The book focuses on 18th and 19th century treaties between Native American peoples known as the Anishinaabeg and the US government that culminated in cessions by the former to the latter of millions of acres of land in the Great Lakes region, cessions that led directly in the creation of the State of Michigan in 1837. The long-lasting disastrous consequences, both intended and unintended, of the treaties on the culture and well being of the Anishiinabeg peoples are detailed.

The motivations and actions of treaty signatories and the roles of non-native treaty advisers including representatives of the US government as determined by a review of the records of the ancillary councils that established treaty framework and preceded actual treaty signing are detailed in the book as are details of the treaties themselves. Secretary of War Lewis Cass (formerly Governor of the Michigan Territory) and Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, Indian Agent for the Michigan Superintendency, played significant roles in the relevant treaties; their influences are emphasized.

Modern genetics theory and knowledge of the human genome as well as other scientific evidence are elucidated to provide insights into space-time aspects of the long and arduous journey of paleo-Indians, the proto-Anishinaabeg, from Beringia to their eventual homeland in the Great Lakes region. Dynamic evolutionary processes, both environmentally and anthropologically driven, that influenced Anishinaabe change both before and subsequent to European contact are discussed and where possible, quantified.

The book should be of interest to a spectrum of readers from Native Americans who wish to know more about their heritage to non-Natives who wish to broaden their understanding of an ethnic group that exerts ever more influence on the economy of the region.