“We Take Hold of the White Man’s Worship with One Hand, but with the Other Hand We Hold Fast Our Fathers’ Worship”: The Beginning of Indigenous Methodist Christianity and Its Expression in the Christian Guardian, Upper Canada circa 1829

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

On page 5, line 202, "settle" should probably be changed to "settler."

Author Response

I have addresses the spelling error on pg. 5 line 202

Reviewer 2 Report

 

The study seeks to affirm the validity of Indigenous Methodism in part as a response to the evils of the residential schools that are still being uncovered. Written from a settler perspective, the paper cites primary sources mainly from 1829-30 in order to “lift up” the voices of “Indigenous converts.” The paper seeks to explain Indigenous motivations, but it is not clear that Indigenous academics have participated in the research project, and some readers might well view this lack of participation as unethical.

 

The evidential base from 1829–30 is too narrow, as is the focus on Methodism as such. Viewing a complex social history through a narrowly denominational lens is problematic in a manner that betrays Western educational bias. Perhaps the Methodist residential schools could be compared with non-Methodist schools, if that denominational element of is to be retained in a revision.

 

Given the overall argument, it is striking that there is no critical analysis of what “conversion” might mean. Generalizations in the article include a sweeping claim that Indigenous Christians were attracted to a “personal conversion experience” (lines 273–74), a claim that appears to come from a non-Indigenous historian, Semple, who is cited no less than 32 times. An emphasis on personal conversion is an evangelical trope, which stands in tension with the typically communalist orientation of First Nations peoples. Neither the secondary literature nor the primary sources are sufficient for the complexity of the topic.

 

Author Response

Thank you for voicing your concerns with this article. I have tried to respond where I could and address those concerns as follows:

1. "The study seeks to affirm the validity of Indigenous Methodism in part as a response to the evils of the residential schools that are still being uncovered."

Though I would rather say that this article in an attempt to explain the response of some Indigenous Christians to the assertion that Indigenous and Christian identities are incompatible in the light of a damaging colonial history including residential schools as Indigenous people themselves are affirming the validity of their Christian identity today. In response the concern raised I have tried to temper the language of the article so as to avoid the impression that I am affirming rather than describing the history of Indigenous Christianity. (see lines 53; 71; 326)

2. "The paper seeks to explain Indigenous motivations, but it is not clear that Indigenous academics have participated in the research project, and some readers might well view this lack of participation as unethical."

To address this concern I have provided a new section at the beginning of the article to show that the scope of the work falls within an accepted body of scholarship going back decades. In this section I have more explicitly acknowledged the challenges that non-indigenous scholars face and the ethical choices they have made in this context. In addition, the article was sent to an Indigenous reader to get feedback before submitting. A footnote to that effect has now been provided (line 81-122)

 

3. "The evidential base from 1829–30 is too narrow, as is the focus on Methodism as such. Viewing a complex social history through a narrowly denominational lens is problematic in a manner that betrays Western educational bias. Perhaps the Methodist residential schools could be compared with non-Methodist schools, if that denominational element of is to be retained in a revision."

I do not understand the concern here and simply have to disagree.

 

4. "Given the overall argument, it is striking that there is no critical analysis of what “conversion” might mean. Generalizations in the article include a sweeping claim that Indigenous Christians were attracted to a “personal conversion experience” (lines 273–74), a claim that appears to come from a non-Indigenous historian, Semple, who is cited no less than 32 times. An emphasis on personal conversion is an evangelical trope, which stands in tension with the typically communalist orientation of First Nations peoples."

I have cited another scholar in the field of Indigenous history who has expressed a similar conclusion to Semple and I have made more explicit my main thesis that Indigenous Christians not only were able to hold onto their Indigenous identity following conversion but used Christianity to strengthen aspects of their Indigenous culture that they valued. (line 336-342) The Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars who compared Egerton Ryerson's legacy to the that Kahkewaquonaby agree that this Indigenous Christian did not abandon his community after conversion but worked for its betterment. (line 694)

I feel that the article has given a number of additional reasons why an Indigenous person might be attracted to the new religion beyond the personal religious experience. But personal religious enthusiasm is strongly documented in the primary sources which supports Semple's claim.

