October 23, 2006
Colorado Law Distinguished Professor Charles Wilkinson has won the 2006 Colorado Book Award in the history and biography category for Blood Struggle: The Rise of Modern Indian Nations.
Wilkinson was one of 12 authors honored Oct. 18 at the 15th annual Colorado Book Awards ceremony held in Denver and sponsored by the Colorado Center for the Book. Blood Struggle chronicles the dynamic rebirth of American Indian society and culture.
"I am very honored by this award," said Wilkinson, the Moses Lasky Professor of Law. "But in a larger sense the real honor goes to the legacy of Vine Deloria Jr. and other tribal leaders who so laboriously carried out this inspiring movement to make the reservations homelands governed by sovereign tribal governments."
Deloria was a prominent author and former CU-Boulder professor who died last year. At the time of the book's publication in 2005, he said Blood Struggle is "THE BOOK -- we will not need another one on this topic."
Blood Struggle is a story of Indian tribes taking control of reservations and, ultimately, controlling their destiny and place in American society. Wilkinson describes how American Indians fought to preserve their traditions and to assert their rights since the early 1950s, the all-time low point of tribal existence in America.
In 1953, Congress passed the termination law, which called for the sell-off of all tribal lands, withdrawal of federal support and complete assimilation into U.S. society.
Over the past two generations, tribes responded with a stirring revival that re-established tribal governments and has improved economic and social conditions on the reservations. Wilkinson recounts the extraordinary efforts of tribal leaders including Deloria, Ada Deer, Wilma Mankiller, Leonard Burch and others.
U.S. Sen. John McCain called the book "an American classic" and "essential reading for public officials and anyone else who wants to understand the history and nature of relationships between the United States and Indian tribes."
Wilkinson, a renowned scholar of American Indian law and one of only 25 professors to hold the title of distinguished professor on the Boulder campus, is the author of 12 previous books including "The Eagle Bird: Mapping a New West" and "Fire on the Plateau: Conflict and Endurance in the American Southwest."
More than 200 authors were nominated for 2006 Colorado Book Awards given in 10 categories.
To read a Daily Camera review of Blood Struggle, click here.
For other reviews of the book, click here.
