John Boncore (January 7, 1952 â€" March 12, 2013), also known as John
Pasquale Boncore, Dacajeweiah ("Splitting the Sky"), John Boncore
Hill, John B. Hill, and John Hill, was a political activist and actor
who first garnered media attention for his role in the 1971 Attica
Prison revolt in upstate New York.Boncore was born in Buffalo, NY, to
a Mohawk/Cree mother and an Italian-American father. His father and
eleven co-workers died in 1957 after entering a storage tank at U.S.
Rubber without respirators. Boncore's family fell into poverty
thereafter and he and five siblings were later sent to foster care
after being removed from their mother's care. Boncore was physically
abused due to being placed in racist households during his time in
foster care and ended up homeless after fighting back against one of
his oppressive foster parents. Sent to the juvenile reformatory center
in Elmira for robbing a sub shop out of desperation and hunger after
sleeping on the streets of New York City. In August 1971, the age of
19, he was transferred to Attica prison to serve the final months of
his sentence. During the subsequent trials, Hill married a woman named
Alicia, the couple having a baby boy, John Jr., in 1975.In 1993,
Boncore met Sandra Bruderer, a Cree woman whom he later married, at a
First Nations/Native American sovereignty conference in Edmonton. In
2001, the two self-published a co-written autobiography of Boncore
entitled The Autobiography of Splitting the Sky: From Attica to
Gustafsen Lake (.mw-parser-output
cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation
q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free
a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free
a{background:linear-gradient(transparent,transparent),url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right
0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited
a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,.mw-parser-output
.citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation
.cs1-lock-registration
a{background:linear-gradient(transparent,transparent),url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right
0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription
a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription
a{background:linear-gradient(transparent,transparent),url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right
0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output
.cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output
.cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription
span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px
dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon
a{background:linear-gradient(transparent,transparent),url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right
0.1em center/12px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output
code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output
.cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output
.cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output
.cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output
.cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output
.cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output
.cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output
.cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output
.cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output
.cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output
.cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation
.mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}ISBN 0-9689365-0-4). Boncore also
acted in roles in the TV series Men In Trees, Alice, I Think and Da
Vinci's City Hall, and in the films The Last Rites of Ransom Pride
(2010) and Deepwater (2005).Boncore was a leader in the Attica Prison
revolt. Although 43 people died during the five-day siege, including
ten hostages taken by inmates, Boncore was the only person convicted
of murder in the aftermath. Despite a legal defense mounted by famed
attorney William Kunstler, Boncore was convicted in 1975 by a jury of
the murder of prison guard William Quinn, whom he denied attacking as
was claimed, and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. However, in
1976, Boncore was granted clemency by New York governor Hugh Carey.
Pasquale Boncore, Dacajeweiah ("Splitting the Sky"), John Boncore
Hill, John B. Hill, and John Hill, was a political activist and actor
who first garnered media attention for his role in the 1971 Attica
Prison revolt in upstate New York.Boncore was born in Buffalo, NY, to
a Mohawk/Cree mother and an Italian-American father. His father and
eleven co-workers died in 1957 after entering a storage tank at U.S.
Rubber without respirators. Boncore's family fell into poverty
thereafter and he and five siblings were later sent to foster care
after being removed from their mother's care. Boncore was physically
abused due to being placed in racist households during his time in
foster care and ended up homeless after fighting back against one of
his oppressive foster parents. Sent to the juvenile reformatory center
in Elmira for robbing a sub shop out of desperation and hunger after
sleeping on the streets of New York City. In August 1971, the age of
19, he was transferred to Attica prison to serve the final months of
his sentence. During the subsequent trials, Hill married a woman named
Alicia, the couple having a baby boy, John Jr., in 1975.In 1993,
Boncore met Sandra Bruderer, a Cree woman whom he later married, at a
First Nations/Native American sovereignty conference in Edmonton. In
2001, the two self-published a co-written autobiography of Boncore
entitled The Autobiography of Splitting the Sky: From Attica to
Gustafsen Lake (.mw-parser-output
cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation
q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free
a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free
a{background:linear-gradient(transparent,transparent),url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right
0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited
a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,.mw-parser-output
.citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation
.cs1-lock-registration
a{background:linear-gradient(transparent,transparent),url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right
0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription
a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription
a{background:linear-gradient(transparent,transparent),url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right
0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output
.cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output
.cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription
span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px
dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon
a{background:linear-gradient(transparent,transparent),url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right
0.1em center/12px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output
code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output
.cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output
.cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output
.cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output
.cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output
.cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output
.cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output
.cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output
.cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output
.cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output
.cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation
.mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}ISBN 0-9689365-0-4). Boncore also
acted in roles in the TV series Men In Trees, Alice, I Think and Da
Vinci's City Hall, and in the films The Last Rites of Ransom Pride
(2010) and Deepwater (2005).Boncore was a leader in the Attica Prison
revolt. Although 43 people died during the five-day siege, including
ten hostages taken by inmates, Boncore was the only person convicted
of murder in the aftermath. Despite a legal defense mounted by famed
attorney William Kunstler, Boncore was convicted in 1975 by a jury of
the murder of prison guard William Quinn, whom he denied attacking as
was claimed, and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. However, in
1976, Boncore was granted clemency by New York governor Hugh Carey.
Share this
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
Join us for free and get valuable content delivered right through your inbox.