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SAN FRANCISCO — Former 49ers quarterback and walking political flashpoint Colin Kaepernick received honorary eagle feathers as he attended the annual Indigenous People’s Sunrise Gathering on Alcatraz Island on Thursday.

The event, also known as “Un-Thanksgiving Day,” celebrates the lengthy occupation of the infamous prison island by Native Americans between 1969 and 1971.

“Today, I was on Alcatraz Island at the Indigenous People’s Sunrise Gathering, in solidarity with those celebrating their culture and paying respects to those that participated in the 19-month occupation of Alcatraz,” Kaepernick said in a tweet Thursday.

The former NFL star — who led the 49ers to the 2013 Super Bowl won by the Baltimore Ravens — has been at the center of controversy since he declined to stand for the national anthem before 2016 games, in protest against police brutality toward black people. His defiance spread to other players and engulfed him in a controversy that has seen him vilified by President Donald Trump. He remains an unsigned free agent and has filed a grievance with the NFL alleging he’s being blackballed over his anthem protest.

After receiving two eagle feathers from a Native American elder, Kaepernick gave a brief speech.

“I’m very humbled to share this space with all of you,” Kaepernick said in the video posted on Twitter. “Our fight is the same fight. We’re all fighting for our justice, for our freedom. And realizing that we’re in this fight together makes us all the more powerful.”

The Alcatraz occupation started on Nov. 20, 1969, led by Mohawk activist Richard Oakes and Native American college students, according to the National Park Service, which runs Alcatraz.

“Once the occupiers had established themselves on the island, organization began immediately,” according to the National Park Service. “An elected council was put into place and everyone on the island had a job; security, sanitation, day-care, school, housing, cooking, laundry, and all decisions were made by unanimous consent of the people.”

The Alcatraz protesters wanted the deed to Alcatraz, and to establish an Indian university, cultural center and museum, according to the park service.

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“The government negotiators insisted that the occupiers could have none of these and insisted that they leave the island,” according to the park service.

“The underlying goals of the Indians on Alcatraz were to awaken the American public to the reality of the plight of the first Americans and to assert the need for Indian self-determination.”

As the occupation progressed, divisions appeared among the activists. Hippies and drug users began “taking up residency,” according to the park service. A fatal fall by Oakes’ 13-year-old daughter, and his subsequent departure, left two competing groups to vie for leadership.

The federal government took a mostly hands-off approach, but also shut off electrical power and took away a barge providing fresh water to the island.

Ultimately, President Richard Nixon approved a plan to remove the protesters when the fewest were on Alcatraz, and on June 10, 1971, armed federal marshals, FBI agents and special-forces police “swarmed the island and removed five women, four children, and six unarmed Indian men,” according to the park service.

“The occupation was over.”

However, the occupation, directly or indirectly, led the government to adopt Indian self-determination as official U.S. policy, according to the park service.