Transatlantic Traffic and (Mis)Translations

4. The Reformation of Their Disordered Lives: Portraying Cultural Adaptation in the Seventeenth-century Praying Indian Towns

87 chapte r four The Reformation of Their Disordered Lives Portraying Cultural Adaptation in the Seventeenth-century Praying Indian Towns Alison Stanley M I heard that Word, That it is a shame for a man to wear long hair, and that there was no such custom in the Churches: at first I thought I loved not long hair, but I did, and found it very hard to cut it off. (Eliot 1653, 18–19) T hese words were spoken by Monequassun, a Massachusett Indian man who converted to Christianity during the seventeenth century, and they epitomize the difficulties faced by both New England missionaries and Native American would-be Christians as they tried to understand each other in the period. Monequassun’s discovery that an apparently unimportant detail of his appearance meant a lot to him demonstrates the ways in which he, like other converts—known as Praying Indians—found himself torn between two worlds. Similarly, that there had been a demand that he cut his hair at all indicates how the missionaries were also struggling to translate their religious ideas across cultures. John Eliot, the bestknown of the missionaries of the region in this period, insisted that “I finde it absolutely necessary to carry on civility with Religion,” and consequently demanded that Praying Indians adopt an English lifestyle before they could be taken seriously as potential converts to Christianity (Winslow 1649, 16). Converts such as Monequassun were asked to move to specially founded Praying Towns, where they were encouraged not only to cut their hair, but to adopt European lifestyles and work practices. 88 alison stanley This article examines the words recorded about and by the Praying Indians who converted to Christianity from the 1640s onwards, and discusses the ways in which language played an important role in the production of Puritan religious identity, and how it was used by those hoping to be accepted into the Puritan churches. By analyzing the difficulties associated with cultural translation in the period, it becomes clear that colonial missionaries encouraged converts to adopt English cultural traits in order to take on the appearance of Christianity, and also developed new ways to represent spiritual sincerity in response to their interaction with Native American culture. This article concludes by analyzing the words of the Praying Indians as they were transcribed and recorded by English translators, and discussing how they learned to shape their depictions of themselves in order to persuade observers that their Christian identities were genuine. Translations Monequassun’s words quoted above were spoken as part of a narrative of his experience of spiritual awakening: such narratives were commonly used by colonial Puritan churches to judge whether applicants for membership were sincere and spiritually confident enough to participate in communion. Monequassun’s narrative presented unusual obstacles to such evaluation, however, since it was originally spoken in Massachusett, which was then translated into English for the benefit of listeners trying to establish his spiritual state. Furthermore, his words were then carefully transcribed, sent to London, and printed for the benefit of an interested English audience, who were unable to be present and observe him speaking for themselves. Monequassun’s words suggest the importance of translation for missionaries in New England: not only in the context of the exchange of meaning between languages, but also in the transferral of cultural and religious ideas, and of descriptions of all these things across the physical boundary of the Atlantic. As such, they represent an appropriate introduction to the Eliot Tracts, which I will discuss in this article. The series of eleven texts usually grouped as the Eliot Tracts were printed in London between 1643 and 1671, and recount the progress of missionary efforts in New England over that period. Named after the minister and missionary John Eliot, they depict his efforts to preach to the Indians, and Reformation of Their Disordered Lives 89 chart the progress of missionary work from early prayer meetings, through the translation of the Bible into Massachusett and the formation of Praying Towns of Christian Indians, up to the formation of an Indian church congregation in 1660. Written by a variety of observers, including Eliot himself, these texts were propagandistic, published to persuade English audiences that real efforts were being made to convert the heathen in New England. As Monequassun’s words, quoted above, suggest, this process of conversion was often an intensely traumatic one for the Praying Indians involved. They...