Why have not beasts a soul as man hath, seeing they have love, anger, &c. as man hath?
Native American question to Christian missionary, John Eliot, 1648I have no acquaintances there, and the French who are there would not care to give me anything to eat . . .
Native American reason for not wanting to spend eternity in the Christian Heaven
Imagine what it would be like to walk through central Pennsylvania in 1600. There would be no roads, no buildings, no street signs marking the way. You would not encounter spacious farmlands, sliced into garden squares, or town boundaries. As far as your eyes could see would be dense forests, etched with barely perceptible trails and paths. Occasional meadows might be planted with corn and other vegetables, while streams and rock formations might serve as landmarks.
For the American Indians, this landscape was invested with meaning and familiarity. Through the centuries, they had devised meaningful ways of working and living within this landscape. For them, the forest was a hospitable environment, filled with abundant sources of the food and shelter that they needed to survive, as well as with spiritual significance. They believed that the birds, the animals, even the blades of grass were embodiments of great spirits. Each component of nature, from the sun to the wind, was represented by a god, who governed their functions and helped these forces to work with the people and other creatures who lived among them. Human beings were simply one part of this unified, spiritual continuum.
For the European explorers, however, the land seemed "uncivilized" and "undeveloped." Coming from a homeland of clear roadways, bustling towns, and farming estates, the vast forests and meadows must have been daunting, overwhelming, disorienting, awe-inspiring, and terrifying. At the same time, Europeans, arriving from cultures with market economies, would have been sure to notice the economic potential of the trees and animals growing in the forests. They could take lots of products from the land and sell them at home for profits.
The religious approaches of the various people who met in America during the 1600s shaped the way that they understood the nature around them. For the Indians, spiritual beliefs infused all of their daily activities and the entire way that they approached nature. For the Christian Europeans, religion was a prime reason why they made the dangerous trip to the American wilderness in the first place. French Catholic missionaries longed to convert the Indians to Catholicism, while English Puritans hoped to build a new society in accordance with God's plans and visions.
In this lesson we will focus on the way that their different religions shaped the European and Native Americans' engagement with nature and with each other, particularly in Southern New England. In my commentary, I will outline the main features of Indian religion, showing how it shaped their approaches towards nature, their ways of life, and their cultures. I will also review the general principles of Christianity (Catholicism and Protestantism), and show how the Europeans' religions shaped their perceptions of nature in the "New World." As the above quotations illustrate, the world-views of the natives and the explorers were often so different from each other that they had difficulty understanding the logic behind each other's belief systems. Their strikingly disparate religious systems and ways of life made the encounters between Indians and Europeans a dramatic confrontation of cultures.Diverse groups of people lived in America for many centuries before they encountered European explorers. Native societies were centered around the spoken word rather than written documents. The stories and traditions that formed their heritage were passed down orally, so that we do not have detailed written records. Scholars like Catherine Albanese have pieced together the major components of their religions by interviewing contemporary practitioners of Indian traditions, examining reports from European explorers and colonists who visited Indian societies, and exploring archeological evidence.
By the time European colonists arrived in the 1600s, Indian societies had spread throughout North and South America and had developed different cultures and languages. Over 500 languages (some as different from each other as English and Japanese!) had evolved. Albanese focuses much of her opening chapter on the Algonkian, the groups of Indians that lived in southern New England and the Great Lakes region. Obviously, these separate communities of Indians developed their own religious views. Most of them, however, shared a number of common characteristics.
When the Indians looked at the world around them, they saw life and spirit. They did not draw distinctions between themselves and the animals, or the plants, or even the rocks. Nothing was “dead” to them, nothing was inert, nothing “didn’t matter.” Animals, plants, rocks, and streams all had sprits. They had sacred meaning. Each type of creature had guardian spirits that the Algonkian Indians called “Manitou.” Bears, wolves, beaver, hawks—all had a sort of group consciousness, a spirit, a Manitou.
The Indians were in a perpetual relationship with the Manitou around them. Indians did not structure their societies in ways that gave them total control and order in their existence. They did not “stock up” on food and supplies to trade later. Instead, they lived in faith that the nature around them would always provide plentiful food and shelter. For the most part, it did. Because they were not trying to make a profit, the Indians only killed or harvested the animals and plants that they needed for their immediate survival. This meant that they rarely over-hunted or over-farmed the land around them, and food remained plentiful.
