Raw Deal: The Indians of the Midwest and the Theft of Native Lands by Robert Downes
The Wandering Press, January 2024
In Raw Deal: The Indians of the Midwest and the Theft of Native Lands, Robert Downes offers a highly-readable dive into the history of the Native peoples of the Midwest and their 500-year struggle to defend their homeland. Raw Deal explores the theft of Native lands in the Midwest and Great Lakes regions, tracing how Indigenous peoples were dispossessed by squatters, speculators, and fraudulent treaties, which offered pennies per acre and were enforced by the threat of violence. Downes chronicles the heroic efforts of Native peoples to retain their homelands through centuries of warfare and exploitation, from the earliest inhabitants to their confrontation with a flood of European immigrants.
Bob Downes of The Wandering Press is author of eight books, most of which have a Northern Michigan connection. His best-selling Biking Northern Michigan guidebook offers cycling routes throughout Leelanau County and beyond, while his historical novels, Windigo Moon and The Wolf and The Willow celebrate the culture of the prehistoric Anishinaabek.
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