On Thanksgiving, some people cook ham and some cook turkey. Some watch the Cowboys play football and some go out to snatch a fresh Christmas tree after dinner. It’s a day that brings families together across the country and evokes a certain communal unity among Americans. The image of a famous Norman Rockwell painting comes to mind—we’re all in this thing together, right?

But as the sun’s first rays began to pierce through the muggy San Francisco fog on Thanksgiving Day this year, a crowd of over 1,000 stood on a tiny island in the middle of the Bay in recognition of an alternative holiday and in celebration of a recent United Nations declaration. They made the chilly journey to Alcatraz through a mix of darkness and gray fog, the lights of the Bay Bridge and Golden Gate illuminated in the pale light. It was the 33rd annual ceremony where American Indians from across the country come to acknowledge their history, continue a political movement and unite in a struggle for the rights of indigenous peoples. It’s a battle that many generations of American Indians have fought and is finally gaining international momentum.

The new life to the struggle for their rights comes from the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, a piece of international legislation that outlines various human rights and guarantees self-determination to the original inhabitants of lands around the world. The declaration was passed with an overwhelming majority in September in the United Nations. Of the 158 nations that voted, only the U.S. and three other countries voted against its adoption.

"This declaration is a huge step forward," says Andrea Carmen, the Executive Director of the International Indian Treaty Council— an organization with headquarters in San Francisco and Alaska that work to uphold American Indian treaty rights and acquire land for tribes. "It's quite impressive what we got these countries to agree upon."

Discussions about legislation acknowledging indigenous peoples have been long standing in the United Nations and the final draft that was approved in September had been discussed for the last 20 years. Throughout the world there are approximately 360 million indigenous peoples and they are overwhelmingly poor and living in oppressive circumstances.

"The declaration is of utmost importance to combat discrimination against indigenous peoples created by more than five centuries of racism, marginalization and exclusion," reads a reaction statement by the Global Indigenous Peoples Caucus, the key player in drafting and working to pass the declaration. "The declaration explicitly encourages harmonious and cooperative relations between states and indigenous peoples."

Though it gives no legal bearing to American Indians, organizations plan to use the declaration as a backbone to pursue treaty rights. When acquiring American land, the Federal government signed agreements with tribes that specified how much land would be designated for the tribes. Hundreds of such contracts were ignored and the treaties were deemed unlawful in the 1950s when the government instituted a policy of "termination" with tribes in order to "officially get out of the Indian business." Because of this overstep of law, American Indians have been claiming their treaty rights for decades.

"It has a huge effect on our ability to push for treaty rights," says Carmen. "It provides an international recognition for our treaties and is a stepping stone to further development."

For American Indians, the fact that the U.S. voted against the declaration was disappointing and echoed the historical treatment of America’s indigenous peoples by their colonizers. Months after the approval Australia, another country that had voted against the declaration, publicly expressed its regret for not supporting the legislation. Though it can't officially change its vote, Australian support of the declaration leaves only the U.S., Canada and New Zealand in opposition.

"These three countries who oppose it have more treaty contracts with indigenous peoples than any other countries," says Carmen. They also have a historical legacy of abuse and cultural destruction to their native inhabitants. "Isn't that an interesting coincidence?"

Due to the approval, the traditional Thanksgiving and Columbus Day celebrations on Alcatraz were optimistic and activists celebrated their first legal breakthrough in years. On these two national holidays, American Indians and their supporters come together on Alcatraz Island for a sunrise memorial celebration. It commonly features speakers, dancers and poetry readings and American Indians in the Bay Area and neighboring communities look forward to the ceremonies each year.

The two national holidays are more reminiscent to indigenous peoples of the destruction of their culture and traditions than anything else. The ceremonies bring activists back to Alcatraz, a site that became a long-standing emblem for discussion about native rights in the late sixties when students from SF State and neighboring schools occupied the island after it closed as a federal prison. The 19-month demonstration brought people from across the country to the Bay Area and activists used the extensive media attention they generated to make a statement about the poor conditions on reservations across the country.

American Indians of all tribes came together, recognizing that they had all been mistreated and that their cultures were trampled upon. The term "pan-Indian unity" was developed, uniting Indians of different tribes and backgrounds in the struggle to have their treaty rights acknowledged and American history books reflect the reality of the Native American experience.

"We made our stand here on Alcatraz to claim our identity," said Lenny Foster, a member of the IITC and member of the first occupation in 1969 at the Columbus Day celebration on Alcatraz. "We're the true landlords of this western hemosphere."