Great Plains Studies announces Distinguished Book Prize finalists

Released on 03/18/2013, at 2:00 AM
Office of University Communications
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Lincoln, Neb., March 18th, 2013 —
Dustcover of
Dustcover of "Blackfoot Redemption"
Dust cover of
Dust cover of "Terrible Justice"

            The Center for Great Plains Studies at the University of Nebraska has announced the finalists for this year's Great Plains Distinguished Book Prize.

            The two books selected by a panel of judges are:

  • "Blackfoot Redemption: A Blood Indian's Story of Murder, Confinement, and Imperfect Justice" by William E. Farr (University of Oklahoma Press); and
  • "Terrible Justice: Sioux Chiefs and U.S. Soldiers on the Upper Missouri, 1854-1868" by Doreen Chaky (University of Oklahoma Press).

            In "Terrible Justice," Chaky gives one of the first complete accounts of Sioux conflict before 1870. Chaky examines the 1850s and 1860s, the period between the first major conflicts between the Sioux and U.S. soldiers and the creation of the Great Sioux Reservation. The book also looks at the relationships between different bands of Sioux and how they were affected by conflict. Chaky is a freelance journalist and independent scholar. She resides in Williston, N.D.

            In "Blackfoot Redemption," Farr reconstructs the events of a Canadian Blackfoot called Spopee who shot and killed a white man in 1879. Through the narrative, he reveals a larger story about race and prejudice as the transition to reservations began. Farr is a senior fellow at the O'Conner Center for the Rocky Mountain West and professor emeritus at the University of Montana in Missoula. He is the author of "Montana: Images of the Past and the Reservation Blackfeet, 1882-1945," among others.

            The winner of the $5,000 cash prize will be announced April 26. The author will be invited to travel to UNL to present a lecture on the topic of the book. Only first-edition, full-length, nonfiction books published and copyrighted in 2012 were evaluated for the award. Nominations were made by publishers or authors.

            The Center for Great Plains Studies is an intercollegiate regional research and teaching program. Its mission is to promote a greater understanding of the people, culture, history and environment of the Great Plains through a variety of research, teaching and outreach programs. For more information, contact the Center for Great Plains Studies at 402-472-3082 or visit its website, http://www.unl.edu/plains.

Writer: Kaylene Nieland, Publications Specialist, Center for Great Plains Studies, 402-472-3985