Praying Indian

Indigenous In addition to adopting Christianity for its own sake (as carried on by modern Praying Indians of Natick and Ponkapoag), becoming a praying Indian had several potential benefits. As settler encroachment and plague eroded their political sovereignty, many Indigenous groups in New England found it necessary to align themselves with the English colonists; this typically meant adopting the Puritan religion, as the colonists distinguished Native enemies from allies largely by their willingness to convert. Some reasoned that "the Englishman's God doth better for them than other Gods do for others"; and Neal Salisbury, and Richard W. Cogley. Regardless, praying towns, which were positioned along the border of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, could provide defense against enemy attacks. Praying Indian soldiers were also valued by colonists for their experience with Indigenous combat methods—namely stealth—which were unfamiliar to the colonists. == Early history ==

in Christian prayer, as depicted on the mural of the rotunda on the Massachusetts State House in Boston In 1646, the General Court of Massachusetts passed an "Act for the Propagation of the Gospel amongst the Indians." It and the success of Reverend John Eliot and other missionaries preaching Christianity to the New England tribes raised interest in England. In 1649, the Long Parliament passed an ordinance forming "A Corporation for the Promoting and Propagating the Gospel of Jesus Christ in New England," which raised funds to support the cause. Contributors raised approximately £12,000 to invest in the cause, to be used mainly in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and in the Province of New York. Eliot received financial aid from the corporation to start schools to teach the Native Americans. The Indian nations involved appear to have included the Massachusett and the Nipmuc. On October 28, 1646, in Nonantum (now Newton), Eliot preached his first sermon to Native Americans in their Massachusett language in the wigwam of Waban, the first convert of his tribe. Waban later offered his son to be taught in the ways of the European colonists and served as an interpreter. Eliot translated the Bible into the Massachusett language and published it in 1663 as Mamusse Wunneetupanatamwe Up-Biblum God. By 1675, 20% of New England's Natives were living in praying towns. Christian Indian Towns eventually spread throughout Eastern and Central Massachusetts and included Littleton (Nashoba), Lowell (Wamesit, initially incorporated as part of Chelmsford), Grafton (Hassanamessit), Marlborough (Okommakamesit), Hopkinton (Makunkokoag), Canton (Punkapoag), Mendon-Uxbridge (Wacentug), Billerica (Shawshin), and Natick. Only Natick has retained its original name. Praying Indian Towns started by Eliot extended into Connecticut and included Wabaquasset (Senexet, Wabiquisset), six miles west of the Quinebaug River in present-day Woodstock, the largest of the three northeastern Connecticut praying towns. The towns were located to serve as an outlying wall of defense for the colony, a function that came to an end in 1675, during King Philip's War. Praying Indians offered their service as scouts to the colonists in Massachusetts but were rejected by the Puritans in Boston. Instead, praying Indian residents were first confined to their villages and were thus restricted from their farms and unable to feed themselves. Many were confined on Deer Island in Boston Harbor. John Eliot and many others in the Plymouth Colony tried to prevent it, but it is reported that it became dangerous in Massachusetts to talk positively about any Native Americans, which likely contributed to the initial successes of the Indian rebellion. After the war, in part because of the loss of life, the General Court of Massachusetts disbanded 10 of the original 14 towns in 1677 and placed the rest under the supervision of colonists, but some communities survived and retained their religious and education systems. Slavery Indigenous peoples of the Americas including praying Indians were trafficked through Atlantic trade routes. The 1677 work The Doings and Sufferings of the Christian Indians, for example, documents Indian prisoners of war in New England (who were not opposing combatants, but praying Indians) being enslaved and sent to the West Indies. Praying Indians of Dedham In the mid-17th century, John Eliot and a group of praying Indians from Dedham, Massachusetts won a lengthy court battle and were awarded the title to the of land in the town that is now known as Natick. The dispute, which lasted from 1651 to 1665 and flared up again sporadically in the years afterward, centered on the Indians' use of a tract of land along the Charles River. They claimed to have an agreement to use the land for farming with the Town Fathers, but Dedham officials objected to them. Eliot had converted many of the native people in the area to Christianity and taught them how to live an agrarian life. He converted so many that the group needed a large portion of land on which to grow their own crops. However, the law was on the side of the town. The case eventually went before the General Court, which granted the land in question to the Indians and, in compensation for the land lost, gave another piece of land in what is today Deerfield, Massachusetts to the Dedham settlers. The town's actions in the case were characterized by "deceptions, retaliations, and lasting bitterness" and harassed its Native neighbors with petty accusations even after the case had been settled. == American Revolutionary War ==

