O to German Parents Who Had Fled Religious Persecution

JOHN HECKEWELDER 1743-1823

 German o born in England o to German parents who had fled religious persecution  1754: immigrated w/family to America  missionary to Natives o Delaware (Lenni Lenape people) of Ohio  Moravian Church in PA  served 2 gods: o tried to convert the Natives to the God of the invaders o agent of the American rebels during Revolutionary War o agent of the US government during settlement of Native lands  retired to Bethlehem, PA o wrote this book

from An Account of the History, Manners, and Customs of the Indian Nations Who Once inhabited Pennsylvania and the Neighboring States

 written 1819  the other side of the Henry Hudson arrival, o from the Indian perspective  [The Delaware Legend of Hudson’s Arrival]  superstitious –  far ship = giant fish or animal  on guard  thought it was MANNITO (the Great or Supreme Being) o prepared for their god o chiefs, meat, conjurers o “hope & fear”  Hudson in bright red outfit o Hudson = Mannito o “the red man” = HH o strange clothes, language  Hudson gives them booze o 1 warrior chides them for not drinking what their god offered .  wrath & destruction for refusing a gift .  better for 1 man to die than all (needs of the many outweigh the few) o he drinks  drunk o passes out, wakes “so happy”  they all get drunk o party all night, even after the whites went back to the ship  trade: o beads, axes, hoes, stockings = gifts o Dutch as translators: won’t stay, be back next year – ask for a little tract of land to cultivate for food  TRIP #2: o cultural humor: (faux pas) . axes used as necklaces . stockings as tobacco pouches . laughed at each other, selves o land trick??? . as much land as “hide of bullock” would cover . cut it into strips, covered a much bigger piece of land . (Dido’s trick for Carthage)  whites & reds lived together contentedly  whites kept asking for more land o take, take, take

STYLE:  Natives = innocents o innocent superstition, innocent naïveté o gullible to trickery  verbal irony: o subtly subversive - o Europeans use booze o Europeans trick Natives out of land o Europeans take, take, take