Unaffected by the Gospel: Osage Resistance to the Christian Invasion 1673-1906: A Cultural Victory (review)

A number of books have been published on the history of Christian missions to Native American cultures, virtually all of which, whether positive or negative toward the missionary endeavor, have been written from the perspective of Euroamerican culture. Hence, it is most refreshing to have a book that focuses on the Native response and perspective. The title and subtitle of the work itself effectively summarize the thesis of the book. Rollings has written a persuasive history of a culture continually adapting to changing circumstances while maintaining cultural and religious autonomy. In part this was due to a shrewd pragmatism and effective diplomacy such that the Osage in large part dominated neighboring Native traditions, were never at war with the United States, were rarely outwardly antagonistic toward missionaries, and resisted longer than most the Dawes Act and land allotments.

The book begins with an overview introductory chapter and ends with an epilogue. The second chapter details the Osage ability to dominate a large area of the Great Plains after moving there from the Midwest due to the pressures of the fur trade. Chapters 3 to 5 present the background of the Protestant missionaries and the failure of their missions from 1821 to 1859, while chapters 7 and 8 do the same for the Catholic missions from 1820 to 1870. Rollings argues that the Protestant religion was so different from Osage religion that it had no appeal for them, while surface similarities between Catholic and Osage rituals allowed a number of nominal conversions among those who continued to practice their own religion. Thus, even these conversions were essentially superficial. In chapter 10 the history is continued to 1906, detailing the replacement of traditional Osage religion with the somewhat compatible Big Moon Peyotism.

Rollings is an historian, and Unaffected by the Gospel follows his The Osage: An Ethnohistorical Study of Hegemony on the Prairie-Plains. His history of the Christian-Osage relationships is superbly developed. As well, his discussion of the Christianity of the missionaries who came to the Osage is well presented. Unfortunately, Rollings seems to have little or no understanding of Native religious traditions per se, including those of the Osage. Since he is Cherokee, he would have been able to participate in contemporary versions of Plains traditions that would have provided him some understanding of the dynamics of Native religious traditions. This lack of understanding weakens his comparisons between Christianity and Osage religion; indeed, in parts it is misleading.

Among many examples, Rollings early in the book correctly points out that the Siouan-speaking Osage "were polytheistic, and, while ascribing the highest power to the sun, moon, earth, and thunder, they believed that the world was filled with spirits and that plants and animals possessed a spirituality that must be acknowledged and respected" (16–17). But this statement remains completely undeveloped, and later in the book Rollings anthropomorphizes Wa-kon-da ("an all-pervasive holy spirit") to describe, in effect, a monotheistic deity (68–71). Since, to a degree, this happened due to Catholic influence among many of the more northern Siouan-speaking Lakota, this could have been a response to interaction with the missionaries. But Rollings presents this monotheistic predilection in terms of aboriginal theology.

Rollings finds a similarity between Catholic and Osage religion in both being hierarchical, with the rituals provided by priests and the congregants seemingly passive participants. Anyone familiar with Plains and midwestern Native ceremonies would know that major differences between the two are the active participation of those present at Native ceremonials and that the elders are first among equals rather than priests distinct from laypersons. Second, there is mention neither of individual rituals such as fasting for visions nor of communal rituals such as spirit ("sweat") lodges. While there is mention of communal bundles, there is no reference to individual sacred items. Minor mistakes include comparing the Osage use of tobacco to...