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In this issue: New England’s Native Americans

Brian Corcoran
Research Associate, Emmanuel Gospel Center
Managing Editor, Emmanuel Research Review

In the article that follows, New England’s Native Americans, by Rudy Mitchell, Senior Researcher at Emmanuel Gospel Center, we gain a brief, historical summary of how Protestant Europeans, Native Americans, and the Gospel message have interacted over the last 400 years. The story is inspiring and painful, complicated and controversial. We believe it is important for Christians of other cultures living in New England to recognize the active Christian presence and witness among the region’s Native American peoples which continues to contribute to the Quiet Revival, perhaps in ways that are still unrealized and foundational to even greater renewal in New England in the days ahead.

We are reprinting this material from an article in New England’s Book of Acts, which we introduced to you in the last issue. However, we have added more links and resources at the end of the article for futher study. As always, your feedback is welcome.

¹Casino Gambling Web, http://www.casinogamblingweb.com/main/other-gambling-news/indian-tribe-casino-news.jsp, accessed November 28, 2007
²All American Patriots, http://www.allamericanpatriots.com/48734879_massachusetts_massachusetts_governor_patrick_files_resort_casino_legislation, accessed November 28, 2007

New England’s Native Americans

by Rudy Mitchell, Senior Researcher, EGC

While many people groups have only arrived in large numbers in New England in the last few decades, Native Americans most likely arrived in North America from Asia in the ancient past, perhaps by sea or across a land bridge at the Bering Straits between Asia and Alaska. Scholars continue to debate and research the dates, methods, and reasons for this immigration. Protestant Europeans did not effectively share the Gospel message of Christianity with the Native Americans of New England until the 1600s. Although Europeans had visited New England earlier, the first permanent large scale settlement did not begin until the Pilgrim settlement at Plymouth in 1620 and the Great Migration of the Puritans to the Massachusetts Bay Colony over the next few decades. The Bay Colony charter did include a purpose statement:

“…our said People, Inhabitants there, may be soe religiously, peaceablie, and civilly governed, as their good Life and orderlie Conversacon, maie wynn … the Natives of the Country to the knowledge and obedience of the onlie true God and savior of mankind, and the Christian fayth which in our Royall Intencion, and the Adventurers free Profession, is the principall Ende of this Plantacion…”¹

While some of the settlers may have had good intentions in this regard, this primary purpose was largely neglected, and eventually undermined by the colonists’ actions. It was some time before effective outreach and ministry among Native Americans took place. Roger Williams, the Baptist pioneer, had lived among the Native Americans and gained an understanding and respect for them and their land rights. By 1643 he had published a book on their language and expressed a desire that they come to the Christian faith. However, he did not want to merely persuade the Narragansetts to change their outward behavior without turning in true inner repentance to God.²

I. History

Also by 1643, Thomas Mayhew began a mission to the Native Americans on Martha’s Vineyard. During the next seven years, he won 22 converts including Hiacoomes, who became a preacher.³ This work resulted in at least two congregations and continued under the leadership of several generations of Mayhews.

Meanwhile, Rev. John Eliot, pastor of the First Church of Roxbury, was learning the Massachusett language.⁴ After gaining some mastery of the language, he began his long ministry as “Apostle to the Indians” by preaching at Nonantum (near Newton) on October 28, 1646. This visit was well received, and Eliot returned regularly to answer questions, teach and preach. In a few years (1649), Eliot and others were able to gain long-term support for the mission work when the English parliament established the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in New England. Eliot and others believed the many scattered converts could best grow in their faith, and avoid backsliding if they were settled in Christian communities or “Praying Towns.” The first of the Praying Towns was established at Natick in 1650-1651. The people met in a solemn assembly to accept a covenant that began, “We doe give ourselves and our children to God to be his people. He shall rule us in all our affairs; not only in our religion and affairs of the church…but also in all our works and affairs in this world.”⁵ In 1660, the official church at Natick was gathered after thorough examinations of many testimonies. Rev. Eliot was continuously teaching and training Christian workers and translating the Bible. This translation, titled Up Biblum, was published in 1661-1663 as the first Bible printed in America. By 1674, Eliot and others had established at least fourteen Praying Towns. “Within thirty years he had inspired a mission that claimed the conversion of about four thousand Indians, who were gathered in twenty-four congregations, some of them with ordained Indian ministers.”⁶

However, when King Philip’s War erupted, the English settlers distrusted even the loyal “Praying Indians.” At first their movement was restricted, and later many were forced to move to Deer Island in Boston Harbor partly for their own protection and partly for the colonists’ protection. However, the English did not provide adequate food and shelter. Therefore, many Native Americans died on the island. Many of the original praying villages were destroyed or abandoned during the war. In 1676, the Praying Indians were recruited to assist the English soldiers, and they helped win the war. Eventually, four villages including Natick were rebuilt, but the growth of Christianity never regained its vigor and momentum.

