Islands of Conversion: Cultural CrossDressing on Martha's Vineyard

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Islands of Conversion Cultural Cross-Dressing
on Martha's Vineyard
Ruby Grant Chris Moses Laura
Arnold Summer 2001 Reed College
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Introduction

• Islands of Conversion is a study of Experience
  Mayhews 1727 Indian Converts a community
  history of four generations of Wampanoag Indians
  on the island of Marthas Vineyard. The final
  product of this study is a cultural edition of
  the text that includes an introduction, textual
  annotations, and related artifacts.

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Outline of the Presentation

• The Question Cultural Cross-Dressing
• The Evidence
• The Text Itself
• Textual Annotations
• Related Artifacts
• Our Revised Argument
• Whats Next

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The Question Why Native Lives?

• Native Exemplum
• Opposite Early Lessons from the New England
  Primer

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Previous Explanations

• Historical Interpretations
• James Ronda (2000 1981), Generations of
  Faith The Christian Indians of Marthas
  Vineyard
• Erik Seeman (2001), Reading Indians Deathbed
  Scenes Ethnohistorical and Representational
  Approaches
• Literary Interpretations
• Hilary Wyss (1999), 'Things that Do Accompany
  Salvation' Colonialism, Conversion, and
  Cultural Exchange in Experience Mayhew's Indian
  Converts

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Another Possible Explanation Cultural
Cross-Dressing

• Marjorie Garber and the idea of category crisis
• Culture as performative
• What categories are in crisis in this text?

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Instances of Cultural Cross-Dressing

• Passing
• Vietnam War
• Julia Child
• Opposite Ellen Craft

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Cross Dressing and Indian Converts
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A Concrete Hypothesis Puritans and Time

• Understanding the Puritan Crises in 1720
• The Story of the Rabbi and the Soapmaker

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Hypothesis Puritans and Time, cont.

• Shall Spirits thus my Mammularies suck?
• (As Witches Elves their teats,) and draw from
  thee
• My Dear, Dear Spirit after fumes of muck?
• Be Dunghill Damps more sweet than Graces bee?
• Lord, clear these Caves. These Passes take,
  and keep.
• And in these Quarters lodge thy Odours sweet.
• - Edward Taylor, Meditation. Canticles 1.3.
  Thy Good Ointment

• Visible Saints
• The Visible and Invisible Worlds

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More About the Puritans

• Covenental Theology
• Convenant with devil image
• For when we believe the Church, it is in order
  that we may be firmly persuaded that we are its
  members - John Calvin, Institutes of the
  Christian Religion, Bk. IV, ch. 1, 3.

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New England in the 1720s

• A Culture in Crisis the Beginnings of the
  First Great Awakening (1730-1760)
• Rapid Social Change
• Challenges from the European Enlightenment
• Frontier and Dispersal of Population
• Changed Relations with England after Glorious
  Revolution of 1688
• Industrial Revolution

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Hypothesis Puritans and Time

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The Evidence The Text Itself

• Versions of the Text
• Where Located
• Problems Faced
• What we needed to know to understand the text
  sources, annotations, related texts, and related
  artifacts.

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Versions of the Texts

• The 1727 Edition
• Indian converts (Lives of godly ministers, Of
  other good men, Of religious women, Of pious
  young persons) 
• The 1829 Editions
• Narratives of the lives of pious Indian women
  (also 1800)
• Narratives of the lives of pious Indian children
• Indian narratives ... first native preacher ...
  several converted Indian chiefs, and other
  residents on the same island.

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Where the Texts are Located

• Ayer Collection, Newberry Library in Chicago
• The National Archive in Washington D.C.
• Massachusetts Historical Society (Mayhew Papers)
• Opposite Newberry Library, IL

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Problems we Faced

• Editions are fragile, very valuable, and
  irreplaceable
• Obtaining Permissions to reprint
• UMI has microfilm off-print that can be used for
  some purposes (1992)

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The Evidence Mayhews Sources

• Earlier Histories of the Marthas Vineyard
• Earlier Writings by Mayhew

• Turn away from mortals, who have only breath in
  their nostrils, for of what account are they?
• - Isaiah, 222

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An Earlier History and Indian Converts Compared

• The Number of Indians on these Islands is very
  much diminished, since the English first settled
  on Marthas Vineyard, which was in the Year
  1642, there being then as was supposed on that
  Island about 1500 Souls. At present, there are
  in the Vineyard six small Villages, containing in
  all of them, about 155 Families Each of these
  villages is provided with an Indian Preacher to
  dispense the Word to them on the Lords day, when
  I am not with them. They meet for the Worship of
  GOD twice a Day on the Sabbath
• - A Brief Account of the State of the Indians
  on Marthas Vineyard...

• Hiacoomes accepting this kind Invitation for
  instruction, Mr. Mayhew used his utmost
  Endeavors to enlighten him. And Hiacoomes seemed
  as eagerly to suck in the Instructions given him,
  as if his Heart had been before prepared by GOD,
  and made good ground, in order to a due Reception
  of his Word sown in it And thus as a new-born
  Babe, desiring the sincere Milk of the Word, that
  he might grow thereby, he increased daily in
  Knowledge and so far as could appear, grew in
  Grace also.
• - Indian Converts..., page 2

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Footnotes and Early Readers

• One of the goals of our project is to provide
  footnotes that will elucidate the expectations of
  18th C Readers
• Examining related texts helps us establish these
  expectations
• Opposite 18th Century Reader

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Related Artifacts

• Broadsides
• Sermons
• Letters
• Images
• Indenture
• by these Presents doth put and bind his slave
  named Hannah being a Girl half Indian and
  Half-Negro and about one year and six months old
  - Providence, R.I., Aug 1723, David Green to
  George Munford, RIHS Shepley Col. MSS 9006 v. 15
  p. 19
• Material Culture

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Our Revised Argument

• 1. Indian Converts as accounting for the Native
  aspect of colonial history
• 2. The sophistication of Mayhews own thought
  and theological perspective
• 3. Indian Converts complex place in the
  development of racial ideologies
• 4. The varied uniqueness of the Vineyard
  experience
• 5. Indian Converts and Children

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Whats Next

• Prepare Text for U. Massachusetts Press
• New Lines of Inquiry

• Since all men are to Acknowledge God in all
  their ways, does not every Society owe Religious
  Acknowledgements, unto God? Or, is it not a
  Profanity for People in a formed Society, never
  as such, to express their Dependence on the
  Blessed GOD, for His Blessings?
• - Cotton Mather (1707 1720), Family Religion,
  Excited and Assisted

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Questions?
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