Praying Indian
Praying Indian is a 17th-century term referring to Native Americans of New England, New York, Ontario, and Quebec who converted to Christianity either voluntarily or involuntarily.
In 1649, the Long Parliament passed an ordination forming "A Corporation for the Promoting and Propagating the Gospel of Jesus Christ in New England," which raised funds to support the cause.
On October 28, 1646, in Nonantum (now Newton), Eliot preached his first sermon to Native Americans in their Massachusett language in the wigwam of Waban, the first convert of his tribe.
[2][better source needed] Eliot translated the Bible into the Massachusett language and published it in 1663 as Mamusse Wunneetupanatamwe Up-Biblum God.
[3] Christian Indian Towns were eventually located throughout Eastern and Central Massachusetts and included Littleton (Nashoba), Lowell (Wamesit, initially incorporated as part of Chelmsford), Grafton (Hassanamessit), Marlborough (Okommakamesit), Hopkinton (Makunkokoag), Canton (Punkapoag), Mendon-Uxbridge (Wacentug), Billerica (Shawshin), and Natick.
The towns had a location that served as an outlying wall of defense for the colony, a function that came to an end in 1675, during King Philip's War.
[4] John Eliot and many others in the Plymouth Colony tried to prevent it,[5] but it is reported that it became dangerous in Massachusetts to talk positively about any Native Americans, which likely contributed to the initial successes of the Indian rebellion.
[4] The order for removal was passed in October 1675, and by December, well over 1,000 Christian Indians had been brought to the island, where many died during the winter due to the harsh conditions.
[6] After the war, in part because of the loss of life, the General Court of Massachusetts disbanded 10 of the original 14 towns in 1677 and placed the rest under the supervision of colonists,[7] but some communities survived and retained their religious and education systems.
[9][10] In the mid-17th century, John Eliot and a group of praying Indians from Dedham, Massachusetts, won a lengthy court battle and were awarded the title to the 2,000 acres (810 ha) of land in the town that is now known as Natick.
[11] The dispute, which lasted from 1651 to 1665 and flared up again sporadically in the years afterward, centered on the Indians' use of a tract of land along the Charles River.
[13] The town's actions in the case were characterized by "deceptions, retaliations, and lasting bitterness" and harassed its Native neighbors with petty accusations even after the matter had been settled.
That inevitably led to clashes involving previously aligned groups, when Native tribes on opposite sides of the conflict met on the field of battle.
The Battle of King's Bridge in the Bronx, where both Daniel Nimham, the last sachem of the Wappinger and his son Abraham were killed alongside some 60 members of the Stockbridge Militia is a notable exception.
Historian George Quintal Jr. discusses Revolutionary war veterans who were Native American, African-American, and other minority groups in his book Patriots of Color: 'A Peculiar Beauty and Merit'.
James Anthony was born in Natick and initially served for eight months in 1775 in the regiment of Col. Jonathan Ward and in the company of Capt.
He later re-enlisted in Col. Thomas Nixon's fourth Regiment in New York and fought at the Battles of Harlem Heights and White Plains.
Under NAGPRA, the Mashpee Wampanoag and Nipmuc Nation were able to return his remains to the Pond Street Burial Ground in Needham (now Natick).
Born in Natick, Comecho enlisted for eight month's service and his unit held the line at Bunker Hill between the redoubt and the rail fence.
During that period, most of the original Praying Towns eventually declined because of epidemics and the communal land property of others passing out of Native control.
