Dissertations and Theses
Date of Award
2024
Document Type
Thesis
Department
History
First Advisor
Alex E. Stern
Second Advisor
John Blanton
Keywords
Indigenous Studies, 18th Century New England, Stockbridge Mohicans, Conversion, Resistance, Survivance
Abstract
This thesis investigates the history of conversion among the Mohican band in Stockbridge, Massachusetts from the 1730s to the 1740s. Focusing on the praying town under the ministry of Reverend John Sergeant at Stockbridge in 1736, I seek to reconstruct the resistance and survivance at the heart of the Stockbridge Mohicans’ experience. My research will explore why the Mohicans chose to establish the Stockbridge praying town and why they chose to convert to Christianity, the religion of the Puritan colonizers. I will also explore how they used their conversion to promote their own community goals. While praying towns were designed by Puritan settler colonists to isolate and transform the religion and culture of Indigenous people, the Mohicans gave Sergeant permission to establish a praying town at their village and continued to practice their traditions. Examining Christian missionaries’ specific intentions in conversion while studying how the Mohicans preserved their culture in the praying town, I argue that Mohicans used Christian conversion as a resistance strategy in the context of 17th and 18th century colonialism.
Recommended Citation
Ramdeen, Mariah N., "Resilience and Resistance: Culture, Conversion, and Survival Among the Stockbridge Mohicans" (2024). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/1229
Included in
Christianity Commons, Cultural History Commons, Diplomatic History Commons, Ethics in Religion Commons, Ethnic Studies Commons, History of Religion Commons, Indigenous Studies Commons, Missions and World Christianity Commons, Native American Studies Commons, United States History Commons
