“The Indians of the Midwest & the Fight for their Homeland.”
Presented by: Robert Downes
Date: April 10, 2025
Where: Mills Community House & ZOOM
Start Time: 4 pM
Author Robert (Bob) Downes will bring the story of the Indians of the Midwest to life in a slide talk to be held Thursday, April 10, at 4 p.m. as part of the 2025 Benzonia Academy Lecture Series hosted by the Benzie Area Historical Society & Museum.
Downes, who has dual homes in Benzie County and Traverse City, is the author of Raw Deal—The Indians of the Midwest and the Theft of Native Lands, a work of nonfiction history that includes the perils faced by Native peoples in the heartland of America, with a focus on Michigan.
Downes’s talk will focus on the epic story of the Indians in their fight to retain their homelands against overwhelming odds. His talk will discuss the motivation of America’s Founding Fathers in acquiring Native lands, the major battles fought by the Indians, and the theft of their lands by squatters, speculators, unfair treaties, and blatant swindles.
“Although Native peoples were paid for their land with hard cash and services provided by the U.S. government, it was always for pennies per acre, or less, back by the threat of removal at the point of bayonets, sabers, and guns wielded by government troops and violent militias,” Downes says. “Native peoples who bowed to government demands soon learned that federal treaties rarely lived up to their promises.”
Presenter: Robert Downes
A journalist for more than 35 years, Downes was the co-founder and editor of Northern Express Weekly in Traverse City from 1991 to 2013. He is also the author of seven other books, including two memoirs about traveling around the world, a bicycle guide to northern Michigan, and two historical novels about the Ojibwe, The Wolf and The Willow and Windigo Moon.
Robert has backpacked the globe twice and has visited more than 70 countries with destinations ranging from the supercities of the Third World to the heart of the American wilderness. In 2011, his wife, Jeannette Wildman, and Robert spent seven months backpacking around the world, resulting in their memoir, “I Promised You Adventure” (formerly “Travels With My Wife”). Biking is a passion of his, having cycled in Australia, Vietnam, India, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Peru, Mexico, Nicaragua, England, Ireland, and across continental Europe in addition to routes around the U.S. He has also biked across the North American continent, from Seattle to the northern tip of Newfoundland.