In Connecticut, the Mohegan leader, Samson Occam, became a Christian during the First Great Awakening in 1741-42 through Rev. John Davenport. He was instructed, along with other young men, by Rev. Eleazer Wheelock from 1743-48. Samson Occam became a teacher to Native Americans at Montauk, Long Island and later became a missionary to the Oneida Indians in New York. He later migrated with many of his tribe to New York and founded separatist Indian Christian churches. His sister remained in Uncasville, Connecticut when he led his groups to New York. In 1831, she and her daughter deeded land on Mohegan Hill to tribal ownership to build the Mohegan Congregational Church which still exists. Ironically, the continuity of this church land and its membership formed the basis for receiving federal tribal recognition. Then on the basis of this federal recognition the tribe established the Mohegan Sun Casino. The church building was also renovated recently with casino revenues. Perhaps it is instructive to ask how we can use the historical heritage of our churches in the present to further the Kingdom of God in positive ways.

Rev. Eleazer Wheelock continued his ministry among Native Americans in Connecticut, and by 1754 he had received the first two students for a planned new school to train both Native American and English students as missionaries to Native Americans. By the 1760s he was teaching 20 students, and by 1769 his school became established as Dartmouth College and had moved to New Hampshire.⁷

In Rhode Island, the most powerful tribe in colonial times was the Narragansett Tribe. Other groups in the area included Nipmucks, Niantics, Wampanoags, and Manisseans. In 1636, the Narrangansetts deeded land rights in the Providence area to Roger Williams for his pioneering settlement. The First Great Awakening brought many in these tribes to embrace Christianity and desire to establish a church. The church was built and a congregation organized in 1750 in Charlestown, R.I. The first pastor of the Narragansett Indian Church was James Simons.⁸ The congregation built a new stone church in 1859, and even when the state of Rhode Island seized lands and detribalized the Narragansetts in 1880, the tribe was able to retain the church land. “The three acres of land on which the Indian Church is located is the only original parcel of tribal land that has never been out of possession of the Narragansett tribe.”⁹ In 1978, the tribe won a land claim suit to receive 1,800 acres. In 1983 the Federal Government granted official tribal recognition based on their genealogical records and continuous land holding. A new church building was constructed of stone in 1994. The current Narragansett population is approximately 2,400.¹⁰

The Mashpee Wampanoag tribe of Massachusetts also recently received official federal recognition in 2006-2007. The tribe now has about 1500 members. Currently the newly recognized Mashpee Wampanoag tribe is trying to establish a casino in Middleboro, Massachusetts. However, one member commented, “Some of us are still praying Indians.” Although some of the colonial era tribe were “praying Indians,” it is not clear how many now are Christians. They are continuing to seek funds to restore the Old Indian Meeting House in Mashpee. This structure dates to 1684 and is the oldest church on Cape Cod and the oldest Indian Church in the United States. It was included in the evidence submitted to obtain federal recognition.

Another Native American group that traces its heritage to the Praying Indians is the Natick Praying Indian Tribe under the leadership of Grand Squaw Sachem Silva and Clan Mother Caring Hands. The tribe contributes to the local community and larger society by educational sharing of its spiritual and traditional culture. Their website says, “The Creator, His Son, and the Most Powerful Spirit have kept our legacy and tribal presence alive against the most powerful winds of change and persecution.”¹¹ In September 2005, they held the first Praying Indian Powwow in 354 years at Lake Cochituate. They also encouraged people to see David MacAdam’s musical drama, “Song on the Wind,” which tells the story of the first 50 years of relations between the Massachusetts Indians and the first generations of English settlers, including John Eliot.