5. "Neither the secondary literature nor the primary sources are sufficient for the complexity of the topic."

The new section at the beginning of the papers seeks to show that this is not the case. (lines 81-122)

Reviewer 3 Report

This is a well-constructed and clearly written paper that provides thoughtful analysis of the voices and perspectives of Indigenous Christians, as they were published in the Christian Guardian, a magazine of the Canadian Methodist Episcopal denomination. The author has done an excellent job of contextualising this publication and the experience of Indigenous Christians within the specific circumstances of Canadian settler Christianity and Canadian Methodism. Of particular interest here is the role of inter-denominational rivalry in shaping the relationship between settler missionaries and Indigenous Christians. The prestige that accrued to settler denominations from Indigenous conversions and the potential agency that this created for Indigenous converts, are important themes, which to my knowledge have not been widely discussed in the broader scholarship on missions and conversions.

The author provides convincing evidence of the multiple ways in which Indigenous Christians used this publication to represent themselves and their culture in more positive, empowering and diverse ways than can be seen in the more racist and stereotyped representations of Indigenous people that settler Christians produced in the same publication. The author shows how Indigenous Christian writers used the magazine to promote Indigenous leadership and Anishinaabemowin language use and translation. They also represented alternative Indigenous voices, some of which were less favourable to settler Methodist agendas. This is a rich source and the author analyses it effectively.

While the article engages very thoroughly with the existing secondary literature on Canadian Christianity, missions to Indigenous people in Canada and Indigenous cultures in Canada, it pays far less attention to the vast literature on Christian missions and Indigenous conversion beyond the Canadian context. Many themes of this article - why Indigenous people converted to Christianity in the context of colonisation; how Indigenous voices might be identified or read in missionary sources and publications; the relationship between Indigenous Christianity and pre-colonial Indigenous cultures - have been thoroughly discussed and debated by historians and mission scholars for several decades. I think the author needs to show greater awareness of where they are stepping on to well-trodden ground, in order to more clearly identify the original contributions that this article makes. The author references one study by David Kim-Cragg on Korean Christianity, but there is a massive relevant literature on these themes. A particularly relevant recent edited collection is Arun W. Jones, ed.:  Christian Interculture: Texts and Voices from Colonial and Postcolonial Worlds (2021). Other useful collections that give a sense of the state of the debates on these questions include Brock, P. et al, Indigenous Evangelists and Questions of Authority in the British Empire 1750-1940 (2015) and Lindenfeld and Richardson, eds. Beyond Conversion and Syncretism: Indigenous Encounters with Missionary Christianity, 1800-2000. (2012). Many of these themes are also explored regularly in articles from journals such as the Journal of World Christianity and Studies in World Christianity.

Overall, this is a thoughtful article that analyses some interesting sources in fruitful ways. I am happy to recommend publication once the author has done some wider reading and shown how their arguments might build upon and contribute to the broader literature on Indigenous Christianity and the challenges, particularly for settler historians, of recovering and representing the voices of Indigenous Christians.

Author Response

Thank you for this helpful feedback.

I have consulted and cited two of the works you have kindly suggested, Arun W. Jones, ed.:  Christian Interculture, and Brock, P. et al, Indigenous Evangelists and Questions of Authority. I have also cited a number of comparable edited volumes from the Canadian scholarship to ground the work in both global and regional efforts in the field. (see lines 81 to 122; 339; 348; 349)

I have added a short section at the beginning of the paper to provide some of the historiographical and theoretical context of the paper. This section also names the challenge that a settler historian faces when seeking to interpret Indigenous sources and justifies the attempt with the help of the conclusions of other scholars. (lines 81-122)