Post by blackcrowheart on Jan 10, 2006 12:24:26 GMT -5
The history of 'Black Hawk'
Trask's new book explores heart of the story
By Suzanne Weiss
Herald Times Reporter
www.htrnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060108/MAN04/601080421/1398
MANITOWOC — Kerry A. Trask was so compelled by the story of Black Hawk that he had to put the story to paper.
The result is his third book, "Black Hawk: The Battle for the Heart of America."
It is the story of an aging Sauk leader who in 1832 led more than 1,500 members of his tribe in an unsuccessful attempt to reclaim a piece of the heartland during a little-known conflict called the Black Hawk War, waged across northwestern Illinois and southern Wisconsin.
Apparently, Trask wasn't the only one who found the story compelling.
The book, which took the author about five years to complete, caught the attention of Henry Holt & Co. of New York, one of the country's oldest and most prestigious publishing houses, which released it in late December.
Shortly after it hit the bookstores, "Black Hawk" received a large spread in the Chicago Sun-Times, where it was praised for transcending the scholarly with fascinating descriptions of the Sauk rituals and practices.
Trask will give a book signing and reading at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 12 at Newberry Library in Chicago and at 1 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 15 at LaDeDa books & beans in Manitowoc, where books may be reserved.
Storytelling is nothing new for Trask, 64, who for the last 35 years has been weaving stories of the past into his classroom lessons as history professor at the University of Wisconsin-Manitowoc.
The story of Black Hawk was one he felt needed telling in more detail.
"This literally is kind of a culminating work for me. It really brings together things I've been thinking about since I was a child," said Trask, who grew up in Ontario near an Indian reservation.
The story is more than that of the thin, 65-year-old Native American "with a grand roach-cut crest of hair bristling down the middle of his otherwise bald head" as Trask describes Black Hawk. It is about America's search for its identity.
"The argument I make in this book is the relationship between 'Americans' and Native Americans becomes a core ingredient in the formation of a national identity," Trask said. "I argue that the Black Hawk War is simply an example of a pattern of violence that is established right in our national identity."
The Black Hawk War also was a dramatic and defining moment in Wisconsin's history, marking the state's beginnings, Trask said.
The book's maps, which help fix the action in the readers' minds, were created by Paula Robbins, a former UW-Manitowoc student of Trask's.
Like Trask's previous book, "The Fire Within: A Civil War Narrative from Wisconsin," this book deals with people under tremendous stress; actual letters and diaries of the day served as research material.
What emerged was a book that, like its subject, isn't black and white.
"There was real ambivalence in the United States about itself," Trask said. "The ultimate lesson of the book is this conflict that is embodied in the Black Hawk War still goes on. There's still this ambivalence. We're probably the most self-critical country in the world and at the same time the most self-promotional, prideful."
Trask sees other parallels to modern America.
"'Black Hawk' is a book about terrorism … how people deal with imaginary fears," he said. "The imagination is what makes terrorism terrifying."
Trask sought to show Black Hawk in a realistic light.
In other books written about him, "Black Hawk is seen as a heroic defender of Native rights and interests or is seen as kind of a degenerate against civilization that stands in the way of progress," Trask said. "My Black Hawk is a really ambiguous character."
The Sauk leader is seen by his people as someone who has remained true to traditional values. He is someone, who at age 65, is not afraid to take on a cause, Trask said.
Another major player in the book is Henry Dodge, the 50-year-old buckskin-clad Indian fighter who later became governor of Wisconsin.
"While Dodge has many admirable characteristics, Dodge is very self-serving as well," Trask said.
"It's a complicated story of light and shadow, of not black and white, but much more of the complex stuff of the human heart …."
Suzanne Weiss: 920-686-2140 or sweiss@htrnews.com
Trask's new book explores heart of the story
By Suzanne Weiss
Herald Times Reporter
www.htrnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060108/MAN04/601080421/1398
MANITOWOC — Kerry A. Trask was so compelled by the story of Black Hawk that he had to put the story to paper.
The result is his third book, "Black Hawk: The Battle for the Heart of America."
It is the story of an aging Sauk leader who in 1832 led more than 1,500 members of his tribe in an unsuccessful attempt to reclaim a piece of the heartland during a little-known conflict called the Black Hawk War, waged across northwestern Illinois and southern Wisconsin.
Apparently, Trask wasn't the only one who found the story compelling.
The book, which took the author about five years to complete, caught the attention of Henry Holt & Co. of New York, one of the country's oldest and most prestigious publishing houses, which released it in late December.
Shortly after it hit the bookstores, "Black Hawk" received a large spread in the Chicago Sun-Times, where it was praised for transcending the scholarly with fascinating descriptions of the Sauk rituals and practices.
Trask will give a book signing and reading at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 12 at Newberry Library in Chicago and at 1 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 15 at LaDeDa books & beans in Manitowoc, where books may be reserved.
Storytelling is nothing new for Trask, 64, who for the last 35 years has been weaving stories of the past into his classroom lessons as history professor at the University of Wisconsin-Manitowoc.
The story of Black Hawk was one he felt needed telling in more detail.
"This literally is kind of a culminating work for me. It really brings together things I've been thinking about since I was a child," said Trask, who grew up in Ontario near an Indian reservation.
The story is more than that of the thin, 65-year-old Native American "with a grand roach-cut crest of hair bristling down the middle of his otherwise bald head" as Trask describes Black Hawk. It is about America's search for its identity.
"The argument I make in this book is the relationship between 'Americans' and Native Americans becomes a core ingredient in the formation of a national identity," Trask said. "I argue that the Black Hawk War is simply an example of a pattern of violence that is established right in our national identity."
The Black Hawk War also was a dramatic and defining moment in Wisconsin's history, marking the state's beginnings, Trask said.
The book's maps, which help fix the action in the readers' minds, were created by Paula Robbins, a former UW-Manitowoc student of Trask's.
Like Trask's previous book, "The Fire Within: A Civil War Narrative from Wisconsin," this book deals with people under tremendous stress; actual letters and diaries of the day served as research material.
What emerged was a book that, like its subject, isn't black and white.
"There was real ambivalence in the United States about itself," Trask said. "The ultimate lesson of the book is this conflict that is embodied in the Black Hawk War still goes on. There's still this ambivalence. We're probably the most self-critical country in the world and at the same time the most self-promotional, prideful."
Trask sees other parallels to modern America.
"'Black Hawk' is a book about terrorism … how people deal with imaginary fears," he said. "The imagination is what makes terrorism terrifying."
Trask sought to show Black Hawk in a realistic light.
In other books written about him, "Black Hawk is seen as a heroic defender of Native rights and interests or is seen as kind of a degenerate against civilization that stands in the way of progress," Trask said. "My Black Hawk is a really ambiguous character."
The Sauk leader is seen by his people as someone who has remained true to traditional values. He is someone, who at age 65, is not afraid to take on a cause, Trask said.
Another major player in the book is Henry Dodge, the 50-year-old buckskin-clad Indian fighter who later became governor of Wisconsin.
"While Dodge has many admirable characteristics, Dodge is very self-serving as well," Trask said.
"It's a complicated story of light and shadow, of not black and white, but much more of the complex stuff of the human heart …."
Suzanne Weiss: 920-686-2140 or sweiss@htrnews.com