Chapter one began with an introduction to the Native American social movement. The history of relations between the United States and the Native Americans was given, as well as a description of the origins of the Native American social movement. A literature review of communication studies was given which detailed the contributions of Randall Lake to the understanding of Native American rhetoric and the Native concept of time, along with the contributions of Richard Morris, Philip Wander, and Gerry Philipsen. Two research questions were presented dealing with the rhetorical confrontation of the movement and the success of the movement since 1969.Chapter Two detailed the functional approach to social movements schema that was developed by Charles Stewart, Craig Smith, and Roger Denton. Stewart et al. identify five functions that must be fulfilled in order for a social movement to exist and succeed. The functions are: 1) transforming perceptions of history, 2) altering perceptions of society, 3) prescribing courses of action, 4) mobilizing for action, and 5) sustaining the social movement.Chapter Three contains analysis of the four representative events of the progress of the NativeAmerican movement since 1969. The four events are: 1) the 1969 takeover of Alcatraz, 2) the 1973 takeover of wounded Knee, 3) the 100 year anniversary observance of the Wounded Knee massacre, and 4) the protests surrounding the celebration of the Columbus Day quincentennial.Chapter Four contains the summary and conclusions drawn from the analysis of the four events. The findings in terms of the research questions are that the movement has deemphasized the confrontational nature of its activities and this deemphasis has contributed significantly to the movement's newfound successes in the 1980s and 1990s. / Department of Speech Communication

Relying on interviews of Indian rights lawyers as well as archival research, this collective history excavates a missing page in the history of the modern tribal sovereignty movement. At a time when vocal Native American political protests were raging from Washington State, to Alcatraz Island, to Washington, D.C., a small group of newly graduated lawyers started quietly resurrecting Indian rights through the law. Between 1964 and 1974, these non-Indian and Native American lawyers litigated on behalf of Indians, established legal assistance programs as part of the War on Poverty efforts to provide American citizens with equal access to a better life, and founded institutions to support the protection of tribal rights. In the process, they would also inadvertently create both a profession and an academic field—Indian law as we know it today—which has since attracted an increasing number of lawyers, including Native Americans. This story is an attempt at reconstituting a major dimension of the rise of tribal sovereignty in the postwar era, one that has until now remained in the shadows of history: how Indian rights, considered obsolete until the 1960s, gained legitimacy by seizing a series of opportunities made available in part through ‘accidents’ of history. The work done by this new generation of Indian rights lawyers between the mid-1960s and the mid-1970s recast definitions of tribal sovereignty in Indian Country as well as the practice and teaching of Indian law. At its core, this project seeks to realize three aspirations: First, to explain where Native American rights come from and how they interact, engage, and fit in with American law; second, to dissect the uses and limitations of law as an avenue for the pursuit of social justice; and third, to probe the question of whether the United States can function as a plural state capable of hosting multiple visions of politics, law, and culture.