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The Lenapes:
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Part 4The Lenape and the Moravian Missions Another aspect of European interaction with the Lenapes was missionary activity. Although there had been very limited Presbyterian missionary activity among the Lenape in Stockbridge Ma., the most prevelant and successful missionaries were the Moravians, or United Brethren, in the eighteenth century. The Moravians, a protestant sect under the leadership of Count Nikolaus Zinzendorf, began working with the Lenape Indians in the 1740s, during the period known as the Great Awakening, and continued into the early nineteenth century. They established thirty-two mission towns in North America, including one in Pine Plains, that were populated by converts and missionaries, and in 1743 a group of Moravian missionaries travelled from their settlement in Bethlehem Pennylvania. to work with a group of Lenape converts near Poughkeepsie. The traditional missionary goal was to civilize and Christianize the heathen Indians, and although the Moravians goal was the same, they demonstrated an ability to accept and respect the Lenape culture. The Moravians worked in cooperation with the Lenape, and as a result, the most signifigant sources of Lenape ethnographic data are Moravian records. The primary works came from David Zeisberger and John Heckewelder, who both had a good grasp on the Delaware language. David Zeisberger began working with the Lenapes in the mid-eighteenth century and he eventually F,ecCme an adopted member of the tribe, and served on their chief council. He translated several religious works into the Delaware language and wrote several treatises on Delaware culture and religious practices John Fleckewelder served as an assistant to Zeisberger, beginning in 1777 and in addition to writing several works on thee Lenapes and Moravian missionary activity he assisted the new US government in understanding Indian life and language. The Moravians, as previously mentioned, were a Protestant or Lutheran sect which originated in Austria and they lived lives of piety and pacifism. Their pacifistic philosophy got them into trouble with the British and they were eventually forced out of Dutchess County. The British had approached the Delaware for help fighting the French and the Native converts had embraced pacifism and therefore couldn't fight. The British jailed the converts and the missionaries and tried them for treason, and although the missionaries claimed that they were a Protestant sect, and therefore subject to religious toleration, the British did not accept this and they had to leave. The missionaries and the converts migrated westward and northward settling in Conneticut, Ohio, and Canadaw. There are still Delaware Indians in Ontario today, residing in Morarviantown. An important aspect of the Moravion missionaries was their emphasis on temperance. The Moravian missions provided comfort an˘2 ze˘.ztems nv and in many instances they saved lives. Alchohol abuse was becoming a problem and the missions offered help. In fact, Dr. Larry Hauptman made the analogy that the missions were very much like modern day drug rehabilitation centers. Many of the Lenape converts were looking for support more than conversion. Conversion was a complex issue because Native American religion and culture are inseparable. Moravian records show that a number of converts considered themselves living at a cross section of the two cultures and would often return to Lenape traditions and political alliances in times of trouble (Gavaler 218) The impact of colonial expansion, land dispossession, and the trading of goods, specifically alchohol, was obviously destructive to the Native americans. Although sometimes the Delaware turned to the missions for help and shelter, there was another phenomenon that attempted to deal with colonial influence, and that was prophetic movements. "Prophets and prophecy are an integral part of Native American religions."A prophet or messiah traditionally arises to give hope and direction in times of adversity" (Champagne 675) In the late eighteenth century, a time when the Delaware were threatened by British domination, and continual colonial expansion, several prophets arose to deal with these issues. One is referred to as the militant prophet, Neolin (enlightened one). Neolin had a dream in which the Great Spirit told him that because the Indians gave up their native traditions and accepted goods from the Europeans, the path to heaven was blocked (Champagne 1043) He advocated a tribal coalition that would push back the encroaching British. It is believed that Pontiac an Ottawa chief, was influenced by the Delaware Prophet and unsuccessfully attempted to battle the British. Another prophet was referred to as the church-building propheto and according to his vision, which applied only to the Delaware, he reorganized and centralized the Delaware religious ceromonies The traditional rituals became part of the Delaware religious order known as the Big House Religion. The Big House Religion celebrated Lenape dream visions which was a central part of their spiritual life. The last Big House Religion ceremony was held in 1924. The relationship between the Moravian missionaries and the Lenapes was a complex one. The missionaries were paternalistic and benevolent yet their ultimate goals the christianization of the Lenapes, meant the destruction of the Lenape spiritual tradition. The Lenape spiritual and cultural traditions are so entwined that to let go of one is to lose the other. Previous Table of Contents Next Part | |