The Eliot Church of Natick is the site of the original Indian church, and the current tribe has been trying to obtain permission to use the church building.
The first fourteen Praying Indian Towns were Natick, Nashoba, Wamesit, Hassanamessit, Okommakamesit, Makunkokoag (Magunkaquog), Punkapoag; Manchaug, Chaubunagungamaug (Chabanakongkomun), Maanexit (Conn.), Waentung, Quantisset (Conn.), Wabaquasset (Conn.), and Pakachoog. Two other later towns were Nashaway and Quaboag. There were other Praying Indian Towns on Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket and in the Plymouth Colony (six).

II. Demographics

In 2004, the U. S. Census estimated that there were approximately four million Native Americans in the U. S.¹² There are over 560 federally recognized tribes and another 245 tribes that are not recognized.

The northern New England Native Americans mostly belong to the Abenaki confederation of tribes which includes the Penboscot (population of 2,000), the Passamaquoddy (population of 2,500), the Vermont Abenaki (population of 2,500) and other bands which bring the confederacy’s total population to about 10,500.¹³

The Mohegan tribe of Connecticut has approximately 1,000 enrolled members, while the Pequot Mashantucket tribe, which runs Foxwoods, had 310 federally recognized members in 1995. The Gayhead Wampanoags on Martha’s Vineyard were recognized in 1986 and had 550 registered members in the late 1990s.¹⁴

Native Americans in the New England States

III. Links and Resources

Native American Tribes in New England

Source: The American Indian Heritage Foundation was established to provide relief services to Indian people nationwide and to build bridges of understanding and friendship between Indian and non-Indian people. This website also includes one of the most complete listings of Federally Recognized Tribes (listed by State) in the United States and Alaska. http://www.indians.org/Resource/FedTribes99/fedtribes99.html

Some Native American Churches

Additional Native American Ministry Resources

Frances Houston, National Ministries of American Baptist Churches USA
http://www.nationalministries.org/docs/bios/HoustonFrances.doc

Russell Begaye, Ethnic America Network
http://filemanager.silaspartners.com/dox/columbiabc/FIVE_MINUTES_FOR_MISSIONS_March_Russell_Begaye.pdf
http://www.ethnic-america.net/

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Notes for this article:

¹“The Charter of Massachusetts Bay: 1629,” The Avalon Project at Yale Law School, http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/states/mass03.htm (accessed October 1, 2007).

²Alden T. Vaughan, New England Frontier: Puritans and Indians, 1620-1675, Revised ed. (New York: W. W. Norton and Co., 1979), 240.

³Ibid., 244.

⁴Massachusett was a part of the Algonquian family of languages.

⁵Massachusetts Historical Society Collections, 3rd Series, iv, 172, quoted in Ezra Hoyt Byington, The Puritan as Colonist and Reformer (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., 1899), 241.

⁶Sidney E. Ahlstrom, A Religious History of the American People (New Haven, Conn.: Yale Univ. Press, 1972), 157.

⁷Robert J. Taylor, Colonial Connecticut: A History (Millwood, N.Y.: KTO Press, 1979), 163.

⁸Philip Peckham, “The Narragansett Indian Church,” The Narragansett Dawn Magazine, May 1935, 8..

⁹“Historical Perspective of the Narragansett Indian Tribe,” Narragansett Indian Tribe Online, http://www.narragansett-tribe.org/history.htm (accessed Oct. 4, 2007).

¹⁰Ibid.

¹¹Caring Hands, “Praying Indians of Natick and Ponkapoag,” http://natickprayingindians.org (accessed Oct. 9, 2007). See also the website: A. Richard Miller, “1651-2001--350th Anniversary of Natick, Massachusetts and the Natick Praying Indians,” http://www.millermicro.com/natprayind.html.

¹²U. S. Census Bureau, “The American Community- American Indians and Alaska Natives: 2004,” American Community Survey Reports, May 2007, 1.

¹³Sharon Malinkowski and Anna Sheets, eds., The Gale Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes (Detroit: Gale research, 1998), 1: 7.

¹⁴Ibid., 153, 243.

¹⁵“Non-Hispanic American Indian,” U.S. Census 2000, SF1 File, Table QT-P4.

¹⁶U. S. Census, American Community Survey 2006 (Relatively small sample & higher range of error)

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Emmanuel Research Review, copyright © 2004-2007, Emmanuel Gospel Center. All rights reserved. For permission to reprint any or all of this newsletter, contact , Senior Researcher, by e-mail or write to us (address below).

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