Same purpose, two centuries and counting:
Help Native Americans

helpnativeamericans.com is a website created by the Society for Propagating the Gospel among the Indians and others, in North America. The Society is the oldest missionary organization in existence in the United States. To date, no comprehensive historical analysis of the Society exists. This website is not intended to be a comprehensive overview of the last two hundred and thirty years, but rather, a glimpse into the history, activities and ongoing purpose of a Society founded on the purpose of providing Christian ideals to the first Americans.

HISTORY

In the year 1787, twenty-one Gentleman of Boston and vicinity successfully petitioned the General Court of Massachusetts (the governing body of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts) for a formal charter to establish the Society for Propagating the Gospel among the Indians, and others, in North America.

Among the petitioners were individuals who represented the elite of the Commonwealth: John Eliot, Francis Dana, Increase Sumner and Eliphalet Porter, to name a few. These humanitarians hoped to advance Christianity by spreading literacy and education.  Funding for the organization started with the acquisition of a small portion of the money raised by the famous Mohegan Minister Samson Occom, who traveled throughout the British Isles, between 1766 and 1768, raising 12,000 pounds to evangelize and educate the natives of North American.  In 1788 a Brief, issued by John Hancock, governor of the Commonwealth, proposing the donation of funds for the Society’s purpose. The most substantial funding came from the individual Society members themselves; James Bowdoin and Moses Gill were large contributors. The largest individual donation came from the estate of John Alford of Charlestown.  

The funds went to support the main objective of the Society; supporting missionaries who would travel to remote areas of New England and preach the gospel to white settlers and native peoples alike. As stated in the original charter the purpose was: “the dissemination of Christian knowledge, and the means of religious instruction among all those, in their country, who were destitute of them.”

The essential concept- that of educating the native inhabitants of North America -remained the driving force of the Society for more than two centuries. Missionary ministers, supported by the Society, would travel and stay in remote areas providing education on the gospel, religious services and printed educational materials, some translated into native tongue by the legendary John Elliot, Apostle to the Indians, in the 17th century.

In a 1797 report, submitted to the General Court of Massachusetts, it was stated that in the first ten years of existence the Society and it’s missionaries had distributed bibles, religious pamphlets, spelling books, primers, and hymnbooks, totaling almost eight thousand copies “among the poor inhabitants in the eastern parts of this commonwealth” which included all of New England and the region that now comprises the state of Maine. The missions established in Maine, coastal Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont and New York State were administered by missionaries well into the early 20th century -with the Society directly funding the ministers and the schools that were established in places like The Isle of Shoals (Maine), Gay Head, now Aquinnah (Massachusetts) and at Onondaga (New York)…to name just a few.  

Missionaries were required to keep journals of their activities and reports from these journals were often included in the annual, often published, reports of the Society. The Massachusetts Historical Society has journals and letters from 1791 through 1922, which provide a glimpse into the lives of the missionaries, and an even smaller glimpse into the lives of the Native Americans. One hundred and forty years of correspondence sheds light on the lives of minister missionaries who understood that education was the very first step in proselytizing. Being a missionary required enormous personal sacrifice, leaving behind for months, even years, all that was familiar and traveling into the unknown.  

The westward expansion of the 19th and early 20th century moved the focus of the mission movement in the same direction, with the Society sending missionaries to the Ohio and Mississippi River Valleys and then to tribes in the South and North West, all the while directly supporting missions in Maine, Massachusetts, New York and elsewhere.

After the Civil War the mission movement in North America began to shift away from directly supervising missionaries –to providing financial support for educational programming at established institutions. Ministers would visit and preach the gospel, but the ongoing educational programs at these sites would be directly funded by the Society and conducted by the organizations themselves. The White River Indian Agency in Colorado and the Santee Normal Training School in Nebraska, are two examples of what became the new model for helping Native Americans.

The Society supported missionaries well into the 20th century, but eventually the cost began to outweigh the means of the organization, and the Society reduced the number of missionaries and developed the position of missionary at large. George Kenngott and G.E.E. Lindquist were such missionaries who traveled throughout the west visiting organized missions and Indian reservations. Lindquist worked for the Society from 1927 to 1953 and traveled thousands of miles providing support for programs he believed would help Native Americans lead more prosperous lives.

The support of missionary activities is financially unfeasible in the 21st century, however the Society continues the tradition of providing direct financial support to organizations, like those mentioned below, to assist Native Americans in their desire to continue weaving a cultural fabric that incorporates the warp and weft of Christianity and their own ancient cultural traditions.

In 2017 the Society provided financial support to eleven institutions, including the John Hopkins Center for American Indian Health, the American Indian Youth Council of Kentucky and the Newton-San Juan Sister City Project in Nicaragua.

