The Cherokees and Christianity, 1794-1870 : essays on acculturation and cultural persistence

Book

The Cherokees and Christianity, 1794-1870 : essays on acculturation and cultural persistence / William G. McLoughlin ; edited by Walter H. Conser, Jr.

McLoughlin, William G. (William Gerald), 1922-1992 (Author). Conser, Walter H. (Added Author).

Summary:

In The Cherokees and Christianity, William G. McLoughlin examines how the process of religious acculturation worked within the Cherokee Nation during the nineteenth century. More concerned with Cherokee "Christianization" than Cherokee "civilization," these eleven essays cover the various stages of cultural confrontation with Christian imperialism. Missionaries from six different denominations were welcomed into the Nation between 1794 and 1861. The first section of the book explores the reactions of the Cherokee (and to some extent other southeastern tribes) to the inevitable clash between the missionaries and their own religious leaders. It also addresses Cherokee reactions to the many and varied Christian responses to slavery. It is a measure of how acculturated the Cherokees had become by 1850 that they also took sides on the issue of slavery and later fought against each other in the Civil War.

In part two, McLoughlin examines the crucial problem of racism that divided the southern part of North America into red, white, and black long before 1776 and he considers the ways in which the Cherokees either adapted Christianity to their own needs or rejected it as inimical to their identity. As in white society, it proved impossible for the Cherokees to separate religion from politics between 1830 and 1860. A short epilogue that contains the Fast Day Proclamation of 1870 by Chief Lewis Downing, the fullblood chief of the Cherokees, is also included.

Record details

ISBN: 0820316393
ISBN: 9780820316390
Physical Description: viii, 347 pages ; 24 cm
Publisher: Athens : University of Georgia Press, �1994.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:: Includes bibliographical references (pages 311-342) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:: 1. Native American Reactions to Christian Missions -- 2. The Missionaries' Dilemma -- 3. Two Bostonian Missionaries -- 4. The Reverend Evan Jones and the Cherokee Trail of Tears, 1838-1839 -- 5. Missionaries as Cultural Brokers -- 6. Christianity and Racism: Cherokee Responses to the Debate over Indian Origins, 1760-1860 -- 7. Fractured Myths: The Cherokees' Use of Christianity -- 8. Accepting Christianity, 1839-1860 -- 9. Cherokee Syncretism: The Origins of the Keetoowah Society, 1854-1861 -- 10. Political Polarization and National Unity: The Keetoowah Society, 1860-1871 -- 11. Fighting against Civilization: Ghost Dance Movements in Cherokee History -- Epilogue: The Fast Day Proclamation of Chief Lewis Downing, 1870.