People gather around a fire at the Indigenous People's Sunrise Gathering event at Alcatraz Island on Thanksgiving morning.
Before dawn on Thursday morning, hundreds of people boarded special ferries to Alcatraz to honor the struggle of indigenous people in America and the occupation of the former prison island from 1969 to 1971.
SFBay photographer Marlene Sanchez captured the participants and ceremony in a photo gallery of the 42nd Indigenous People’s Sunrise Gathering.
The view of the San Francisco skyline at the Indigenous People's Sunrise Gathering event at Alcatraz Island on Thanksgiving morning.
People throw tobacco and other offerings in the fire at the Indigenous People's Sunrise Gathering event at Alcatraz Island on Thanksgiving morning.
A man dances at the Indigenous Sunrise Ceremony event at Alcatraz Island on Thanksgiving morning.
Aztec dancers perform at the Indigenous People's Sunrise Gathering event at Alcatraz Island on Thanksgiving morning.
Aztec dancers perform at the Indigenous People's Sunrise Gathering event at Alcatraz Island on Thanksgiving morning.
Members of the Black Lives Matter Movement, the Bay Area Chapter, speak at the Indigenous People's Sunrise Gathering event at Alcatraz Island on Thanksgiving morning.
Dancers perform at the Indigenous People's Sunrise Gathering event at Alcatraz Island on Thanksgiving morning.
A man holds up a stick at the Indigenous People's Sunrise Gathering event at Alcatraz Island on Thanksgiving morning.
People gather in a circle at the Indigenous People's Sunrise Gathering event at Alcatraz Island on Thanksgiving morning.
Lenny Foster speaks at the Indigenous People's Sunrise Gathering event at Alcatraz Island on Thanksgiving morning.
People gather around a fire at the Indigenous People's Sunrise Gathering event at Alcatraz Island on Thanksgiving morning.