Los Angeles Times 5/5)

George Paul Horse Capture, former NMAI official, passes away (4/17)