Kaniksu!

“Kaniksu!” is based on a true story, to which the author was a witness. In September of 1975, one of the smallest Indian tribes in America, the Kootenai, composed of only 67 Indians living on a reservation of 12 acres, formally declared war on the United States of America. At first, the declaration of war was treated like “The Mouse That Roared” by the regional and national media—an end-of-the-news “brightner.” But as time went on, the war grew serious, and media people from all over the country descended on this little North Idaho town of Bonner’s Ferry (pop. About 2,000.) Both sides, including the state police and residents of the area, were arming up. Luckily, the bloodless war lasted only a few months, with no deaths or serious injuries on either side. The Kootenai received some—but not all—of what they had sought from the federal government. In creating a fiction based on the truth, the author has taken some liberties with the story—but the heart of it remains the same.