October 18, 2009
Sunday
2 pm

Program Fee: Free
Contact Hours: 1.5 (.15 CEUs)

The relationship between Native American peoples and early Christian missionaries has usually been described as one of cultural imperialism, on the one hand, and simple acquiescence or resistance, on the other.  Yet, as Rachel Wheeler depicts it in her book To Live Upon Hope: Mohicans and Missionaries in the Eighteenth-Century Northeast, the interaction between these people was sometimes much more nuanced and adaptive than is often thought. In this lecture, Dr. Wheeler will present the argument that native peoples could, in fact, be quite selective in their appropriation of Christianity, adopting those beliefs and practices most congruent with their own spiritual traditions and most conducive to their own survival and prosperity, and that the relationship between the Mohicans and Moravians, in particular, provides an alternative and fascinating model of the blending of religious traditions. 

[Read Linford Fisher's interview with Rachel Wheeler — behind the scenes as she researched the relationship between the Mohicans and Moravian missionaries:
RELIGION IN AMERICAN HISTORY: Conversation with Rachel Wheeler]

 

Rachel Wheeler (Ph.D., Yale University) is assistant professor of religious studies at Indiana University- Purdue University Indianapolis and associate editor of the journal Religion and American Culture. Author of over thirty articles, essays, and papers, as well as To Live Upon Hope, she has quickly established herself nationally as a leading expert on missions and religious synthesis.