Richard W. Pointer—recently retired from Westmont College—has provided important insight into religious interactions between Native Americans and settlers for more than two decades. In Pacifist Prophet: Papunhank and the Quest for Peace in Early America, Pointer argues that the Munsee prophet Papunhank was a “surprising, countercultural figure in the eighteenth century, fitting neither the stereotypes of Indians held by whites nor the expectations other Natives had for one of their own” (5). More than a simple biography, Pointer uses Papunhank as a lens through which to view multiple groups in early Pennsylvania and Ohio, including Moravians and Christian Indians.
The book opens with a general discussion of the eighteenth-century Munsee world and Papunhank's own family origins. From here, Pointer moves on to examine the emergence of Papunhank's prophetic ministry. Pointer unequivocally roots this in a vision quest the Munsee undertook following the death of Papunhank's father in the late 1740s or early 1750s. According to Papunhank himself, the success of this quest changed him as a person. He returned to his village and began telling the story of his vision but then, his preaching “began to slide toward exhortation” (60).
Over the next few years, a small community gathered around Papunhank for which he sought a permanent home. This was a difficult task because of the conflicts which erupted in the Pennsylvania borderlands in the mid-1750s. Papunhank took time to understand the politics, ideas, and motivations of various actors in the region, including the Six Nations, the colonial government, the Quakers (especially the Friendly Association), and the Moravians. When the Treaty of Easton essentially ended hostilities in the colony, the way was clear for Papunhank's band to establish a settlement at Wyalusing on the North Branch of the Susquehanna River. The site was ideal in many ways: good farmland, hunting grounds, and transportation. In addition, as Pointer observes: “It was close enough to other Native settlements to stay abreast of important news but far enough removed to create their own type of community” (101). Furthermore, although it was relatively isolated from white settlers, it was close enough to the Moravian settlement at Nain for regular contact between the two communities.
This Moravian connection became more important over the next few years as challenges to Papunhank's role as both prophet and leader of the community emerged and threatened the community's existence. During this period, Papunhank sought advice and insight from the Moravians. The culmination of this process was Papunhank's decision to seek Moravian baptism. This event played a significant role in restoring a sense of unity among the community at Wyalusing. It also restored Papunhank to both spiritual and political leadership.
The community was also at risk because of its proximity to violence connected to Pontiac's War. Papunhank knew the Moravians could not provide protection from this and so maintained lines of communication with Pennsylvania Governor James Hamilton. As conflict moved closer to Wyalusing, Papunhank and Hamilton decided the best course of action was for the Indians to relocate to Philadelphia where the group spent sixteen months in exile. Despite losing many of their number to smallpox, the community survived and, in the spring of 1765, returned to Wyalusing. About a year later, they relocated to a new site a mile away: buildings were moved, new fields planted, and a larger meeting house erected in a central location. Although still an Indian town, Papunhank also created it as a Moravian town, and it was renamed Friedenshütten.
Papunhank became more zealous in spreading the Moravian faith. Pointer argues that Papunhank was largely response for enabling the resumption of the Moravian missions after 1765. As part of his determination to spread the faith, Papunhank accompanied Zeisberger on a trip to visit a handful of Munsee towns along the Allegheny River. This trip would prove fortuitous as, around the same time, the community at Wyalusing came under pressure from both the familiar European demand for new land and the desire of the Six Nations to bring the village under their control. Following a great deal of discussion and negotiation, the community moved to Muskingum. At first, there were tensions with other Indians in their new home over the Moravian faith itself, alcohol, gambling, and other vices. Nonetheless, by March 1775, peace reigned in the region and the western Delawares had given formal blessing to the settlement. Two months later, Papunhank entered his final rest.
Pointer's book is a tour de force. Although Papunhank left no sources written in his own hand, his words were recorded by others during his lifetime, and these are invaluable to much of Pointer's argument (Pointer pays the proper attention to the problems of translation). In addition, observations about Papunhank were recorded in other sources such as Moravian letters and diaries. Pointer also deftly uses the body of literature about Native American religion and Moravians which has built up in the last several decades. The result is an elegant, clearly argued book. By the end, this reader unequivocally agreed with Pointer's conclusion that “Johannes Papunhank stands out as an extraordinary man, a countercultural individual whose story forces us to broaden our notions of whom and what Indians could be and do in early America” (300).
