American Indians and Christian Missions: Studies in Cultural Conflict (Chicago History of American Religion) [Paperback]

Henry Warner Bowden (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0226068129 | ISBN-13: 978-0226068121 | Publication Date: June 15, 1985

In this absorbing history, Henry Warner Bowden chronicles the encounters between native Americans and the evangelizing whites from the period of exploration and colonization to the present. He writes with a balanced perspective that pleads no special case for native separatism or Christian uniqueness. Ultimately, he broadens our understanding of both intercultural exchanges and the continuing strength of American Indian spirituality, expressed today in Christian forms as well as in revitalized folkways.

"Bowden makes a radical departure from the traditional approach. Drawing on the theories and findings of anthropologists, archaeologists, and historians, he presents Indian-missionary relations as a series of cultural encounters, the outcomes of which were determined by the content of native beliefs, the structure of native religious institutions, and external factors such as epidemic diseases and military conflicts, as well as by the missionaries' own resources and abilities. The result is a provocative, insightful historical essay that liberates a complex subject from the narrow perimeters of past discussions and accords it an appropriate richness and complexity. . . . For anyone with an interest in Indian-missionary relations, from the most casual to the most specialized, this book is the place to begin."—Neal Salisbury, Theology Today

"If one wishes to read a concise, thought-provoking ethnohistory of Indian missions, 1540-1980, this is it. Henry Warner Bowden's history, perhaps for the first time, places the sweep of Christian evangelism fully in the context of vigorous, believable, native religions."—Robert H. Keller, Jr., American Historical Review

Product Details

• Paperback: 276 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press (June 15, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226068129
• ISBN-13: 978-0226068121
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,861,644 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A worthwhile read but disturbing as well, June 21, 1997

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This review is from: American Indians and Christian Missions: Studies in Cultural Conflict (Chicago History of American Religion) (Paperback)

Summary Bowden characterizes Christian missionary activities among native Americans as "in any case a general failure" with "obviously disastrous results." (pages xv-xvi). Bowden emphasizes the strong connection between the beliefs and the behaviors within any culture. Because the two tend to reinforce each other, he sees it as inevitable that the European missionaries would help to destroy the cultures of the people they wished to help. However, Bowden further emphasizes that "change" does not have to be interpreted as "destruction." All cultures have a dynamic existence that allows them to grow and adapt as they interact with one another. With this perspective, the effect of Christianity on Native American cultures is cast in a less negative light. Bowden makes no attempt to exhaustively catalog every example of Native American culture or of European missionary effort. He primarily treats three major representative populations. His study is limited to the northern continent and, initially, to three local geographic regions. The Native American tribes addressed are the Tanoan-speaking Tewa tribe contacted by Spanish missionaries, the Iroquoian-Speaking Huron tribe contacted by French missionaries, and the Algonkian-speaking Massachuset tribe contacted by English missionaries. Bowden attempts to "provide a detached analysis of volatile issues and a chronological survey of their prolonged conflict." (p. xv). He promises to neither defend "the Christian agents nor the natives opposed to conversion." (p. xv). However, Bowden does not convince the reader that he is presenting a neutral account. With few exceptions, he seems to blame the Europeans for the demise of Native American cultures. Regarding Spanish Franciscan missionaries he writes, "The intruders had no misgivings about their right to dominate local affairs or to enforce a new life-style on the natives." (p. 42). By referring to the Europeans as the invaders or intruders Bowden reveals a degree of negativism toward the Europeans. He uses emotionally-charged language such as "destroyed", "overwhelmed", "devastated", and "ravaged" to describe, throughout the book, the effects on native culture inflicted by Europeans. Each time Bowden disparages the Europeans for destroying yet another native culture, he defends them with another restatement of the same argument. Bowden defends the Europeans with his assertion that "all human cultures are dynamic." (p. 22). Flexible cultures survive by changing to meet new challenges. Inflexible cultures that do not change must disappear. Throughout the text, Bowden returns to the proposition that Native American cultures had never been "unspoiled." Constantly from the time of their first arrival each group's culture was affected and changed by contact with surrounding cultures. When Europeans joined the mix of cultures on the continent, they did not meet and contaminate an unspoiled native culture. The rate of change increased quantitatively, but the inevitability of change did not increase qualitatively (p. 24). Because this was the only justification offered in answer to the annihilation of many aspects on native culture, the argument weakens with repetition. It gives the impression that Bowden needs to keep reminding himself that the Europeans are excusable for their actions. The argument that the cultures would have changed in some ways even without the European intervention is not strong enough to stand up against the strong language used to describe the injustices perpetrated upon the natives by the Europeans. Therefore, Bowden appears to be making a great effort to remain neutral while in reality he has greater sympathy for the natives and serious accusations to make against the Europeans. Style Bowden's prose style is enjoyable to read. This book contains many potentially dry facts and figures but all are presented as part of the story of real human beings. The book can be enjoyed on two levels. First, on a scholarly level it does indeed provide a concise, fact-filled account. But this book contains enough narrative elements to please the casual reader who likes to read historic novels. Thus Bowden succeeds in producing a volume with a broad audience. The organization of the book is very logical in the early chapters when Bowden sticks with a single region and discusses first the native inhabitants and then the effects of European interaction. The later chapters lack the clear focus of the earlier ones because Bowden switches to a chronological approach rather than a geographical one. These chapters jump around geographically and are not as easy to follow, but they are sufficiently organized to grasp with a little more effort applied. The one aspect of the book that I was quite unimpressed by was the organization of the material in the Suggestions for Further Reading section. For some reason, Bowden decided to list all of these suggestions in prose rather than in bibliographic form. The result is a dozen pages of appendix in which it is very hard to find the important information. Much more useful would have been either a straight bibliography, an annotated bibliography, or a topical bibliography. The current format is similar to a literature review or annotated bibliography in prose format. I won't be making frequent use of this appendix as a reference tool. Worthwhileness It will be worth your while to read this book if you are looking for a general account of the mission endeavor among the American Indians and it's results. Because of Bowden's imaginative combination of aspects of neighboring tribes, this book is not for a person who is seeking an absolutely factual account of Native American cultures prior to evangelization. I recommend this book to any person preparing for missions because of it contains concrete examples of H. Richard Niebuhr's three ways of approaching foreign cultures in his book Christ and Culture: Christ found in or through the culture, Christ against the culture, or Christ transforming the culture. The case studies in this book are samples. So I do not recommend this book to anyone who is seeking a comprehensive survey of the entire mission effort to Native Americans. Also, the book is not easily useful as a reference book for the same reason. This is a book to read cover to cover rather than to attempt to look up information on particular subjects, although it does have a useful index. Finally, this book can be disturbing because of the injustices and failures to show love recorded. This is a serious book, and will probably not put the reader into a pleasant state of mind. According to Martin E. Marty, "Naught is here for the comfort of the majority peoples of North America. There is, on the other hand, much here that will lead to new awareness and may help produce a new spirit of responsiveness and empathy." (p. xiii).