Indians did not take this bounty for granted. They continually expressed their gratitude and respect for nature and the Manitou. When they killed a moose, for example, the Indians would thank the moose and its Manitou for sacrificing itself for them. They believed that the animals chose to die in order to feed the Indians and help them live. This view of animals gave the creatures tremendous dignity; their fall in the hunt became a noble gesture of generosity.
If the Indians ever had great difficulty finding food, they would suppose that the Manitou were angry with them. This led to the creation of many ceremonies and rituals that the Indians would perform in order to honor nature and the Manitou spirits…and plead with them to again provide food. The beavers were particularly sacred animals for the Algonkian, providing much of their livelihood. When the European traders began to over-hunt the beavers, seeking to profit from their furs, the animals became scarce. In the Indian world-view, this became a spiritual crisis. Unable to find enough beavers to sustain themselves, Indians supposed that the beaver’s Manitou had forsaken them. Beavers were no longer willing to help them. One historian, Calvin Martin, has proposed that, in a cruel irony, the Indians declared war on the disloyal beaver, and began to overhunt the animals themselves, trading them to the Europeans and perpetuating the shortage of beavers.
Indians saw God, human beings, and nature as completely interconnected. The Indians saw themselves and the various aspects of nature as an extended family. They understood themselves to be descended from, and connected to, the nature around them. They spoke of Thunder Beings as their Grandfather. They had a Grandmother Spider and a Corn Mother. This family metaphor exemplifies the tendency of the Indians to view the world as interconnected. While European religions tended to emphasize sharp boundaries and separation—the distinction between God and humankind, civilization and nature, mind and matter, life and death—Indians perceived “oneness” amongst themselves and the world.
This sustained belief in the interconnectedness of human life and the spiritual world could sometimes generate cultural patterns that we, today, might classify as religious extremism. Indians believed, for example, that when an enemy killed part of their family in war, the Indians could then kidnap members of their opponents’ families to spiritually replace their lost relatives. While many of these kidnapped outsiders became cherished, viable members of Indian communities, other unfortunates were marked for sacrifice. Believing that a chosen victim who suffered before death would gain better fortune in the afterlife, Indians were known to torture captives.
The notion of oneness extended to the Indians' understanding of consciousness. They believed that individuals had access to the spirit worlds through their own inner experiences. Several Indian rituals—from intense dancing ceremonies to the famous vision quests—were intended to push participants to new levels of consciousness. The intense hunger and disorientation that accompanied a vision quest—an extended, solitary journey into the wilderness—tended to prompt vivid dreams and apparitions. Indians believed that their Manitou and spirits sent them visions and communicated with them through these experiences. Shamans and healers were particularly attuned to alternate states of consciousness. In their approaches to healing, they strove to re-establish harmony and balance within the body and mind of their sick neighbors.
Catholics trace their roots to the original Christian religion, established by Jesus, when he asked his follower, Peter, to be the “rock” upon which he would build his church. While the official Catholic Church was not established until several centuries later, Catholics believe that their worldwide head, the Pope, is divinely appointed by God and is spiritually descended from Peter.
This means that the Catholic Church has had many centuries to develop an extensive institutional structure and an elaborate set of rituals. The Pope heads the Church from the capital city of Rome. Cardinals, Bishops, and Monsignors fill in the leadership ranks below him, much like governors, senators, and mayors fill various government slots—except that Catholic authorities are appointed rather than elected. For Catholic believers, however, their officials do much more than simply run the institutional aspects of their large organization.
Catholic clergy are invested with spiritual power. Catholics believe that their priests can mediate between themselves and God. Clergy have the power to administer sacraments: baptism, marriage, communion, confirmation, reconciliation, holy orders, and anointing of the sick. Catholics believe that these activities—such as getting baptized, receiving communion, confessing your sins to a priest—will help them to earn salvation and a place in heaven.
The Bible provides a religious heritage for Catholics, who believe in the original Garden of Eden and that, when Adam and Eve were unable to resist temptation, they initiated the downfall of humanity. Humans were banished from the sacred garden and left to live in the material world. Because of this fall, each person since has been born bearing that “original sin,” a mark of that original fall from grace. Only baptism and the recognition that God sent his son, Jesus Christ, to save humanity can redeem the Catholic’s soul and allow them to enter heaven. God and the Church function as redeeming presences in this fallen world.
The Catholic Church also recognizes a system of sainthood. Individuals who seemed to exhibit some sort of exemplary religious zeal—perhaps by dying for their faith or showing great courage—can be nominated and approved by the Pope to become saints. This entails an investigative process that must reveal the presence of miraculous experience in the individual’s life. Over the years, various Saints have been identified with particular causes. The souls of these saints are believed to reside in heaven, where they can intercede on behalf of living people, seeking help directly from God. So a mother with a sick child, for example, might pray to St. Jude to assist her in pleading with God for help.
