After Gnadenhütten: The Moravian Indian Mission in the Old Northwest, 1782-1812

Abstract

abstract:This article examines the Moravian missions to Native Americans in the Old Northwest after the massacre of ninety-six Christian Indians at Gnadenhütten, Ohio, in 1782. It argues that the missions grew after the massacre despite the trauma of the event. Natives continued to find the Moravian culture centered on a theology of the suffering Savior a compelling reason to join the church, often in the context of famine, alcoholism, and displacement among Native communities. However, as seen in the White River mission in Indiana, nativist resistance movements presented an alternative to Moravian mission culture and prevented the missions from expanding westward. Missions in Ohio eventually declined because of pressures associated with rapid white settlement. While the Gnadenhütten massacre did not destroy the missions, it affected the way Indians interacted with Moravian Christianity.