A Town Called ‘Rejoycing’
Reconsidering John Eliot’s 1646 Mission to the ‘Indians’

• Date:01/28/2021 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
• Location:Virtual
  Virtual Meeting
  Newton, Massachusetts 02459
• Introduction: Drew Lopenzina, an eminent scholar of of Early American and Native American literatures and author of “Red Ink” lectures with the Newton Free Library

History tells us that John Eliot, the “Apostle to the Indians,” came to the area of present-day Newton in 1646 to preach to the local indigenous communities of Massachusetts and Nipmucs in their own language. His mission was part of an overall endeavor by the Puritans to convert the Natives of the land to Christianity. Both history and tradition tend to place Eliot speaking down to the “children of the forest” gathered at his feet. As we mark the 400th anniversary of the Pilgrim’s first landing at Plymouth, however, it is an opportune time to re-situate this encounter in Native space. What did Native people have to gain by welcoming Eliot into their community and what were they ultimately prepared to sacrifice under increased colonial pressure to adopt a foreign religious belief structure? Register through the Newton Free Library to receive the Zoom link.