Ulteriori informazioni
In 1712, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts opened its mission near present-day Albany, New York, and began baptizing residents of the nearby Mohawk village Tiononderoge, the easternmost nation of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy. Within three years, about one-fifth of the Mohawks in the area began attending services. They even adapted versions of the service for use in private spaces, which potentially opened a door to an imagined faith community with the Protestants.Using the lens of performance theory to explain the ways in which the Mohawks considered converting and participating in Christian rituals, historian William B. Hart contends that Mohawks who prayed, sang hymns, submitted to baptism, took communion, and acquired literacy did so to protect their nation's sovereignty, fulfill their responsibility of reciprocity, serve their communities, and reinvent themselves. Performing Christianity was a means of "survivance," a strategy for sustaining Mohawk life and culture on their terms in a changing world.
Sommario
- Acknowledgments Introduction: Mohawk Beliefs and the Needs of the Soul
- Chapter 1: "Dwindl'd to Nothing Almost": The Mohawks & Their World at 1700
- Chapter 2: "Ordering the Life and Manners of a Numerous People": The Ideology and Performances of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts
- Chapter 3: "Laying a Good and Lasting Foundation of Religion": Success and Failure at the Fort Hunter Mission, 1710-19
- Chapter 4: Mohawk Schoolmasters and Catechists: Literacy, Authority, and Empowerment at Mid-Century
- Chapter 5: "A Single Mission in the Old, Beaten Way Makes No Noise": New Strategies for Capturing Mohawk Bodies and Souls, 1760-1775
- Chapter 6: "As Formerly Under Their Respective Chiefs": The Mohawk Diaspora into Upper Canada, 1784-1810 Conclusion
Info autore
William B. Hart is professor of history at Middlebury College.
Riassunto
Using the lens of performance theory to explain the ways in which Mohawks considered converting and participating in Christian rituals, William Hart contends that Mohawks who prayed, sang hymns, submitted to baptism, took communion, and acquired literacy did so to protect their nation's sovereignty, serve their communities, and reinvent themselves.