The Society for Propagating the Gospel Among the Indians and Others in North America is now the oldest organization of its type in the United States.

Benjamin Lincoln

One of the founding members of the Society was a native son of Massachusetts, graduate of Harvard, Major General in the American Revolution and second in command to George Washington at the end of the war. He has the distinction of being presented sword of British surrender at Yorktown: Lord Cornwallis, Commander of the British Forces, plead illness, and so did not attend the surrender ceremony, choosing instead to send his second-in-command, the Irish General Charles O'Hara. General Washington refused to accept Cornwallis' sword from O'Hara, directing O'Hara to present it instead to Lincoln, Washington's own second-in-command.  Where most places that are named Lincoln are assumed to be named after Abraham Lincoln, are in fact named after Benjamin Lincoln.

Rev. Rhys Williams

Rev. Williams was quoted as saying; “Every person has the obligation to be a positive force in this era of accelerating change." And for four decades- he did just that.

As minister of the First Church, Boston, Rev. Williams quietly led and actively participated in a staggering number of important organizations. His unparalleled contribution to the arts, education, culture and ministry of Boston placed him at the center of a positive force that sustained organizations like Opera Boston, Franklin Institute, John Winthrop School, Emerson College, Colonial Society of Massachusetts and more than a dozen Unitarian Universalists organizations. In addition to all that, and more, Rev. Williams served as vice-president and president of the Society for Propagating the Gospel among the Indians and Others in North America from 1975 to 2003.

The era of accelerating change made possible a new way to expand his ministry - when Emerson College starting broadcasting Sunday services from First Church in the 1980s.

“Rhys wanted people not to worry about the next life, but do what they could to make this life better for other people."  Said his wife Eleanor.

Making life better for all people was the hallmark of his ministry. His efforts to create and sustain the Hale-Barnard Corporation, started in 1965, which still provides housing and programs for senior citizens in the Boston area, is just one example of a myriad of programs he brought to life and nurtured during his remarkable life.

NativeVision Sports and Life Skills Camp

Now in its 20th year, the annual NativeVision camp is held annually in a tribal community and serves up to 1,000 youth from dozens of tribes. One of the many powerful aspects of NativeVision is the opportunity for youth from different Indian nations to meet and share their cultures. The 2017 camp took place in June at the White Mountain Apache Reservation in Arizona. With guidance from Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health's public health experts, he athletes share their own stories of perseverance and overcoming adversity, and honor the youth's heritage and cultures. At the camp, a variety of life skills workshops are offered for the children and community members including nutrition, arts and crafts, leadership and positive parenting.

At NativeVision, professional and collegiate athletes (football, lacrosse, basketball, soccer, volleyball and track) as mentors who conduct sports clinics and lead inspirational breakout sessions with youth ages 7-18.

EcoStove:  San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua

San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua

San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua has enjoyed a “Sister City” relationship with Newton, MA since 1988. For over a quarter century, the Newton/San Juan del Sur Sister City Project has pursued its mission of improving health and education in tandem with grassroots organizations and dedicated individuals there. By bringing simple, eco-friendly technologies to the families of San Juan, and offered literacy programs and adult education programs to hundreds of people who are excluded from the regular school system. These efforts are changing the health, economy, and culture of the region.

Two recent projects funded by the Society are the installation of BioSand Filters for purifying contaminated well water, and EcoStoves, for cooking with wood without filling the home (and folks’ lungs) with smoke.

Other organizations supported by the Society:

Native American Youth Enrichment Program of Harvard College.
American Indian Alaska Native Ministries
The St. Paul’s Indian Mission
The Council for American Indian Ministry
All Nations Indian Church
American Indian Youth Council

Until the third quarter of the 20th century the Society supported the work of missionaries at large: ministers who would travel thousands of miles visiting organizations and reservation sites that provided religious education for Native Americans. Rev. G.E.E. Lindquist is shown below visiting a Southwest Indian reservation in the 1930s

G.E.E. Lindquist

From 1927-1953 Served as Missionary-at-Large for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel among Indians and Others in North America. His primary responsibilities included public speaking engagements in churches, schools, and civic organizations, with the purpose of promoting the integration of Indians in the mainstream of American society. During this period he traveled thousands of miles, visited hundreds of reservations and acquired an enormous collection of artifacts related to his travels. Columbia University houses his collection which contains many photographs of the Native Americans. Lindquist considered himself a progressive missionary and rather than preach, he presented educational programs designed to help Native Americans lead more prosperous lives while promoting the concepts of education, civil liberty and citizenship.