Ned Blackhawk, an author and historian at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is this year's recipient of the William P. Clements Prize for the Best Non-Fiction Book on Southwestern America.

Published in 2006, "Blackhawk's Violence over the Land: Indians and Empires in the Early American West" describes the violence and its consequences experienced by the Ute, Paiute and Shoshone residing in what is now Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado and California.

Blackhawk will receive the award from SMU's William P. Clements Center for Southwest Studies during formal ceremonies at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7, in the DeGolyer Library on the SMU campus. The presentation will be preceded by a reception at 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Blackhawk specializes in North American Indian history, culture and identity from U.S. Colonial to 21st century, as well as race and multiculturalism, and comparative colonialisms. His current research and teaching interests include American Indian history, U.S. West, Spanish borderlands, comparative colonialism and race and violence.

The $2,500 Clements Book Prize honors fine writing and original research on the American Southwest. The competition is open to any nonfiction book, including biography, on any aspect of Southwestern life, past or present.