My principal aim in this study is an analysis and comparison of the African- American and Native-American oratorical traditions as represented by prominent twentieth

• century speakers, such as Dr.Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Gerald Vizenor, and Ward Churchill. Since all four speakers come from minority groups of the United States which have played a significant role in - or have had a strong impact on - the history and life of all Americans, I find it important to examine those personalities who have acted as spiritual and intellectual leaders of the respective ethnic communities. As they have forwarded the cause of their people as public speakers, I will focus on their speech acts as their salient means of struggle.