Reviewer by Sharon Brunner
Author Robert Downes revealed in his book “Raw Deal: The Indians of the Midwest and the Theft of Native Lands” a vast amount of debauchery at the hands of the U.S. government, interlopers and greedy entrepreneurs. Downes mentioned the names of some of the tribes in Michigan and Wisconsin and the members of these tribes and tribes throughout the country have been known to work diligently in the past to hold onto their homelands. According to Downes treaties served as the most prominent way in which they lost possession of their homelands, and the government did not uphold their end of the bargain. The level of cruelty demonstrated by government officials and others never ceases to amaze me, and the Sandy Lake tragedy happened to be one of those circumstances. The government coerced 400 Ojibwe men, women and children to come to Sandy Lake in Wisconsin to collect their annuities which did not arrive for a long time after they arrived. Only expecting to be at Sandy Lake in Wisconsin for a short while, they did not bring enough warm clothing, food or shelter. Winter came on like an angry bear and many died of exposure, dysentery, measles and hunger. The rivers were frozen so they could not use their canoes to return home to safety. The intentional tragedy was referred to as the Death March and served as an attempt to coerce the Ojibwe to move further west. Downes explained in detail through his extensive research the factors behind the death march and other attempts, usually successful, to take away the homelands of many of Midwest Indians which began during the 1600s while most of the treaties were implemented during the 1800s.
Many themes were exposed throughout the book, typically associated with the demise inflicted by the federal government and the greedy entrepreneurs: desperation; alcoholism; greed; and ingenuity and perseverance. Acts of desperation occurred when the Native American population suffered a great reduction as the result of the unintentional and intentional exposure to deadly diseases that the Native American population had no immunity to fight against. Other acts of desperation occurred when they were placed in situations in which they had no food to eat such as the Death March and the high level of poverty the Native Americans have faced for centuries.
Alcoholism needed to be mentioned separately because it was inflicted on them on countless occasions. They began to rely on alcohol to deaden the pain of being oppressed. Government officials provided alcohol to them when they were signing many of the treaties. In a drunken state being coerced to give up their homelands in a language they did not fully understand. Many signed the treaties by using pictographs. The fur traders used alcohol as a cheap commodity in exchange for beaver pelts. Jacob John Astor imported 5,000 to 8,000 gallons of liquor each year to the trading post on Mackinac Island. In 1840 two gallons of poor-quality whiskey cost $1.75 a barrel in which they added thirty gallons of water along with cayenne pepper and tobacco to give it a bite. The barrels were then sold to the Indians for $16.00. The traders pursued funds from the treaties to pay off debts the Native Americans supposedly owed them on multiple occasions. The federal government viewed the Indian people as barriers to their financial progress. They envisioned prosperous towns and cities.
Kechewalshke Pezheke also known as Chief Great Buffalo, demonstrated ingenuity and perseverance when he negotiated numerous treaties on behalf of the Ojibwe people and his band from Medeline Island located in Wisconsin. At the age of 92 he traveled to Washington D.C. with five other headmen and a frontiersman from Alabama who married into the tribe. He made the ten-week journey in a canoe, two schooner-rigged steamships and a train. The goal was to meet with President Millard Fillmore who replaced Zachary Taylor after his untimely death.
I liked how Downes described what Washington D.C. was like in 1852. It was like I was there. The White House and other buildings were rebuilt after the destruction of the War of 1812. The site was surrounded by rundown work sheds, piles of timber and marble, shacks for slaves and stomach-wrenching latrines and open sewers. Typhoid fever which was caused by the contamination of food and/or water by sewage killed President Lincoln’s 12-year-old son, Willie. The town happened to be laced with gambling halls, taverns, brothels, and muddy streets. Not a place I would like to visit. Downes added that there were a few mansions located near the capitol. As mentioned earlier, it was quite evident that Downes conducted a lot of research to complete this book.
President Fillmore refused to meet with Buffalo. Senator George Briggs of New York pulled through for them and as a result Fillmore decided to drop President Taylor’s removal order and he promised to pay annuities that were in arrears and reinstall annual treaty payments. The Ojibwe held huge celebrations because the removal plans were terminated.
