The prize for poetry went to NativeGuard by Natasha Trethewey and the general non-fiction award went to The Looming Tower, a best-selling investigation of the 11 September terrorist attacks on America by Lawrence Wright.
Finally, on the eve of Thanksgiving 1969, 79 Native American activists broke a Coast Guard blockade and took over Alcatraz in protest of the violation of treaties and appropriation of lands from 106 Native groups.