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The Praying Indians of Natick are a tribe of Praying Indians, who were members of a village, or praying town, organized by John Eliot. The Natick village is the only praying town established by Eliot to still exist into the 21st century as the Praying Indian Tribe of Natick.

Background

The seal of the Massachusetts colony, protraying a Native American with the phrase "Come Over and Help Us."

John Eliot, a Puritan missionary who arrived in Boston, Massachusetts in 1631, was given the task to evangelize and convert Native Americans with an attitude exemplified by the Massachusetts seal, which showed a Native American beckoning to the English, saying "Come Over and Help Us." Reflecting the common settler-colonial narrative of the time, Eliot believed that Native Americans needed to be saved, as they were viewed as savages and lesser than white, English settlers. Eliot, like many of his contemporaries, believed that the best way to save the natives was through Christian missionary work.

Natick was established as the first Praying Indian town in 1651 by an order of the Massachusetts General Court. According to the Natick Praying Indian's website, Natick "was set apart for Waban and the Praying Indians so that Waban’s Massachusett people could worship in peace unmolested by the colonists and the surrounding disagreeable Native tribes." The Praying Indian towns were strategically placed in areas that would offer the most protection for the colony from invasion. Through the creation of these towns, colonialists were able to not only spread the Christian faith, but were able to offer themselves protection via the resettlement of Native American communities.

Winter of 1675 saw great difficulties for the Natick Praying Indians. Fears of Wampanoag Chief King Phillip saw colonialists confine Praying Indians into their villages. Soon afterwards, they were driven to Deer Island in Boston Harbor where the Natick Praying Indians joined other Praying Indian communities as prisoners on the island. This was likely due to a fear of an Indigenous rebellion. 500 Praying Indians were imprisoned on the island, and just one year later when they were released, only 167 had survived. John Eliot supported their release, but his support was not loudly proclaimed due to society's reactions towards white colonialists who supported Native Americans. The high death count was the result of having to suffer through a harsh winter with minimal basic necessities provided.

Beliefs and Practices

A page from Eliot's Algonquian Bible

The Praying Indians were taught Protestant Christianity, and colonialists such as John Eliot viewed Native Americans as worshipers of false gods and "bondslaves to sin and Satan" who, with assistance from missionaries, would "renounce their false gods, Devils, and Pawwaws." This work was greatly supported by the British Empire, who were supportive of the cause of spreading Protestant Christianity across borders and lands. They were further impressed by Eliot, who learned Algonquian to preach to and convert Native Americans.

The Natick Praying Indians would meet at the Eliot Church, starting the service by beating a drum. Working with Natives, from 1661 to 1663, Eliot translated the Bible into Algonquian, a completely oral language, completing the first printed Bible in the United States. It was officially titled Mamusse Wunneetupanatamwe Up-Biblum God. He would use this in his sermons to the Massachusett people, insisting on speaking Algonquian (see Assimilation).

Theologically, Christianity conflicted with Indigenous religion. Puritan missionaries taught that there was one God and each person has one soul, while Indigenous religious tradition embraces polytheism and rejects the concept of having just one soul. Most notably was the Puritan theological tenet that rejected the importance of community, contrary to the Indigenous view of the interdependence, as exemplified by the phrase "all my relations".

The extreme views on sin were also unfamiliar to the Indigenous. James Ronda notes, "Many native American religions did not contain the idea of sin as either a primordial fault or a moral transgression against the will of God. These religions recognized personal wrongdoing but did not assign it any cosmic significance."

Assimilation

Converted Native Americans in Natick were required to testify of their conversion to Christianity, and were required to testify in Algonquian, the native language that colonialists learned to propagate their message. Sarah Rivett argues that the reason why colonialists were so interested in learning the languages of the Indigenous, rather than requiring English, originated in the idea of "language's capacity to unlock the mystery of the divine to a universal language movement" and that "Indian testimony presented a new use of language as a medium of communication between the natural world and the mysteries of the invisible realm." The use of Algonquian therefore was not an attempt to forge respect to Native Americans, but instead was based on, as Rivett says, "a belief in a universal Christianity that regarded Indian languages as derived from the events of Babel." While the preservation of languages allowed an element of Indigeneity to survive, it also acted as a sort of cultural appropriation on behalf of the colonialists. The languages were used to promote the Western universal language movement, based in the Biblical belief that the entire world would be one language, and this language would unlock the secrets of God. Also, speaking Algonquian allowed Native Americans to better understand the message of the ministers, increasing the likelihood that they would understand and embrace Christianity. The insistence of the use of Algonquian by colonialists can be seen, therefore, as an act that would help further the spread of Christianity to the Indigenous population and assimilate Native Americans into Protestant Christian society.