Because of both its belief system and its long history, the Catholic Church has developed an extremely rich and compelling cultural heritage of art, music, and architecture. Catholics have always viewed the creation of beautiful images—pictures and sculptures of Jesus, or his mother, Mary, or of Angels and heaven; elegant chalices, plates and altars on which to perform communion rituals; and soaring cathedrals in which to worship—as a way to glorify God. When Catholics began exploring America, they argued that, just as great works of art were created to glorify God, the great riches and treasure that they could bring back from America were also ways to worship and please the Lord.
Catholics see their Church as the one true, universal religion. They believe that Jesus Christ came to Earth to save all people and bring them to heaven. They believe that everyone can earn salvation, and a place in heaven, by participating in the Catholic Church: receiving the sacraments, going to services, donating their time and resources to the Church and Church-run charities. Catholics worry that non-believers will not be able to get into heaven, and will instead spend time in either Purgatory (a sort of waiting room for heaven) or, at worst, Hell (a place of permanent torment and separation from God).
Because of these beliefs, Catholics in the 1500s and 1600s (during the European exploration and colonization of America) very much wanted to explain their Christian beliefs to the natives and convert them to Catholicism. Not only did this seem like the “right” thing to do—wanting to save the natives from ending up in Hell—but converting souls seemed like something that would please God and help the “converter” to earn grace and salvation as well.
The Catholic missionaries in our reading by Rhonda were French. The French involvement in America had started with shipping and trade journeys to Canada in the 1500s. During the 1600s, the French set up more elaborate trading posts and, like the English, made plans to colonize the areas around the Great Lakes and what is now New England. The French government decided that Catholic missionaries should accompany the businessmen and convert the Indians. Most of these missionaries were from an order of Catholics known as the Jesuits.
The official name of the Jesuit order, founded by Saint Ignatius of Loyola in 1534, was the Society of Jesus. Because Ignatius had been a soldier before he dedicated his life to the Church as a monk and priest, Jesuits have been called “foot soldiers of the Pope.” The order began in Paris, when Ignatius and six friends took mutual oaths of poverty and chastity, and vowed to dedicate themselves to hospital and missionary work, or whatever work the Pope deemed necessary. In 1540, they traveled to Italy to obtain the Pope’s approval for their new order. In the years to come, the order grew rapidly, quickly becoming one of the strongest and largest Catholic orders of men. They became one of many other, similar, orders such as the Franciscans and Benedictines.
These orders were composed of groups of men who set themselves apart from the rest of society and devoted their lives to their religion. Some were ordained priests, but not all. They generally referred to themselves as monks or friars—men dedicated to their Church, but not authorized to lead Masses or administer sacraments (more on these Catholic rituals later) Religious orders for women—the Carmelites, for example—and for both genders, have also been established. The Jesuits were exceptionally enthusiastic and vigorous in their missionary efforts and traveled extensively to seek converts. These French Catholics were the primary missionary group in North America.
The Protestant religions emerged from a literal “protest,” against the Catholic Church in the 1500s. Martin Luther led this critique of Catholicism and ended up starting a whole new type of religion. Like Catholics, Protestants are Christian. They believe in the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. Early “protesters,” however, like Martin Luther, began to criticize the way that the Catholic Church operated. They argued that individuals should not need to work through the church hierarchy to achieve salvation and go to heaven. They did not think that being baptized, or donating to the church, or even doing good deeds would “earn” a place for souls in heaven. Instead, early Protestants believed that salvation was achieved through “faith alone” rather than through doing good works or participating in ritual. They further argued that the Bible alone, rather than the Pope’s or Church’s teachings, provided the ultimate theological authority.
They also frowned upon the beauty and showiness of Catholic Cathedrals and artwork. In the Protestants’ view, such elaborate displays of riches seemed to imply that Grace could be “bought,” rather than accepted as a gift from God. With these ideas in mind, Protestant followers began to establish plain and simple churches. Unlike Catholic priests, Protestant ministers were not believed to possess any greater access to God than the average person had. They did not have “special” powers to perform sacraments or help people get into heaven. Protestants emphasized each individual’s direct relationship with God, particularly the powerful conversion experience that marked a person’s acceptance of God’s power and meaning. They encouraged all believers to become literate so that they could read the Bible for themselves, without help or interference.
