Christian evangelism was the ostensible motive for much of the early European interaction with the indigenous population of America. The religious orders of the Catholic Church were the front-line representatives of Western culture and the ones who met indigenous America face-to-face. They were also the primary agents of religious change. In this book, Nicholas Cushner provides the first comprehensive overview and analysis of the American missionary activities of the Jesuits. From the North American encounter with the Indians of Florida in 1565, through Mexico, New France, the Paraguay Reductions, Andean Perus, to contact with Native Americans in Maryland on the eve of the American Revolution, members of the order interacted with both native elites and colonizers. Drawing on the abundant documentation of and scholarship about these encounters, Cushner examines how the Jesuits behaved toward the indigenous population and analyzes the way in which native belief systems were replaced by Christianity. He seeks to understand how and why the initial European-Indian encounter changed not only the religion of the natives, but also their material culture, economic activity, social organization, and even their sexual behavior. Always sensitive to the influence of European "cultural filters" on Jesuit accounts, Cushner attempts as far as possible to discover the authentic voices of the Native Americans with whom they interacted. The result is a fascinating and highly accessible introduction to the earliest colonial encounters in the Americas.
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Review "Without a doubt, this is the best overall study of Jesuit missions in the Americas to date: it is extremely readable, grounded in solid research, and buttressed by balanced and insightful comments."--JeffreyKlaiber, The International History Review
"This is a book for which the author must be heartily congratulated. Such a daunting, yet, on the whole, successful examination of Jesuit-Indian interactions --on a continental scale, in five different American locations, and in comparable chronological settings --has rarely, if ever, been seriously attempted or has produced such convincing results. If anything, Cushner's book strengthens the notion that conversion to Christianity, and probably to any new religion (or belief system), is such an intimate, individual event that we will never be able to interrogate a convert's sincerity, let alone to quantify the overall phenomenon." -- Journal of American History
"Cushner offers a welcome introductory text on Jesuit efforts in the New World, based on an understanding of Jesuit spirituality and missiology, and comparative analysis that brings each aspect of the book into focus." -- Michigan Historical Review
About the Author
Nicholas P. Cushner is Professor of History (Emeritus) at the Empire State College, State University of New York, in Albany.
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