Ron Parks Wins 2014 Prairie Heritage Book Award for book on Kanza history

Ronald D. Parks' book, The Darkest Period: The Kanza Indians and Their Last Homeland, 1846-1873 (Oklahoma University Press, 2014), is the winner of the 2014 Prairie Heritage Book Award.

Awarded for the year's best book on prairie heritage, the award came with a $1000 cash prize and a sponsored book-signing.

The book signing took place on Saturday, September 20, 2014, 1-3 p.m., at Valerie's Variety Shop, 211 W. Main St., Council Grove, Kansas.

Also written by Ron Parks, the pageant "Voices of the Wind People" was performed that same weekend in Council Grove, September 19 and 20, 8 p.m., at the riverwalk outdoor amphitheater. Members of the Kaw Nation joined together with residents of Council Grove to reenact crucial moments from the turbulent time explored so well in The Darkest Period.

"This book is both enlightening and moving" said Prairie Heritage board member Margy Stewart of Parks' award-winning book. "There are many new stories told here--and they are told with a generous spirit. The book helps us understand this place called Kansas,what it means to be a Kansan."