Becoming Christian, remaining Ojibwe: The emergence of Native American Protestant Christianity in the Great Lakes, 1820--1900

During the mid-nineteenth century there developed a trans-regional, multi-ethnic alliance of Native ministers and clergy throughout the Great Lakes. Their evangelistic work reached from Mississauga, Ontario to the White Earth reservation in Minnesota. Many of these Native ministers and missionaries delivered their sermons in the Algonquin language to a kaleidoscopic assembly of Ojibwe, Ottawa, Potawatomi, Canadian, American, French and Metis adherents. Some of the Indian preachers attained international acclaim as speakers, writers, and governmental diplomats. Their ministerial endeavors which included hymn writing and missionary work were vital in establishing a unique indigenous Protestant Christianity amongst Indian communities throughout the Great Lakes. As a result of their labor, by the mid-to-late nineteenth century there emerged several Ojibwe missions and churches comprised of various denominations throughout the Great Lakes region. It is the aim of this work to chart the emergence of the Ojibwe missions in this area and the remarkable ministerial network of indigenous clergy and missionaries which emerged from original missions and established additional mission sites. Given that many of the Christian Ojibwe in Upper Canada and western Great Lakes were Methodists, the work of Methodist Ojibwe missionaries and the development of Methodist Indian missions will be emphasized.;Ojibwe ministers and missionaries employed a variety of cultural techniques to Christianize their communities in the Great Lakes. Christian Indian leaders were uniquely situated to address the oppositional arguments which were contextualized within indigenous cultural, societal, and religious frameworks. In doing so, they offered a gospel that was culturally palatable for nineteenth century Ojibwe communities. Christianity was used by the Christian Ojibwe to address the manifold social changes thrust upon their communities due to colonialism and eventually, western industrial expansion. Native missionaries utilized Christianity as a rehabilitative tool to counter the social breakdown which was hastened by contact with non-Indian neighbors. Indigenous Christian leaders proposed theological as well as practical guidance to members of their tribal community as they struggled to maintain their tribal autonomy. However, this guidance increasingly revolved around adopting cultural constructs from white society. This acculturation process sometimes contributed to the social breakdown which Native missionaries were trying to address. Yet, many Christian Ojibwe adapted Christian expression to indigenous cultural practices, thus producing a unique brand of Protestant Christianity which offered a sense of stability, structure, and hope in the face of overwhelming odds. Hopefully this paper will shed some light on that process.