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The Last Great Battle of the Indian Wars

The Last Great Battle of the Indian Wars: Henry M. Jackson, Forrest J. Gerard and the campaign for the self-determination of America’s Indian Tribes, by Mark Trahant

During this program, Shoshone-Bannock author Mark Trahant talks about and reads from his book The Last Great Battle of the Indian Wars: Henry M. Jackson, Forrest J. Gerard and the campaign for the self-determination of America’s Indian Tribes. He also explains the difference between American Indians and Alaska Natives, and the relationship of sovereign tribal governments with the U.S. government.

It’s a preposterous title: “The Last Great battle of the Indian Wars.” How can that be? Well, there were two great battles in our era: The defeat of termination and the campaign for self-determination. First, a terrible, disastrous policy had to be rejected – and then it had to be replaced by a new progressive policy course for American Indians and Alaska Natives. That is the context for this story about Sen. Henry “Scoop” Jackson and Forrest Gerard. Team Jackson and Gerard so changed the landscape of Indian affairs that virtually every member of the body politic today agrees with the premise that American Indians and Alaska Natives have the right to govern themselves.

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The music in this program was written and performed by John Floridis and Hovia Edwards. "A Breath of Spring" from the album Morning Star by Hovia Edwards courtesy Canyon Records License #2013-062. http://www.canyonrecords.com All rights reserved

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Mark Trahant
Mark Trahant

Mark Trahant is an independent journalist, currently serving as the 20th Atwood Chair of Journalism at the University of Alaska,Anchorage. In 2009 and 2010 Trahant was a Kaiser Media Fellow writing about health care reform focused on programs the government already operates, such as the Indian Health Service.

Trahant is a member of Idaho's Shoshone-Bannock Tribe and former president of the Native American Journalists Association. He is a former columnist at The Seattle Times and has been publisher of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News in Moscow, Idaho; executive news editor of The Salt Lake Tribune; a reporter at the Arizona Republic in Phoenix; and has worked at several tribal newspapers.

Chérie Newman is a former arts and humanities producer and on-air host for Montana Public Radio, and a freelance writer. She founded and previously hosted a weekly literary program, The Write Question, which continues to air on several public radio stations; it is also available online at PRX.org and MTPR.org.
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