• About
  • Jewish Community Directory
  • Subscription Information
  • Contact Us
American Jewish World
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • All
    • Africa
    • Asia
    • Australia & New Zealand
    • Europe
    • Israel/Mideast
    • Latin America
    • Minnesota
    • US & Canada
    Shoah survivor, fundraiser Francelyne Lurie dies at 84

    Shoah survivor, fundraiser Francelyne Lurie dies at 84

    Temple Israel’s Rabbi Simeon ‘Sim’ Glaser dies at 67

    Temple Israel’s Rabbi Simeon ‘Sim’ Glaser dies at 67

    Israel, ‘an almost magical story’

    Israel, ‘an almost magical story’

  • Arts
    • All
    • Blue Box
    • Books & Literature
    • Music
    • Televison & Film
    • Theater & Performing Arts
    • Visual Arts
    Set a place for Andrew Zimmern at the dinner table

    Set a place for Andrew Zimmern at the dinner table

    Righteous Diplomats saved Jews in the Shoah

    Righteous Diplomats saved Jews in the Shoah

    Sharon’s got a brand-new bag

    Sharon’s got a brand-new bag

  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Health & Wellness
    • Home & Garden
    • Travel & Culture
    Robyn Frank finds her niche in the cookie business

    Robyn Frank finds her niche in the cookie business

    Editorial: More from my European vacation

    Editorial: More from my European vacation

    Our Rosh Hashana special edition

    Our Rosh Hashana special edition

  • Editorial
  • Opinion
  • AJW Digital Archives
  • News
    • All
    • Africa
    • Asia
    • Australia & New Zealand
    • Europe
    • Israel/Mideast
    • Latin America
    • Minnesota
    • US & Canada
    Shoah survivor, fundraiser Francelyne Lurie dies at 84

    Shoah survivor, fundraiser Francelyne Lurie dies at 84

    Temple Israel’s Rabbi Simeon ‘Sim’ Glaser dies at 67

    Temple Israel’s Rabbi Simeon ‘Sim’ Glaser dies at 67

    Israel, ‘an almost magical story’

    Israel, ‘an almost magical story’

  • Arts
    • All
    • Blue Box
    • Books & Literature
    • Music
    • Televison & Film
    • Theater & Performing Arts
    • Visual Arts
    Set a place for Andrew Zimmern at the dinner table

    Set a place for Andrew Zimmern at the dinner table

    Righteous Diplomats saved Jews in the Shoah

    Righteous Diplomats saved Jews in the Shoah

    Sharon’s got a brand-new bag

    Sharon’s got a brand-new bag

  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Health & Wellness
    • Home & Garden
    • Travel & Culture
    Robyn Frank finds her niche in the cookie business

    Robyn Frank finds her niche in the cookie business

    Editorial: More from my European vacation

    Editorial: More from my European vacation

    Our Rosh Hashana special edition

    Our Rosh Hashana special edition

  • Editorial
  • Opinion
  • AJW Digital Archives
No Result
View All Result
Morning News
No Result
View All Result
Home News Minnesota

Shoah survivor and writer Robert Treuer dies at 89

American Jewish World by American Jewish World
May 23, 2020
in Minnesota, News
0
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

READ ALSO

Shoah survivor, fundraiser Francelyne Lurie dies at 84

Temple Israel’s Rabbi Simeon ‘Sim’ Glaser dies at 67

Treuer wrote extensively about northern Minnesota and the history of Leech Lake Ojibwe

By ERIN ELLIOTT BRYAN / Community News Editor
Robert “Bob” Treuer seemed like an unlikely person to write about the Leech Lake reservation. But Larry Aitkin, tribal historian for the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, told the Star Tribune that Treuer knew “very much about the history of Leech Lake” and tribal leaders often borrowed from Treuer’s extensive papers.
Treuer — who called Minnesota’s Northwoods home for more than six decades and was ceremonially adopted by two Ojibwe families — was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1926. He narrowly escaped the Nazis in 1938 and came to the United States with his parents in 1939, where he became involved in the civil rights movement, and later worked as a labor organizer and advocate for American Indian rights.