A significant number of praying Indians fought for the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. They fought in entirely integrated units, unlike the African-American soldiers from the Revolutionary War to World War II. There is no evidence of official discrimination towards Native American soldiers. They received equal pay and treatment as compared to their white counterparts. That is a direct contrast to unit segregation in the Civil War, for instance. Soldiers of Native American origin fought in several significant battles during the Revolutionary War such as Bunker Hill, Battle Road, Trenton, and Saratoga. The praying Indians never saw such a split. They had extremely close ties to both the Puritan clergy that established the praying towns, as well as non-Native peoples that lived among them. Despite the continued seizure of Native lands, the various Praying Indian communities reasoned that their continued survival could be ensured only by maintaining these ties; support of a distant government would only alienate them from those who were in proximity. The borders of Natick have since changed and includes parts of what was Needham, Dedham. As a result of the unit integration in the Continental Army, most cases had no real concentration of praying Indians in a single unit. Praying Indians served in dozens of distinct units throughout the Revolutionary War. The Battle of King's Bridge in the Bronx, where both Daniel Nimham, the last sachem of the Wappinger and his son Abraham were killed alongside some 60 members of the Stockbridge Militia is a notable exception. Soldiers of praying Indian origin Historian George Quintal Jr. discusses Revolutionary war veterans who were Native American, African-American, and other minority groups in his book ''Patriots of Color: 'A Peculiar Beauty and Merit'''. Samuel Comecho served in the Battle of Bunker Hill under the command of Capt. Benjamin Bullard in Col. Jonathan Brewer's regiment. Born in Natick, Comecho enlisted for eight month's service and his unit held the line at Bunker Hill between the redoubt and the rail fence. He re-enlisted on the first day of 1776 in Col. Asa Whitcomb's regiment and served in Capt. William Hudson Ballard's company in the Canadian theater. It was reported that he died on March 14, 1776. The cause of death was likely smallpox. Legacy It was not until the 20th century that praying Indian veterans were first recognized. The town of Natick installed a monument to Native American veterans of the Revolutionary War in 1900, which still stands today on Pond Street near Natick Center. However, it was not until Needham historian Robert D. Hall Jr. that their final resting places were properly honored. Hall and volunteers placed grave markers and American flags in a Needham cemetery to honor these veterans in 2003. == Self-government ==

The Praying Indian communities were able to exercise self-government and to elect their own rulers (sachems) and officials, to some extent exhibited continuity with precontact social systems and used their own language as the language of administration of which a wealth of legal and administrative documents has survived. However, their self-government was gradually curtailed in the 18th and 19th centuries, when their languages also became extinct. During that period, most of the original Praying Towns eventually declined because of epidemics and the communal land property of others passing out of Native control. The Indian-inhabited areas were eventually transformed into "Indian districts." == Notable Praying Indians ==

• Black James (also known as Wullumahchein) — Nipmuc spiritual leader and constable for the praying towns. • Cutshamekin — Massachusett leader of the Natick praying town, formerly a sachem; John Eliot preached his first sermon in Massachusett to Cutshamekin and his followers, who at first rejected him. • Daniel Takawambait — Nipmuc pastor in Natick; possibly the first ordained Native American Christian. • James Printer — Nipmuc printer and translator of the Eliot Indian Bible; later a scribe for Metacomet, aka King Philip. • Job Nesuton — Massachusett teacher in Natick and translator of the Eliot Indian Bible. • John Alderman — Wampanoag soldier for the colonists during King Philip’s War; shot and killed Metacomet. • John Sassamon — Massachusett interpreter and schoolmaster in Natick; his assassination by 3 of Metacomet’s men marked the start of King Philip’s War. • Peter Jethro — Nipmuc scribe, minister, and teacher in Natick. • Waban — one of the first Massachusett converts to Christianity. == Contemporary heritage groups ==

In the 21st century, people who identify as descendants of praying Indians have formed different organizations. They are unrecognized and are not federally recognized tribes or state-recognized tribes. These include the Massachusett Tribe at Ponkapoag and Praying Indians of Natick and Ponkapoag. ==See also==