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Missionary Conquest: The Gospel and Native American Cultural Genocide

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I am not sure why, as an historian, I am constantly surprised at the kinds of things that are done by well-intentioned people in the name of God. Crusades, Inquisitions, church/state sanctioned pogroms and purges - Catholic, Protestant or Orthodox, every variety of Christianity has had a share of the difficult past. It is a missing part of the general vision of American history that religion played a part in the wide-spread destruction of Native American populations. History is often recounted with a decidedly pro-Protestant slant; the Catholic explorers of Spain and Portugal are seen as zealously converting the Native American populations while stealing their lands and gold, but the early Protestant settlers are seen more often in Thanksgiving-style cooperation efforts, where Native Americans and Pilgrims sit down at the same table sharing meals. After the colonial days, in the expansion of the United States westward, the genocide of the Native Americans is given a more political/military slant, with religion as a minor issue, if included at all.

George Tinker, himself a member of the Osage/Cherokee people, is on faculty at Iliff School of Theology in Denver, bringing a Native American perspective to the predominantly European-American institution. His biases are clear and upfront even from the preface of the book - he speaks of the 'general history of the European invasion and occupation of what today is known as North America', not a dispassionate and objective statement at all, but one designed to challenge the classical interpretations of American history as one where the settlement of the continent was 'manifest destiny', somehow ordained and sanctioned by God. Whether the conquest was seen as being done by invasion or conversion, the results were generally the same. Tinker states that 'perhaps the most fearful aspect of the church's complicity in the conquest of the native peoples in the latter sense is that it always happened with the best of intentions.'

Tinker highlights four main missionaries in this text - John Eliot, Junipero Serra, Pierre-Jean De Smet, and Henry Benjamin Whipple. In the overall history of missionary activity, these men are seen as being faithful and successful ministers who spread the gospel message to those who had not yet received the Word of God. However, their effects were dire for the communities they contacted, even as they often meant only the best for the people to whom they traveled and preached.

Even as they were trying to spread the gospel message and do good works among the Native American peoples, these missionaries were participants in their wider culture's ambitions against the indigenous peoples. Convinced both of the moral/religious superiority of their own faith over the locals, and the societal superiority of European-based culture over the tribal cultures, they saw no ethical problems with dealing with the peoples in ways that were ultimately destructive of their cultures. Tinker goes into detail about the efforts of these missionaries - he looks at the issues of Native American genocide from social, political, economic and religious angles, as well as occasionally from other standpoints with each of the four missionaries.

John Eliot, part of the New England Puritan establishment, was a typical colonial in many ways, seeing Native American culture as inadequate, possibly even evil. Junipero Serra's missions were in symbiotic relationship with the oppressive Spanish hierarchy; while Serra might have argued against cruel treatment by military, governmental and explorer authorities, he did not question the overall task of Christianising the native peoples and reducing the influence of their native cultures. Pierre-Jean De Smet is another Roman Catholic, a Jesuit who saw such superiority in his rational, Catholic theology that he thought nothing of imitating in mocking fashion the rituals and practices of the natives. Henry Benjamin Whipple, the first Episcopal bishop of Minnesota, was instrumental in depriving the Native Americans in the northern plains territories and states of lands in the hopes that they would settle to a more acceptable agrarian lifestyle akin to the European model.

Tinker looks at these times in detail, but they are depressingly similar. Lack of awareness of the value of communities as well as individuals, and lack of understanding the consequences meant that missionaries kept repeating the same, over and over. The Native Americans are now in a post-colonial frame of mind socially, politically, economically and psychologically, and it is perhaps this last element, together with religious expression, that is most crucial to the recovery of the Native American peoples as their own communities. The confusion of the gospel message with European cultural values became ingrained in the Native American thinking, and Tinker charges the people not to become complicit or participate in their own oppression.

While he does not reference him directly, there are parallels between Tinker's analysis and that of Edward Said's studies of post-colonial cultures and mindsets. Tinker never doubts the devotion and well-meaning intentions of these missionaries, even as he lays bare the awful consequences of their actions. This is an important and fascinating history for all Americans to read, showing the ways that we participate in oppression and injustice are so insidious and pervasive that we can be completely unaware even as we strive to work for the betterment of all.

