Join University of Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist adjunct research associate and former Iowa State Archaeologist, William Green, for a book discussion and meet the author event for his new title, This is the Route of My Forefathers: The 1837 Ioway Map. This event is organized by the Center for Prairie Studies, contact grahamj@grinnell.edu if you have questions.

Book description from University of Iowa Press:

The state of Iowa is named for the Ioways, but most Iowans—and most Americans—know little about them. In This Is the Route of My Forefathers, William Green elevates an understudied history by synthesizing oral traditions, written records, and archaeological data to decode the 1837 map drafted by Ioway leaders. Spanning Indigenous settlements from Missouri to Wisconsin, this map was created to depict tribal history and defend tribal land claims at the height of the Indian removal era.

Illustrating nearly 200 years of Ioway history, the 1837 Ioway map provides insights into the tribe’s political and diplomatic strategies, their relationships with neighboring nations, and how they resisted and negotiated in the face of dispossession. This Is the Route of My Forefathers uses an interdisciplinary approach to reveal how group accounts may fade over time, while accounts of origin—legendary histories—remain rich and vibrant.