LITR 4231 Early American Literature Research Posts 2014 (research post assignment) Research Post 1

Cohen P Landry

26 March 2014

Indian Christian Conversions: Majestic or Manipulation

          After reading and studying early western American civilization and explorations, I became intrigued with the European-Indian religious interactions. What is known and well stated throughout history is the condescending attitude and bigotry showed by the Easterners towards the Indians; however, what is not clearly documented is how the assimilated Indians adopted the new ways of religious culture, and created a cross-cultural religious system. My intention in doing this research is to identify a specific reason or cause for the Indian tribes to convert to an alien way of life. More specifically, I focused on northeastern tribes and how they set the standard of how and why they associated with European cultures that ultimately shifted the Indian religious and psychological perspective.

The psychological and spiritual transformation of the Oneida and Iroquois Indian tribes throughout the early exploration periods has been historically misinterpreted as a cordial “reciprocated culture exchange” (Andrews 13). During the early seventeenth century, the initial focus of the missionaries was to inform and assimilate the Indian tribes by a “radical transformation," using the foundations of the Christian faith (James 66-7). Considered an “awakening of Christianity,” the spiritual transition for some Indians significantly altered their social and belief systems (Mandell 211). What was seen by the puritans as an opportunity for a “truly utopian community” culminated in the massive deconstruction of the Indians’ way of life (Salisbury 10). From the use of land, the cultivation of crops and goods, family structure and hierarchies, to the justice system implemented, there was a constant adoption of new order and change for the Native Indians.

Recent historical evidence shows that extreme social disorganization and chaos caused Indians to accept and “seek out such [new] innovations” (Mandell 212). According to Heise, some missionary organizations used the concept of “cultural adaptation,” which combined native institution practices such as: “initiation rites, ceremonies, local songs and myths and festivals” (53-4). Many Indians siezed the opportunity, whether diplomatic or by force, to retrieve power and influence by conjoining with European concepts and culture.

Along with the idea to “gain political favor with the colonizers,” some Indian tribes “fused Christianity with their existing spiritual ideas, traditions, and rituals” (Andrews 6, 7). Labeled “revitalization religions,” they “often blended theological elements around the central figure of an Indian prophet or savior”  (James 79). This concept was used to initiate an interest and conform the opposing Indians and tribes to Christianity. More interestingly, the natives were the primary advocates for converting other Indians. The idea of the “Native prophetic movement” proved effective but also had many opposing challenges (Mandell 228). There were often theological debates between European missionaries and Native and converted Indians, in which “both parties represented well-reasoned religious systems”  (James 76). After years of colonial expansion, in 1730 the first significant Oneida-Tuscarora Protestant and the “only colonial-era church shaped and driven by Iroquois leadership” was formed (Mandell 216). Described as a place of “spiritual awakening,” the “pietistic and emotional” message permeated throughout the Northeast region in states such as Connecticut, Rhode Island, and eastern Long Island to Indians who neglected all forms of the Christian faith  (Mandell 224). Although considered a great success among converting other tribes, the daunting challenge of assimilation for most Indians was too great a task, leading to the mutilation and migration of many Indian nations.

Some Indians resisted the pressure to convert and assimilate due to their “tribal, family, and mythic structures be[ing] undermined” (Morrison 79). Others, according to James, converted and “the spectrum of response ranged from genuine conversion to accommodation, fierce theological debate and criticism, and finally physical violence” (11).

After further research and readings, I have discovered that many Indian tribes truly possess the spiritual welfare that the Judeo-Christian theology embodies. The practice of forgiveness, acts of longsuffering, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love. The respect and unity they have for nature and the divine creation is remarkable. Could it have been that the Protestants and other eastern travelers saw God in the Indians that they may have seen in themselves, or did their intricate plan of confusion, manipulation, and deprivation torment the innocent people of the western world?