Prater-Burgess 1

Cade Prater-Burgess
Cooper
AP Language- 1st per.
8/30/16
Like a Hurricane by Paul Chaat Smith and Robert Allen Warrior
Chapter 3: Fancydance Revolution
Warrior, in fact, was standing on the tip of an iceberg. Plenty of Indian people, in spite
of their stated values to the contrary, had seen over a decade of the Civil Rights then Black
Power movements and felt a yearning for the same kind of attention. (58)

Occasion Response
This piece takes place in Alcatraz during the late 1960s, a time when Civil Rights
movements were raging. The first sentence describing Clyde Warrior standing on an iceberg is a
metaphor for the incredible amount of risk it took for his people to single-handedly take over the
island. It also remarks on how America would see nothing new in their endeavor. The Native
Americans would be seen yearning for the same kind of attention Martin Luther King, Jr.
received years prior. The time in which the book is set- right in the middle of the counterculture
movement- helps in delivering Paul Chaat Smith and Robert Allen Warriors argument.

Chapter 2: We Wont Move

But plenty of the young occupiers had drunk deeply from the well of anarchism popular
among student radicals of the time, and even the nebulous structure of a coordinating council

Prater-Burgess 2
was, to them, too much. Why should just one person talk to the press, they thought, when they
were all risking their lives and enduring the hardships? (19)

Tone Response
The authors are sounding particularly angry in their tone towards the subject. Much of the
events throughout the book deal with the troubled Indian youth taking cues from the well of
anarchism, often using extreme violence and radicalism. In their eyes, they were all risking
lives and enduring hardships that were faced against Native Americans during this time period.
So with that, its arguable that this is their story and their point of view and focus for the majority
of the narrative are examples of the authors channeling their inner anger. This apparent anger
immediately resonates with readers, contributing once more to the authors argument.

Chapter 1: Leap of Faith

They were young people whom the educational system neglected and, increasingly, they
desired for themselves the same opportunities others had They rallied to the suggestion of
using Alcatraz as a way to dramatize their issues. (3)

Audience Response
The author is trying to persuade a younger demographic, specifically those who may have
grown up in the 1960s and 1970s as a child. As in most coming-of-age stories, the reader gets
insight at angsty teenagers who want the same opportunities others had. In this case, the angsty
teenagers are troubled Native Americans trying to pull off a bold occupation of the island of

Prater-Burgess 3
Alcatraz. Since history is written by the victors, many children growing up may have saw them
as savage Indians. But the authors determination for the truth provide more for their argument.

Epilogue
I think it is the pride in living that many Indians have lost and in the manner of clarity of
Russell Meanss speech many Indian people found that pride and also a strength they did not
know they had possessed. (273)

Speaker Response
Vine Deloria, the most frequent critic of the organization AIM, is speaking in this
passage. Throughout the events of Like A Hurricane, Deloria offers many writhing criticisms
regarding the actions and business practices carried out by members of AIM, or the American
Indian Movement. However, at the end of the book he rectifies his opinion, going out of his way
to praise Russell Means in his speech to the Lakotas. Deloria makes mention of reigniting many
Indians pride, as well as helping them find a strength they did not know they had possessed.
This ultimately fills the reader with a sense of pride and newfound strength.

Chapter 5: The Monument Tour

Some California Indians charged those on Alcatraz with being little more than
colonizers themselves, since they had not sought permission from the descendants of the people
who originally lived in this area. Those California Indians argued Alcatraz did not belong to
American Indians in general but to them specifically, and there were few California Indians who
were involved in the occupation. (87)

Prater-Burgess 4
Subject Response
If theres one thing that both the Native Americans and white people had in common
during this time period, it was hypocrisy. Roughly a century before the events of this piece, the
government had taken the state of California from the descendants of the people who originally
lived in this area without seeking their permission. Since then, especially after the Wounded
Knee Massacre, local Indians have held a bitter resentment towards the quasi-imperialist
American government for taking their home. However, this new development of seizing the
island of Alcatraz showcases the Indians aslittle more than colonizers themselves, which
makes them no better than the people that took their land in the first place. Such thoughtprovoking subject matter draws the reader in, and allows the author to further their argument.

Chapter 12: Hundred Gun Salute

Burned fields, military debris abandoned by the federal lawmen, and the occasional
tattered white parachute hanging from a tree provided evidence that the strange rebellion in the
Dakotas really happened. Visitors gazed into the lonely terrain and tried to visualize where the
Indians and the American troops of both the first and second Wounded Knees had made history.
For Indian people, the movements grand entry had raised dizzying hopes of respect for treaties
and sacred lands, but also of a new kind of person, a new kind of democracy, and a new kind of
Indian future. (268)

Purpose Response

Prater-Burgess 5
In the final chapter of Like a Hurricane, the authors briefly explain the aftermath of the
bizarre standoff at the Wounded Knee reservation. Decades earlier, the 7th U.S. Cavalry
slaughtered the Lakota tribe as a form of retaliation for Custers Last Stand. In a public
demonstration, many Native Americans seized the reservation and had an intense gun standoff
with the federal lawmen. It resulted in burning fields and a series of miscommunications
during negotiations. Though the occupation ended, it raised dizzying hopes of respect for
treaties and sacred lands, which is what they had been trying to obtain for a good amount of
time. Ultimately, Like a Hurricane tells the audience that, despite the incredible amount of
oppression one person or their people face, they can still find hope in the impossible.

Prater-Burgess 6
Work Cited:
Smith, Paul Chaat and Warrior, Robert Allen. Like a Hurricane: The Indian Movement
fro Alcatraz to Wounded Knee.. The New Press. 1996.