During a time of great political unrest in England, a particular sect, or type, of Protestants emerged.s. The Puritans had taken the basic beliefs of Protestantism—that human beings could in no way “earn” salvation, only God could grant it as a gift; and that individuals did not need to participate in Catholic rituals to be saved—and expanded upon them. Drawing upon the ideas of Martin Luther and John Calvin, as well as their own innovations, the Puritans developed an extremely complex and vigorous approach to Christianity, which we will discuss in depth in our next lesson.
The article and the film that you will examine provide insight into the ways that religion shaped the early encounters between Indians and Europeans.
James Rhonda focuses on the ways that Indians responded to the efforts of Catholic Jesuits to convert them. He emphasizes that the Indians did not simply “buy in” to the Europeans’ descriptions of their religion. Instead, the Indians challenged the Catholics and questioned them. Rhonda points out that Catholic ideas about sin, guilt, and the afterlife were not compatible with Indian belief systems.
Rhonda’s discussion also shows that, just as the Indians were often critical of the Catholic beliefs, the Jesuits did not agree with the Indians’ worldview and strenuously fought to change it. For the Jesuits, the Indians represented souls that God wanted them to “save.” If they could convince the Indians to become Catholics, they would be earning points with God, as well as drawing the Native Americans into their culture. Rhonda explains that, since the Indians religious views were such a defining aspect of their culture, when the Europeans asked them to convert to a new religion, they were effectively demanding that the Indians adopt a whole new culture as well.
Catherine Albanese’s chapter provides rich description of the Native worldviews and their understandings of nature. Along with my commentary above, her discussion of Indian religion should help you to explore why the Indians and Europeans had a lot of trouble understanding each other. Their conceptions of how the world operated were very different, and often incompatible.
While the Indians’ own religions and cultures prompted them to question the new religions that the Europeans were presenting, we know that, ultimately, many Indians did convert to Christianity. The reasons for this are complicated. No single event in Native American history caused greater social disruption than the arrival of the European colonists in the 1600s. The Europeans brought new germs that devastated the Native populations. They brought new approaches to agriculture and hunting that caused food shortages. They disrupted the living boundaries that Indians had established among themselves. These practical, biological hardships demoralized Indian communities and brought a sense of spiritual crisis. When Europeans introduced alcohol into these communities, many of the already despondent Natives developed severe addictions, which only worsened their spiritual malaise. This crisis meant that, while some Indians blamed the Europeans and their strange new religious beliefs for their misfortunes, others became disillusioned with their own faith and more receptive to Christian conversion.
The Catholics, especially, were able to convert a number of Native Americans. Some elements of Catholicism were innately appealing to the Natives. Like the Indians’ own world-views, Catholics admired a large cast of characters: God the father, Jesus Christ, Mary, Joseph, and all of the Saints. Catholics also engaged in ceremonies and rituals, just like the Indians. These rituals also helped Catholics transcend language barriers and explain their beliefs. Catholics could bring images, pictures, crucifixes, medallions with etchings of Saints, and songs that vividly illustrated their faith. The Jesuits were also willing to travel to the Indians and live with them. They learned Native languages and strove to be part of Indian communities. Rhonda points out that Jesuits shared Indians’ belief in the supernatural, and they engaged them in serious dialogue, rather than simply preaching to them.
Puritans, who were much less interested in proselytizing, were also less successful. When they did try to expose Native Americans to Christianity, Puritans generally aimed to incorporate the Indians into their own tightly ordered communities, rather than embarking on missions into the native cultures. Without the Catholics’ store of songs, stories and images, the Puritans were left with some rather cold ideas about pre-destination to explain to the Indians. It was harder for them to make their religion sound appealing to a group of people who had completely different cultural backgrounds.
One thing is certain, Native American cultures were severely challenged by the intrusion of Europeans. The Christians too, found themselves reconfiguring their own beliefs in their efforts to both transport aspects of their European culture to the New World and establish new and different communities in America.
In the film, Black Robe, a Jesuit priest is sent on a dangerous mission deep into the Canadian wilderness. The year is 1634 and the Jesuit, Father Laforgue, must trek over 1,500 miles through unsettled wilderness to reach a mission in Huron Indian territory. He is profoundly committed to his goal of converting the Indians to Catholicism. Laforge is accompanied by Algonkian Indians who serve as his guides. The movie vividly illustrates the religious intensity of both the Jesuits and the Algonkians, and demonstrates how they spiritual beliefs shape the way that they view nature and each other.