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== History == |
== History == |
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[[John Eliot (missionary)|John Eliot]] was an English colonist and [[Puritans|Puritan]] minister who played an important role in the establishment of praying towns. In the 1630s and 1640s, Eliot worked with bilingual indigenous Algonquians including [[John Sassamon]], an orphan of the [[Smallpox]] pandemic of 1633, and [[Cockenoe]], an enslaved [[Montaukett|Montauk]] prisoner of the [[Pequot War]], to translate several Christian works, eventually including the Bible, into [[Massachusett language|Massachusett]].<ref name=":0" /> Having learned enough Massachusett to preach, Eliot began evangelism with the Neponset band of Massachusetts, but was first |
[[John Eliot (missionary)|John Eliot]] was an English colonist and [[Puritans|Puritan]] minister who played an important role in the genocide against the Native Americans and the establishment of praying towns. In the 1630s and 1640s, Eliot worked with bilingual indigenous Algonquians including [[John Sassamon]], an orphan of the [[Smallpox]] pandemic of 1633, and [[Cockenoe]], an enslaved [[Montaukett|Montauk]] prisoner of the [[Pequot War]], forcing them to translate several Christian works, eventually including the Bible, into [[Massachusett language|Massachusett]].<ref name=":0" /> Having learned enough Massachusett to preach, Eliot began evangelism with the Neponset band of Massachusetts, but was first received when preaching at in 1646 at ''[[Nonantum, Massachusetts|Nonantum]]'' in present day [[Newton, Massachusetts|Newton]]'','' meaning "place of rejoicing" in Massachusett. This sermon led to an agreement with [[Waban]] ([[Nipmuc]], {{circa|1604}}–{{circa|1685}}), who became the first Native American in Massachusetts to convert to Christianity.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Southwick |first1=Arthur M. |title=Waban, the Wind |url=http://www.wabanimprovement.org/oldsite/waban%20early%20days/wabanwind.html |website=Waban Improvement Society |access-date=8 November 2021}}</ref> |
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News of Eliot's evangelism reached England, and in 1649, [[Oliver Cromwell|Cromwell]]'s [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] passed an Act creating the [[Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in New England]], which would fund the establishment of an [[Harvard Indian College|Indian College at Harvard]] and a press in Cambridge for printing Eliot's Christian commentaries in Massachusett. |
News of Eliot's evangelism reached England, and in 1649, [[Oliver Cromwell|Cromwell]]'s [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] passed an Act creating the [[Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in New England]], which would fund the establishment of an [[Harvard Indian College|Indian College at Harvard]] and a press in Cambridge for printing Eliot's Christian commentaries in Massachusett. |
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[[File:Eliot Church and John Eliot plaque in South Natick MA USA Site of First Indian meetinghouse built by John Eliot and Natick Indians His disciple Daniel Takawambait succeeded to the pastoral office in 1698.jpg|thumb|Eliot Church and a historic plaque on the site of the First Indian meetinghouse in the praying town of [[Natick, Massachusetts]]. John Eliot and [[Daniel Takawambait]] served as pastors there]] |
[[File:Eliot Church and John Eliot plaque in South Natick MA USA Site of First Indian meetinghouse built by John Eliot and Natick Indians His disciple Daniel Takawambait succeeded to the pastoral office in 1698.jpg|thumb|Eliot Church and a historic plaque on the site of the First Indian meetinghouse in the praying town of [[Natick, Massachusetts]]. John Eliot and [[Daniel Takawambait]] served as pastors there]] |
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The Puritan missionaries goal in creating praying towns was to convert Native Americans to Christianity and |
The Puritan missionaries goal in creating praying towns was to commit genocide against the Native Americans and forcefully convert Native Americans to Christianity and o force them to adopt European customs and farming techniques. They were forced to give up own cultural lifeways, attire, religion, and everything else that the colonists considered "uncivilized." The [[Massachusetts General Court]] recognized the work of Eliot and helped to establish additional praying towns. |
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== Comparison to Jesuits in Canada == |
== Comparison to Jesuits in Canada == |
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The idea of a full conversion was in |
The idea of a full conversion was in slight contrast to the approach of the Catholic [[Jesuits]] in Canada. They learned Native American languages and found ways to relate Christian principles to their existing religions (as was also done by Catholic missionaries in China).<ref name="eliot">John Eliot and Kenneth M. Morrison (Winter 1974). {{"'}}That Art of Coyning Christians:' John Eliot and the Praying Indians of Massachusetts", ''Ethnohistory'', Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 77-92. {{doi|10.2307/481131}}. {{JSTOR|stable/481131}}.</ref> While some Natives were quick to take on the [[Religious conversion|conversion]] in an attempt to save their lives and families, some did not like the idea of a forced conversion. The process was not always an easy one, and there were many reasons for some to undertake conversion. |