Pontiac also demonstrated perseverance when he fought against the British and took over many of their forts. The Three Fires, which consisted of the Ojibwe, Potawatomi and Odawa tribes, had a controlling presence in Michigan and fought alongside Pontiac in the effort to hold onto the homelands of the Native Americans. The Three Fires group provided governance for the Anishanaabeg (original people). The Americans were taking over a lot of land and they had to be stopped. Tecumseh, a well know orator and advocate for the rights of Native Americans, fought the Americans alongside the British and was known as one of the fathers of Canada because of his efforts to defeat the Americans. Many other Indian people have fought for our rights such as members of the American Indian Movement.
I liked a lot of extensive details Downes provided about the Copper Age, plagues, first contacts and so many other topics. The chapter called “Married to the Animals” provided me with information about the role Ojibwe women played with the running of their villages. I was reminded about the importance of our spiritual practices and how children were not subjected to corporal punishment like children were in Europe. The Indians believed children had strong spirit guides who would not take too kindly to child abuse. Downes stressed the importance of cooperation, family bonds associated with clans and described their food sources from the past. I found it interesting when I learned that the first World War I was the French and Indian War because many countries were involved in the war.
One of the things I did not like was when Downes made reference to a land bridge on page 49 and that is how Asiatic people journeyed from the Altai Mountains of Siberia to North America. This has been a sore topic for many years because this belief has been in existence. The Ojibwe and other tribal people have been and continue to be referred to as Native Americans which means our ancestors have always lived in North America and did not live some place else in the past.
Personally, I have been impacted on many occasions by alcoholism, poverty and other acts of desperation. Recently I lost a cousin to alcoholism. My father and others in my life have been taken over by alcoholism’s grip and I struggled with my codependency issues. Sometimes I found it easier to enable them instead of doing what’s right for them and me. I worked for a tribal Head Start Program for the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians (Sault Tribe) of which I am a member, and participated with federal reviews to audit Head Start Programs around the U.S. In order for families to qualify for Head Start services they needed to meet specific poverty income levels. One of the goals of the Head Start program is to assist families with all their unmet needs. The 23 years I spent on the child welfare committee for the Sault Tribe opened my eyes to many of the problems Native Americans have been facing and not one family went through the system that was not dealing with substance abuse issues.
A book that was published that is associated to some degree with Downes’ work is Harold R. Johnson book “Firewater: How Alcohol is Killing My People (And Yours).” Johnson covered the drunken Indian story, a time before alcohol killed our people, addictions and other information associated with alcoholism. The book definitely fits with the topic of alcoholism mentioned in Downes’ book. Downe mentioned how the white settlers and Native Americans drank too much alcohol, even children consumed a lot of alcohol. The movie “Thunderheart” portrayed the struggles a young mixed-blood FBI agent was forced to endure when he was assigned to work with a seasoned investigator to investigate a murder on a Sioux Reservation, a location stricken with poverty. Poverty and government corruption was also covered by Downes.
I recommend Raw Deal for its poignant and honest rendition behind the history of many of the treaties that have made a major impact on Native Americans in the Midwest, because of its many facts associated with the establishment of Michigan as a state, the clearly delineated history behind many of the removal actions and the main characters involved such as government officials, and the end result of all the corrupt actions taken against the Native American people as a result of multiple treaties. Downes explained how various tribes such as the tribe that resides in Isabella County and owns Michigan’s Soaring Eagle Casino and 512 room hotel and how these enterprises have brought the tribe out of abject poverty. Downes explained how bingo parlors sparked the building of tribal casinos. A vast difference existed between non-Indian and Indian households concerning income. In 1975, the average income for those living on the Isabella reservation was $5,000 per year and those living off the reservation was $16,000 for non-Indian residents. Legal departments for various tribes have been taking action against the federal government to reinstate treaty obligations. However, the Indian population continue to face problems with domestic violence, poor education, substance abuse, and poverty at a higher rate than the rest of the population in the U.S. which has occurred as a result of years of cultural disruption, colonialism and greed.
