Publisher's Weekly Review
At the outset of this detailed, lively history of the American Indian protest movement in the early 1970s, its authors say that a problem with most other books on Indians (they do not use the term Native Americans) is that they were not written by Indians themselves and that, however sympathetic, they tend to portray Indians as victims and pawns. Smith, described as an activist by the publisher, and Warrior, a professor of history at Stanford, both Indians, have chosen to write about a brief periodthe birth and early days of the American Indian Movement (AIM)when American Indians were indeed politically and socially active. The book focuses on three Indian proteststhe 1969 invasion and 19-month occupation of Alcatraz Island; the 1972 seizure and trashing of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Building in Washington (renamed Native American Embassy for the occasion); and, a year later, the two-month occupation of Wounded Knee, North Dakota, that ended with two dead and 300 Indians under indictment (which effectively bankrupted AIM). Smith and Warrior write clearly and dramatically; they have researched and interviewed well; and although unabashed partisans of the Indian cause, they are frank and even-handed to a point that might be painful to AIM diehards. An important addition to the history of a political movement that has yet to reach its stride. Photos. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
A well-documented, highly readable history of three turbulent years in the history of Native America. American Indian radical politics first drew international attention in the early winter of 1969, when an unknown number of activists, certainly fewer than a hundred, occupied Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay. The American Indian Movement, an activist organization, grew to prominence through that action, bringing fame (or notoriety, depending on your viewpoint) to Richard Oakes, Russell Means, Dennis Banks, Browning Pipestem, and John Trudell; it also helped focus Indian activists on developing what movement strategist Clyde Warrior called ``true Indian philosophy geared to modern times.'' Native historians Chaat and Warrior (a former Kirkus contributor and Stanford historian; Tribal Secrets, 1994) chart AIM's fortunes through the three years culminating in both Nixon's reelection and the siege at Wounded Knee, S.D., where armed AIM sympathizers held off federal agents for eight weeks while becoming an international cause célèbre. The period between Alcatraz and Wounded Knee, the authors write, ``was for American Indians every bit as significant as the counterculture was for young whites, or the civil rights movement for blacks.'' They make their case with admirable balance, noting that the Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, usually the heavy in books of this sort, was full of well-meaning and sympathetic individuals, and that AIM had its share of bad actors, including people who at Alcatraz busied themselves ``bootlegging liquor and thrashing residents who criticized the leadership or who asked too many questions about finances.'' Still, the authors argue, most of the activists who put themselves on the line at Alcatraz, Wounded Knee, and elsewhere gave powerful voice to the voiceless peoples hitherto tucked away on reservations, ``the most ignored population in the United States.'' This is essential reading for anyone interested in the course of contemporary American Indian politics. (25 b&w photos, not seen)
Booklist Review
Smith, an activist, and Warrior, a history professor at Stanford University, sharpen our understanding of what exactly went on during the brief but passionate and paradigm-shifting Indian rights movement between 1969 and 1973. Their thoroughly researched, fast-paced chronicle focuses on three main events that held the attention of people all over the world: the gutsy takeover of Alcatraz, the spontaneous occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C., and the traumatic siege at Wounded Knee. As they present day-by-day coverage of these unprecedented acts of civil disobedience, Smith and Warrior profile the movement's diverse leaders, including Richard Oakes, Russell Means, and Clyde Warrior, the first activist to publicly challenge the trend toward assimilation by advocating pride in and respect for Indian culture. Such deep change takes time, however, hence the sudden outbreak of dramatic and dangerous confrontations. As the authors analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the Indian movement and the unrelenting vehemence of government opposition, they make it clear that this era of flamboyant protest and "guerrilla theater" is of great and lasting significance. --Donna Seaman
Choice Review
Although this stirring yet unbiased account of five turbulent years concludes on a melancholy note, it nevertheless chronicles a movement born in anger and hope. It is not surprising that the few thousand activists who fought to bring power and recognition to American Indians, the most ignored population in the US, failed to win all they dreamed. The true miracle, as the authors suggest, is that they came so close. Smith (Comanche) and Warrior (Osage) have fashioned a highly readable history of Native American activism, beginning with the seizure of Alcatraz in the late fall of 1969, through the "liberation" of the Washington, DC, headquarters of the Bureau of Indian Affairs on the eve of Richard Nixon's electoral triumph in 1972, and ending with the occupation of Wounded Knee in May 1973. Interspersed throughout are revealing portraits of such notables as Clyde Warrior (no relation to the author), Hank Adams, Dennis Banks, and Russell Means. It is an account from the inside looking out, but without the relentless partisanship of Ward Churchill and Jim Vander Wall's Agents of Repression (1988) or more recently Russell Means's Where White Men Fear to Tread (1995). All levels. L. G. Moses Oklahoma State University
Library Journal Review
During the 1960s and 1970s, a new national identity was forged for Native Americans through demonstrations led by militant leaders. Activist Smith and academic Warrior (Tribal Secrets: Recovering Indian Intellectual Traditions, Univ. of Minnesota, 1994) relate three events central to those changes during the fast-paced, chaotic, and frequently disappointing movement: the takeovers of Alcatraz, the national Bureau of Indian Affairs headquarters, and Wounded Knee. The authors discuss all three heavily symbolic and media-dependent events with clear-eyed scrutiny, lauding personal heroism while recognizing instances of flawed leadership. The authors take up contradictory views in the national Indian community and trace the growth of the American Indian Movement (AIM) from its Chippewa beginnings to national influence under the charismatic leadership of Russell Means. Based on archival sources and personal accounts, this work joins another recent title, Means's autobiography, Where White Men Fear To Tread (LJ 10/15/95), in reconstructing events during a turbulent phase of modern Native American history. Recommended for academic and public libraries.Margaret W. Norton, Morton West H.S., Berwyn, Ill. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