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== Refuge from war == |
== Refuge from war == |
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== Failed assimilation == |
== Failed assimilation == |
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While praying towns had some successes, they never reached the level which John Eliot had hoped for. The Puritans were pleased with the conversions, but Praying Indians |
While praying towns had some successes, they never reached the level which John Eliot had hoped for. The Puritans were pleased with the conversions, but their racism led to the Praying Indians being still considered second-rate citizens and never gained the degree of trust or respect from colonists which they had hoped conversion would grant them. It has also been argued that the Natives had a difficult time adjusting to the impersonal society of colonial America, since theirs had been built upon relationships and [[Wiktionary:reciprocity#English|reciprocity]], while that of the colonists were more structured and institutionalized. According to this view, this difference made it hard for Natives to see the institutionalized structures as a whole, and John Eliot had failed to see the need for adaptations appropriate for smoother transitions.<ref name="eliot"/> |
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== Self-governing == |
== Self-governing == |
Revision as of 21:56, 18 March 2023
Praying towns were settlements established by English colonial governments in New England from 1646 to 1675 in an effort to commit genocide against the Native Americans and forcefully convert local Native Americans to Christianity.[1]
The Native people who were forcibly placed into these towns were known as Praying Indians. Before 1674 the villages were the most ambitious genocidal experiment in converting Native Americans to Christianity in the Thirteen Colonies,[1] and led to the creation of the first books in an Algonquian language, including the first bible printed in British North America. During King Philip's War from 1675 to 1678, many praying towns were depopulated, in part due to forced slavery of praying Indians on Deer Island, many of whom died during the winter of 1675. After the war, many of the originally allotted praying towns were never reestablished, however some praying towns persisted. Living descendants in New England trace their ancestry to residents of praying towns.
History
John Eliot was an English colonist and Puritan minister who played an important role in the genocide against the Native Americans and the establishment of praying towns. In the 1630s and 1640s, Eliot worked with bilingual indigenous Algonquians including John Sassamon, an orphan of the Smallpox pandemic of 1633, and Cockenoe, an enslaved Montauk prisoner of the Pequot War, forcing them to translate several Christian works, eventually including the Bible, into Massachusett.[2] Having learned enough Massachusett to preach, Eliot began evangelism with the Neponset band of Massachusetts, but was first received when preaching at in 1646 at Nonantum in present day Newton, meaning "place of rejoicing" in Massachusett. This sermon led to an agreement with Waban (Nipmuc, c. 1604–c. 1685), who became the first Native American in Massachusetts to convert to Christianity.[3]
News of Eliot's evangelism reached England, and in 1649, Cromwell's Parliament passed an Act creating the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in New England, which would fund the establishment of an Indian College at Harvard and a press in Cambridge for printing Eliot's Christian commentaries in Massachusett.
Between 1651 and 1675, the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony had established 14 praying towns. The first two praying towns of Natick (est. 1651) and Ponkapoag (est. 1654), were primarily populated by Massachusett people. Wamesit was established for the Pawtucket, who were part of the Pennacook confederacy. The other praying towns were established as Nipmuc outposts including Wabquasset, Quinnetusset, and Maanexit. Quaboag, far from the other settlements, was never established due to the outbreak of King Philip's War.[4]
List of Praying Towns
Massachusetts Bay Colony
- Natick
- Ponkapoag
- Hassanamessit
- Chaubunakongkomun (Chaubunagungamaug)
- Manexit
- Manchaug
- Magunkaquog
- Nashoba
- Okommakamesitt
- Pakachoag
- Quaboag
- Quinnetusset
- Waushakum
- Wabaquasset
- Waentug
- Wamesit
Plymouth Colony
The Plymouth, Connecticut, and Rhode Island Colonies also established praying towns. The following list is adapted from a 1674 list by Puritan pastor Daniel Gookin.[2]
- Meeshawn
- Potanumaquut
- Manamoyik
- Sawkattuket
- Nobsquassit
- Matakees
- Weequakut
- Satuit
- Pawpoesit
- Mashpee
- Wakoquet
- Codtaninut
- Ashimuit
- Weesquobs
- Pispogutt
- Wawayontat
- Sokones
- Cotuhkikut
- Namasket
Other praying towns included Gay Head, Nantucket, Herring Pond (Plymouth) and Nukkehkummees (Dartmouth).[5]
Connecticut
Three praying towns were established in Connecticut: Maanexit (a Nipmuc word meaning "where we gather") is believed to have been located at the site of present-day Fabyan (Thompson, Connecticut). Quinnatisset (meaning "little long river") was located six miles south of Maanexit, and Wabaquasset (meaning "mats for covering the house") was taken over by the development of present-day Woodstock, Connecticut.[1] These three towns held between 100 and 150 Nipmuc tribal members.