Many Praying Indians assimilated to escape persecution from the English. Further, they used their status as Christians to re-claim settled land. In Natick, a group tried to utilize their religious beliefs to claim land after the English distribution of land during the wake of King Philip's War, being sure to emphasize in their court claim that they were members of a Christian church with a Christian minister.

In addition to adopting to Christianity theologically, they were also assimilated into English settler-colonialist culture by their structures of living. For example, they built meetinghouses just as the colonialists did, and organized by hierarchies of tens, fifties, and hundreds. This was based on Exodus 18, and was how Moses, in the Bible, organized his people. Neil Salisbury explains other ways in which assimilation occurred: "Customs that conflicted either with the Bible or with English values or prejudices were flatly prohibited. The first law in the Natick code provided a five shilling fine for idleness. The same code forbade husbands to beat their wives, enjoined every man to set up a wigwam 'and not live shifting up and downe to other Wigwams,' forbade women to cut their hair short or men to let theirs grow long, and prohibited the killing of lice between the teeth as was customary among New England Algonquians."

Reactions to the Christianization of Indigenous People

Many people today, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, denounce the acts of the colonialists and say that the assimilation was forced and the dominant culture -- white, English settler-colonialists -- forced Indigenous people into Christianity. Missionaries such as John Eliot were given the specific task of promoting and spreading the Gospel to Native Americans, and denounced their traditional religious rituals and beliefs as being works of Satan. The general view was that the colonialists were there to save the Indigenous, as exemplified on the seal of the Massachusetts colony. These attitudes, considered paternalistic by many, persist today, with those arguing that the adoption of Christianity, as spread via missionaries, saved Indigenous identities. It is also argued that conversion prevented complete annihilation, and allowed Native Americans to prevent conflict between the new settlers and the established Indigenous groups.

Today, the Natick Praying Indians embrace both their Indigenous spiritual practices and their Christianity. Their website cites both Christian scripture and Indigenous religious beliefs. They view John Eliot in a favorable manner, viewing him as a more humane colonialist (e.g. his support of their release from Deer Island). However, they have received criticism from other Native Americans and Christians for their syncretism and for the positive views towards Eliot and his contemporaries.

Furthermore, the favorable view of Eliot and other Christian missionaries by Indigenous people has not been a consistent part of history. Eliot, like many other missionaries, was one whose goal was to convert Indigenous people without regard for the cultures and practices he was disrupting. During the early years of the formation of the Natick Praying Indian town, Native Americans expressed concern regarding the dichotomy between living in two worlds. Many felt like they were no longer a part of either the English (who still viewed them as savages) or Indigenous culture, as exemplified by one man's belief that God would not hear his prayers while wearing traditional Indigenous clothing. In other Praying Indian towns, Native American preachers faced grave consequences for succumbing to colonialism; there was at least one who was poisoned by a non-Christianized Native American. After hearing Eliot's sermons about Christianity, many Native Americans reported fear and restlessness, as their traditional beliefs were being denounced. They viewed themselves as wicked, and many in Eliot's audience came to him for help, where he then claimed conversion to Christianity was the only way to be saved. Questions asked by audience members included, "Why doth God punish in hell for ever? Man doth not so, but after a time lets them out of prison again. And if they repent in hell, why will not God let them out again?" The Puritan message -- with emphasis on guilt, sin, and Hell -- rightfully confused those whose religious beliefs did not emphasized wickedness and eternal damnation.

Eliot unsuccessfully tried to train Indigenous people to adopt to English values by setting up school for children, but they were often understaffed and under-attended as there was resistance from many who wished not to allow their children to become Westernized.

Today: Praying Indian Tribe of Natick

The Praying Indian Tribe of Natick, which was the first Praying Indian tribe, is the only organized Praying Indian tribe in the 21st century. The tribe has seen members of other dissolved Praying Indian tribes join them over the last couple centuries. The current chief of the few-dozen Praying Indians is Chief Caring Hands.

In August 2012, the first public service in over 300 years of the Praying Indian Tribe of Natick was held at Eliot Church in Natick, MA. The service, lasting two and a half hours, began with a smudging ceremony on the church steps, followed by a ceremony inside of the church which consisted of reciting the Lord's Prayer, communion of bread and wine, and traditional Praying Indian music. Seeds were thrown by children to allow plants to grow. The tribe and church continues to hold monthly services on Saturdays. September 2015 saw the first Natick Praying Indian wedding in 340 years. The wedding, between tribe members WarriorWoman and StrongMedicine Bear, was officiated by Chief Caring Hands.