Robert Treuer planted a tree farm on 200 acres of land near Bemidji — the inspiration for his first book, The Tree Farm. (Photo: Courtesy of Anton Treuer)
Robert Treuer planted a tree farm on 200 acres of land near Bemidji — the inspiration for his first book, The Tree Farm. (Photo: Courtesy of Anton Treuer)

“I think from his experience with the Nazi Holocaust, he could not suffer any kind of injustice,” Treuer’s son, Anton, told the Star Tribune. “He was like that with everything he saw later in life.”
Treuer, a longtime Bemidji resident, died Jan. 8 in Duluth. He was 89.
At the age of 17, Treuer enlisted in the U.S. Army. He received specialized training in Japanese at Yale University and was stationed in the Philippines, where he organized food distribution for the city’s starving residents.
Treuer participated in sit-ins during the civil rights movement and became a labor organizer in Wisconsin. He came to Minnesota with his first wife, Nancy, and their three sons, Smith, Paul and Derek, in the late 1950s to teach English on the Leech Lake reservation. He later worked as a community organizer for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and as a program director for Red Lake’s Community Action Program. He was also elected as Beltrami County Commissioner.
The Fairbanks and Wilson families of Ball Club, members of the Loon Clan, gave him the Ojibwe name Waasegaabaw, or Stands with the Light.
“He was a moral force in an indifferent and often hostile world,” novelist Kent Nerburn, a Minnesota native, told the Star Tribune.
Treuer wrote extensively about the wildlife and wilderness of northern Minnesota, and planted a tree farm on 200 acres of land near Bemidji — the inspiration for his first book, The Tree Farm. He also wrote hundreds of columns, including many that were published in the Star Tribune.
Treuer married his second wife, Margaret “Peggy” Seelye, an Ojibwe woman and tribal judge. Together they had four children, Anton, a professor of Ojibwe at Bemidji State University; author David, who penned Rez Life: An Indian’s Journey through Reservation Life; and twins Micah, a doctor, and Megan, an associate judge at Leech Lake.
He is also survived by 26 grandchildren, each of whom Treuer announced with the same cry: “Another victory over Hitler!”
(American Jewish World, 1.29.16)

Related Posts

Shoah survivor, fundraiser Francelyne Lurie dies at 84
Minnesota

Shoah survivor, fundraiser Francelyne Lurie dies at 84

May 21, 2023
Temple Israel’s Rabbi Simeon ‘Sim’ Glaser dies at 67
Minnesota

Temple Israel’s Rabbi Simeon ‘Sim’ Glaser dies at 67

May 21, 2023
Israel, ‘an almost magical story’
Books & Literature

Israel, ‘an almost magical story’

May 19, 2023
Vic Rosenthal was a tireless organizer for social justice
Minnesota

Vic Rosenthal was a tireless organizer for social justice

April 20, 2023
Holocaust, genocide education bill progresses in Legislature
Minnesota

Holocaust, genocide education bill progresses in Legislature

April 20, 2023
A novel about the controversial Transfer Agreement
Books & Literature

A novel about the controversial Transfer Agreement

April 20, 2023
Next Post

Speaker to discuss anti-Israel protest at LGBTQ event

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

RECENT ARTICLES

Shoah survivor, fundraiser Francelyne Lurie dies at 84

Shoah survivor, fundraiser Francelyne Lurie dies at 84

May 21, 2023
Temple Israel’s Rabbi Simeon ‘Sim’ Glaser dies at 67

Temple Israel’s Rabbi Simeon ‘Sim’ Glaser dies at 67

May 21, 2023
Editorial: A mosque is like a synagogue

Editorial: A mosque is like a synagogue

May 21, 2023
Israel, ‘an almost magical story’

Israel, ‘an almost magical story’

May 19, 2023
Set a place for Andrew Zimmern at the dinner table

Set a place for Andrew Zimmern at the dinner table

May 19, 2023

About

Since 1912 the AJW has served as an important news resource for the Jewish community. The Jewish World unites the main Jewish communities in St. Paul and Minneapolis, as well as those in Duluth, Rochester and smaller cities, and bridges the divides between the various Jewish religious streams.

Quick Links

  • About the AJW
  • Advertising Information
  • Submission Guidelines
  • Subscription Information
  • Jewish Community Directory

Contact Us

The American Jewish World
3249 Hennepin Ave., Suite 245
Minneapolis, MN 55408

Tel: 612.824.0030 / Fax: 612.823.0753
editor@ajwnews.com

  • Buy JNews
  • Landing Page
  • Documentation
  • Support Forum

© 2023 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
  • News
  • Food
  • Health & Wellness
  • Lifestyle
  • Opinion

© 2023 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.