Purpose
The Puritan missionaries goal in creating praying towns was to commit genocide against the Native Americans and forcefully convert Native Americans to Christianity and o force them to adopt European customs and farming techniques. They were forced to give up own cultural lifeways, attire, religion, and everything else that the colonists considered "uncivilized." The Massachusetts General Court recognized the work of Eliot and helped to establish additional praying towns.
Comparison to Jesuits in Canada
The idea of a full conversion was in slight contrast to the approach of the Catholic Jesuits in Canada. They learned Native American languages and found ways to relate Christian principles to their existing religions (as was also done by Catholic missionaries in China).[6] While some Natives were quick to take on the conversion in an attempt to save their lives and families, some did not like the idea of a forced conversion. The process was not always an easy one, and there were many reasons for some to undertake conversion.
Refuge from war
Some Natives converted because they believed it might increase their legitimacy in the eyes of the colonists and thus recognition of their rights to their land. Because of intertribal and intratribal strife and conflict with colonists, some of the Native Americans considered the praying towns as refuges from warfare. Other tribes had been all but destroyed from disease and famine, and possibly looked to Christianity and the Puritan way of life as an answer to their suffering, when their traditional beliefs did not seem to have helped them. Other Natives joined the towns because they had no other option economically or politically.[6]
After King Philip's War in 1677, the General Court disbanded 10 of the original 14 towns. They placed the rest under the supervision of colonists.[4] Many communities did survive and retained their own religious and education systems.[5]
Failed assimilation
While praying towns had some successes, they never reached the level which John Eliot had hoped for. The Puritans were pleased with the conversions, but their racism led to the Praying Indians being still considered second-rate citizens and never gained the degree of trust or respect from colonists which they had hoped conversion would grant them. It has also been argued that the Natives had a difficult time adjusting to the impersonal society of colonial America, since theirs had been built upon relationships and reciprocity, while that of the colonists were more structured and institutionalized. According to this view, this difference made it hard for Natives to see the institutionalized structures as a whole, and John Eliot had failed to see the need for adaptations appropriate for smoother transitions.[6]
Self-governing
Other historians have noted that the Praying Indian communities exercised self-government by electing their own rulers and officials. This system exhibited a degree of continuity with their precontact social system. While English-style offices, such as constables and Justices of the Peace were introduced, they were often designated with names identical to those of traditional Native American offices. The elected officials were often chosen from the ranks of the established tribal leadership. In some cases, Native hereditary rulers retained power. The communities also used their own languages as the language of administration, producing an abundance of legal and administrative documents that survive to this day. However, their self-government was gradually curtailed in the course of the 18th and 19th centuries, and their languages eventually became extinct. Most of the original "Praying Towns" declined due to epidemics and to the loss of communal land property during the centuries after their foundation.[5]
See also
References
- ^ a b c "The Praying Towns". NativeTech. Nipmuc Indian Association of Connecticut. 1995. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
- ^ a b Lepore, Jill (1998). The name of war : King Philip's War and the origins of American identity (1st ed.). New York. pp. 37–38. ISBN 0-679-44686-9. OCLC 36573588.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Southwick, Arthur M. "Waban, the Wind". Waban Improvement Society. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
- ^ a b Praying Towns, Blackwell Reference Online
- ^ a b c Goddard, Ives and Kathleen J. Bragdon (eds.) (1989) Native Writings in Massachusett. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, pp. 2-15.
- ^ a b c John Eliot and Kenneth M. Morrison (Winter 1974). "'That Art of Coyning Christians:' John Eliot and the Praying Indians of Massachusetts", Ethnohistory, Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 77-92. doi:10.2307/481131. JSTOR stable/481131.