“To Root out Their Vicious Habits and to Change Their Whole Way of Living”: Attempts of Cultural Assimilation of the New England Indians in the First Half of the Eighteenth Century

Several 18th century missionary projects to christianize the Indians of New England clearly show the desire of Puritan missionaries to achieve the Anglicization of the Indians, that is, their assimilation into the English-speaking environment, which implied the rejection of traditional Indian culture and way of life, the imposition of English culture and value system, and the inclusion of North American Indians in the orbit of British colonial interests.. The crowning achievement of these efforts was the establishment of Dartmouth College in 1769. In the minds of the New England colonists, the image of the Indian — a treacherous pagan barbarian leading an unworthy life — was undoubtedly dominant. In discussing the difficulty of converting Indians to Christianity, especially Protestantism, researchers point out the enormous cultural differences: conversion to Christianity, in addition to changing faith, required Indians to adopt a whole range of new cultural practices, from restrictive sexual rules and patriarchal gender roles to a market lifestyle and European styles of dress and behavior. Condemning the traditional culture of the Indians, Puritan missionaries John Sargent, Eleazar Wheelock and others sought to impose on them a completely different way of life. They believed that the economic structure based on hunting and seasonal movement from one place of residence to another was the main obstacle to the christianization and civilization of the Indians. Even when attending Protestant religious services and being baptized, most Indians did not break with traditional Indian culture and maintained their commitment to their traditional lifestyle. The attitude that Christian Indians encountered in Puritan communities was hardly reminiscent of equality. The Indians complained about prejudice against them, and were constantly forced to repent of the sin of drunkenness. As a result, many converted Indians preferred to form their own congregations. Narragansett Samuel Niles, Mohegan Samuel Ashpo created Christian communities for Indians that were not controlled by white missionaries. They combined Protestantism with elements of traditional Indian culture, which shocked observers. Even the seemingly exemplary Christianized Indian — Samson Occom — retained a “dual” identity and talked about the vices of white society and the unfair treatment of the indigenous population of America