Prophets of the Great Spirit: Native American Revitalization Movements in Eastern North America (review)

Early American Indian prophets like Neolin, the Shawnee Prophet, and Handsome Lake have received their fair share of attention from historians. When it comes to writing about these significant Indian spiritual leaders of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, historians still depend on Anthony F. C. Wallace's theory of "revitalization," introduced by the anthropologist over a half century ago. In Prophets of the Great Spirit, Alfred Cave relies heavily on this theory to explain how different prophets reacted to moments of crisis and change. Materials presented in Prophets of the Great Spirit might offer little new to specialists in the field, yet the book would make a superb text to introduce undergraduates to the activities and beliefs of some of Native North America's most important spiritual figures.

Revitalization theory has its problems. With decades of ethnohistorical research to build upon, it is time for a new vocabulary to interpret the prophets' worlds. Revitalization theory argues that a specific set of outside stressful factors triggered eastern woodland prophetic leadership. Cave follows revitalization theory to its logical conclusion, with prophets emerging only under duress at specific moments in time, particularly in response to the impact on their communities of Euro-American influences. But some of the problems that both the Shawnee Prophet and Handsome Lake seemed to try to remedy through their visions—such as alcohol abuse and the adoption of other unwanted white customs—were centuries-old concerns for both Shawnees and Senecas before either of these two men came on the scene. As Cave demonstrates, the "trigger factor" framework certainly has merit in making sense of some prophetic messages, as some prophecies had an immediate impact. But the idea that prophetic messages sought, in the words of Wallace, to "create a more satisfying culture," or actually created a new culture that native peoples quickly turned to for satisfaction, does not always stand up against the evidence. The documentary record, for example, is not clear about how many Senecas immediately followed Handsome Lake's message, as many of them felt threatened by the prophet's claims to superior sacred knowledge. Handsome Lake's downfall, in fact, resulted from the prophet's attempt to integrate his sacred powers into Iroquois political life. Moreover, some prophecies changed over time, as was the case with Handsome Lake's message, which evolved into the Longhouse Religion that is still practiced today among the Iroquois.

In Prophets of the Great Spirit, Cave appears to rely too much on the time-worn revitalization theory to analyze important prophets, rather than seizing the moment and providing new theories and methods to understand these important leaders and the worlds from which they came. Still, his close analysis of how these prophets emerged, what they did, and his careful study of the rise of the "Great Spirit" as a source of spiritual comfort among eastern woodlands prophets, enhances our understanding of prophetic leadership. As a short and highly readable guide to the prophets and some of their influences over native peoples, Prophets of the Great Spirit is the best of its kind.