T-R FILE PHOTOS “Red Earth Nation: A History of the Meskwaki Settlement” by Eric Steven Zimmer was recently recognized as the winner of the State Historical Society’s Benjamin Shambaugh Award for the most significant book published on Iowa history in 2024, while “The People Are Kind: A Religious History of Iowa,” written by Clutier resident Bill Dougas, earned the certificate of merit in the same category.

DES MOINES — Two books published within the last year — one focused on the history of the Meskwaki Settlement and another written by a Clutier-based author — were recognized during the annual Excellence in Iowa History awards ceremony at the State Historical Society Museum in Des Moines on Monday.

“Red Earth Nation” by Eric Steven Zimmer was the winner of the Benjamin Shambaugh Award, which recognizes the author of the most significant book published on Iowa history each year. It is named in honor of Benjamin F. Shambaugh, who for 40 years was the superintendent of the State Historical Society of Iowa, professor of political economy at the University of Iowa, and one of the founders of the “new social science” at the turn of the 20th century.

In that same category, “The People Are Kind: A Religious History of Iowa” by Bill Douglas received the certificate of merit. Both have been featured in the T-R and Tama-Grundy publications, and Zimmer, who grew up in South Dakota and earned a PhD in American History from the University of Iowa, said his book sprang from an interest in native issues and federal Indian policy.

“This might kind of sound counterintuitive, but there’s a way in which studying the native history of a place that wasn’t my home allowed me to understand my home in a different way,” Zimmer said last September. “If you just dig in and try to understand your home, you’re kind of blinded by being from that place because of perspectives and people you know and things you’ve heard, whereas if you can study another place and understand it, it kind of brings a contrast up that makes you go ‘Oh, that’s what’s going on here (and) that’s what’s going on there.'”

A key focus of “Red Earth Nation” is the creation of the Meskwaki Tribal Constitution, which arose from the Indian New Deal of the 1930s.

“This is more of a political history. The last two books that have been made are mostly for anthropology and social history, so with Eric’s book, it deals more with what was going on at that period, in the ’20s and ’30s and how we got our Constitution,” Meskwaki Historic Preservation Director Johnathan Buffalo said. “It deals with a lot of historical stuff… We need to understand (the Constitution) if we’re gonna talk about it, officially talking about it. We need some background.”

Upon receiving the award, Zimmer shared his thoughts in an email to the newspaper.

“I am grateful to receive this recognition from the State Historical Society of Iowa. It has been the honor of my life to work with members of the Meskwaki Nation like Johnathan Buffalo, Dawn Suzanne (Wanatee) Buffalo, Mary Young Bear, and many others to bring their people’s remarkable story to light,” he said. “I hope every Iowan reads this book — not for my sake, but for Iowa’s. As always, I am committed to donating the royalties from the sale of the book back to the tribe — usually the Meskwaki Settlement School.”

Douglas described “The People Are Kind” as his attempt to create a comprehensive account of the state’s religions and how they grew and spread with spotlights on unique churches and communities that have arisen in Iowa since white settlers first arrived in the 19th century.

“A lot of it is just culling secondary sources, but I tried to combine that with original research that I’d done in the past too,” he said. “But, you know, it’s 400 pages. It took some work.”

In an email to the T-R Tuesday, Douglas expressed gratitude for the recognition but joked that he knew he would face tough competition after he found out when “The People Are Kind” was actually published.

“I expected my book to come out in early 2025. When my publisher let me know, the first Friday in 2025, that it was actually published the last week of 2024, my first thought actually was, “Oh, no — it will have to compete with Eric Zimmer’s book! It was good to reconnect with Johnathan Buffalo, who accepted the award for Eric. We had been in the same Iowa History course at the University of Iowa in 1976, and hadn’t seen each other since,” Douglas said. “It was also a bit surreal that the awards ceremony took place just as the State Historical Society of Iowa is closing down the Iowa City building and looking for someone else to take over the Annals of Iowa. I am very much opposed to both of those decisions.”

Zimmer expressed a similar sentiment.

“My understanding is that there is an effort underway to close the State Historical Society of Iowa office in Iowa City. Red Earth Nation started at that facility, and my research would not have been possible without the staff, research materials, and resources available at SHSI-IC. I encourage anyone who cares about Iowa or Meskwaki history to encourage state officials not to shutter this vital resource,” he said.

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Contact Robert Maharry

at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.