To Do Good to My Indian Brethren: The Writings of Joseph Johnson 1751-1776 (Native Americans of the Northeast) [Paperback]

Joseph Johnson (Author), Laura J. Murray (Author, Editor)

Book Description

Series: Native Americans of the Northeast | Publication Date: February 1998

Joseph Johnson was an 18th-century Mohegan Indian leader, preacher, and schoolteacher in upper New York state. Johnson's diaries, written between 1771 and 1773, document daily life in the Indian Christian communities, and his letters to white benefactors reveal both an uncommon talent for diplomacy and a powerful vision of Indian solidarity.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

These transcriptions of diaries, letters, and sermons of Johnson, a Mohegan (Mohican) teacher and visionary leader, break stereotypes. With prominent ancestors and literate parents, Johnson lived in a community that valued both Mohegan and European cultures. His writing style, learned under the tutelage of Eleazer Wheelock, founder of Dartmouth College, is indistinguishable from that of other writers (Indian or white) trained in prerevolutionary missionary schools, but attention to editor/author Murray's interpretation reveals issues and facts about Mohegan life, including plans for "Brotherton," a Christian Indian town, realized only after the Revolution and Johnson's death. Murray (English, Queen's Univ., Kingston, Ontario) emphasizes the individual writer, following such examples as James Axtell's The Invasion Within (1985). Johnson's humility is striking, as is his commitment to his people. This book makes another Indian "voice" more accessible and gives helpful instruction in the genres and forms of early American writing. Recommended for all Native American collections and for academic libraries.?Margaret W. Norton, IHM High Sch. Lib., Westchester, Ill.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Though this publication of the assorted writings of the Native American Mohegan preacher, Joseph Johnson, may well not change the face or truth of American history, or the history of the genocide of Native people through whatever means, war, liquor, religion, education, intermarriage, etc., it does present a fascinating document and tantalizing portrait of an individual who played a small part in that history and in that genocide through religion. Johnson, who died in 1776 at the outbreak of the American Revolution, left copious letters and a scattering of essays which have developed into an important picture of the "Indian" changed from an independent, individualistic, totally self-supporting human being into practically the opposite, and one who inadvertently joined in the demise of his own people through religion. Surely Johnson thought he was acting in the best interests, within his limited abilities and foresight for his Native people-all Native people, not only those of the Mohegan Nation. He became as educated as he was able and allowed to become. Education can be a dangerous tool of destruction-not that Johnson set out to destroy anything or anyone. He did not. In his own way he sought to better "lo the poor Indian." Hence Murray's title: "To Do Good To My Indian Brethren." In his thinking over his brief life, Johnson sought enlightenment of both mind and spirit, to improve the "Indians" lot. Laura J. Murray has accomplished a brilliant task in searching out these various "writings" in chronological order and permitting us a view of this extraordinary man through her academically professional insight. Her foreword/introduction and explanatory/biographical essays are not only a positive overview, but easy and enjoyable reading. In the Native world of that time Johnson was not as big an actor as Joseph Brant, Pontiac, etc., but his influence is surely evident. His editor, Murray, has served him quite well. -- From Independent Publisher

Product Details

• Paperback: 324 pages
• Publisher: Univ of Massachusetts Pr; annotated edition edition (February 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558491279
• ISBN-13: 978-1558491274
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,113,881 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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