Lost tribes and the Devil's army: The changing role of Native Americans in the Puritan imagination

Contact between cultures has been a major part of human history, and has been the source of much conflict. When the worldviews and histories of two cultures meet, it creates an opportunity for both learning and confusion as preconceptions are challenged or confirmed. When the Puritans settled the Massachusetts Bay region they brought with them a distinct cultural narrative that shaped their understanding of the world. The hundred years that followed was marked by significant changes to the way that Puritans described their purpose in North America, and seemingly inconsistent attitudes toward the local tribes.;Understanding the versatility of Puritan thought helps to explain the process of colonization and the subjugation of Native Americans. It also places their interaction with Native Americans in the context of trans-Atlantic struggles. As the colony's power grew the colonists were increasingly able to exploit Native Americans to justify their own position in North America, and adapted their sense of purpose and meaning to allow for expansion over land formerly inhabited by those tribes. Throughout the seventeenth century Puritan attitudes shifted in order to defend themselves against adversity across the Atlantic, dissent within the colony and the struggles of colonization. The Puritans' cultural narratives adapted to their situation and the pressures placed on them, and the results of those changing attitudes were readily apparent in their relationships with Native Americans.;Rather than allowing the presence of Native Americans to challenge their sense of purpose and meaning, the Puritans used their presence to reinforce and justify colonial efforts. By placing varying emphasis on elements of millenarian thought and Biblical typology the Puritans were able to extensively justify their presence in North America, as exemplified in their changing policies toward missionary efforts and wars with local tribes. This thesis examines Puritan writing in order to understand the cultural narratives that dominated their thought throughout the seventeenth century, and considers how those narratives changed in order to adapt to new pressures on the colony. Puritan thought was versatile enough to adapt to new challenges, and reinforced their presence in North America by placing it within a divine narrative. Native Americans were used to justify and support the community, rather than being allowed to threaten or challenge the beliefs of the colonists.