I took a class from Dr. Tinker on American Indian religion in which we used this book. It is a very compact but comprehensive study of five American mission situations, from Spanish California to Puritan New England to American Midwest. It shows just what the missionary project was in relation to Indian peoples, which can be and has been shown in other world areas as well (for instance, the Comaroffs on colonialism and missionaries in Africa). This will be an unpleasant read for people who are unfamiliar with the history of white/Indian contact or with the history of missionaries. I know that many people--Christians mostly--see missionaries as good and helpful people, and no doubt many are. However, the missionary project as such is ethnocentric and hegemonic, and in the days when missionaries had more power to compel their beliefs and practices on other societies, they used all of it. The only thing that restrains them today is a lack of power and a surplus of world attention.

Tinker's work is quite effective in exposing the ego-driven selfishness involved in the missionary exploits of Christianity's "main heroic missionaries." The common understanding has been that "they meant well, but were a product of their time." Tinker's keen research into the primary texts of these very missionaries (using their own letters, journals, first hand accounts) exposes the truth: that these missionaries reaped personal gain from the policies of colonial genocide. There are those who would discount Tinker's words and research as hysteria, but in light of Tinkers voluminous citations in the Notes section, it is clear that Tinker has the truth on his side. Also, I appreciated his attention to the existence of "New Age" practices as a not-so-subtle form of neo-colonialism. Wonderful effective piece of research and recovery of the true history of missionary colonialism.

I used this book in my senior thesis paper on Plateau Indian Culture and Presbyterian Missions in the 1830-40's. It did not only help me with understanding impacts of missionary work, but was written in a way that opened my eyes to deep thoughts of humanity, religion, selfishness and ethnocentricity. It is an eye-opener and a gift to any scholar's mind!!! READ IT!

The good thing about Missionary Conquest is that it forces you to reconsider assumptions about the role of missionaries to indigenous cultures. That's good. There isn't much else to recommend this book to you, because Tinker is not trustworthy. At the beginning of the book, Tinker states that when examining the primary source material, he will rewrite the Indian side of the encounter without even telling you. That should have been a giant red flag, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt. After all, maybe he is right, and that the primary sources misunderstood or even misstated the Native American side of exchanges. However, it turns out that he felt free to rewrite what the white people did, too!

I actually bothered to look up one of his sources on De Smet. In fact, it was one of his clenching arguments for his thesis on De Smet. And, it turns out, Tinker completely rewrote the white side of the exchange as well, so much so that Tinker essentially wrote nearly the exact opposite of what happened. You can view the book "History of Early Steamboat Navigation on the Missouri River" online at Google books yourself if you don't believe me. Pages 196-198 are the relevant pages.

Sadly, I don't have time to look up all his sources, but needless to say that when your primary argument against someone relies on completely mangling the primary source, what does that say about the book as a whole, especially when he admits to completely rewriting the Native American side of nearly every exchange?

So, if your goal is to get another perspective on the role of missionaries to indigenous cultures, then sure, read the book. If your goal is to find an objective account of what happened in this period, then this book is certainly NOT the book to use. Due to the rewriting of primary sources I don't consider it scholarship as much as propoganda.

Also, if you want a good, positive book on a missionary who respects indigenous culture, I recommend Bruchko.

If you really want to learn the history of your country, how this country was built upon a system of cultural genocide, I highly recommend this book. Particularly for college students, this can be a very valuable book. Tinker is extremely clear in making his points. He even spells out his thesis for you in the 4th page of the book. He literally says "My thesis is." Tinker focuses on various missionaries, how they were engaged in cultural, economic and physical genocide in order to convert various Indian tribes.

He also uses primary sources to cite his work and he's very credible in that regard.

Highly recommend it for a reader not pursuing any sociology or historical studies. You'll certainly learn a lot about how this country was established on the grounds of genocide.