The purpose of this collection of articles is to build upon “recent writings that go beyond generalizations about missionary interactions with Native peoples,” exploring “both sides of the interaction, with special attention to the Oneida perspective in the encounter” (xvii). According to the authors, the book focuses on “three main factors that allowed for the Episcopal tradition to take root within the community” (xvii). First, the Oneida emphasized personal interactions and relationships with missionaries over theology. A common theme throughout the book is that the success of the mission to the Wisconsin Oneida was dependent upon how the Oneida viewed the missionaries who worked among them. Second was the ability of Episcopal clergy and the Oneida to blend Oneida sacred traditions and Episcopal beliefs and practices into a uniquely Oneida Episcopalian Christianity. For example, alliances between the Episcopal clergy and the Oneida were forged through the Iroquois Condolence Council ritual. Third, the Oneida made Christianity their own and adopted it on the own terms. The Oneida were able to retain Iroquois culture within an Episcopalian framework by integrating Christianity with Oneida traditions and presenting their traditions through a flexible reinterpretation of Christianity. They were able to do so through their selective adoption of and creative adaptations to Christianity (38, 68).

Overall, the book focuses on the importance of Native autonomy and Oneida interpretations of Christianity, and it suggests that every action the Oneida pursued was done for the community. It is clear from this book that the relationship between the Oneida and the Episcopalian Church was and is one of mutual exchange and adaptation.

The book is divided into four parts. The first part, which covers the seventeenth century to the 1820s, is about early Oneida encounters with Christianity in New York before the establishment of a permanent Episcopal mission among the Oneida. The second part is about the relationship between the Oneida and the Episcopal Church in Wisconsin from the early nineteenth century until the early twentieth century. The first two parts are secondary source historical narratives. The third part is a series of Oneida first-person accounts of the Episcopal Church drawn from WPA oral histories conducted between 1938 and 1942 as well as more contemporary reminiscences. This third part consists entirely of primary source materials. The fourth part contextualizes Oneida Episcopal history and provides a summative and insightful conclusion.

The authors of the first two parts of the book emphasize the importance of the Covenant Chain and its relationship to Christian missionization. They also highlight the importance of Native converts in missionization efforts. For example, Native women were important culture brokers and a key constituency within the Oneida Christian community. The indigenization of Christianity was another important theme throughout these first two sections of the text. Tiro's chapter notes that Christianity survived among the Oneida in the absence of a missionary presence, calling it an “indigenous, autonomous Christianity” (26). Despite a number of setbacks, Christianity persisted and remains among the Wisconsin Oneida. Hymns are an example of how Christianity indigenized and survived among the Oneida. They were a significant middle ground between Christian and indigenous religious practice, acting as both an “example of colonization and a form of tribal resistance” (29, 62).

The first-person narratives transcribed from both the WPA and more recent interviews complement the historical and academically infused narratives found earlier in the text. These two disparate elements of the book are both beneficial to the Oneida and Episcopal stories.

The last chapter reiterates the Covenant Chain metaphor and summarizes the previously laid out historical narrative. The purpose of the book is rearticulated in the concluding chapter. The authors of the last chapter state that the book claims “to tell both sides of the story and update Bloomfield's book, carrying the analysis into the twenty-first century” (174). However, I see little of this present-day analysis in this book other than a few contemporary reminiscences, most of which focus on Oneida Episcopal history prior to the twenty-first century.

The appendices offer helpful timelines to supplement the historical narrative and help the reader place important figures in their proper historical context. The extensive bibliography speaks to the collaborative efforts of academics, clergy, and Oneida community members to be as thorough and exhaustive in their research as possible.

This book is nuanced and Oneida-forward, revealing the complexities of missionization and conversion. Because of this approach, the book does not shy away from the negative aspects of this history and relationship. For example, the authors write about how during the nineteenth century the United States government enacted civilization policies by using missionaries as agents of the state.

Multiple authors and writing styles make the work seem disjointed at times, with some overlapping or repeated information. The primary sources and images add additional richness to the text. However, there are too many images and too much reliance on lengthy first-person narratives for a book of this length. It might be better to incorporate the most relevant and useful first-person narratives and images throughout the historical narrative rather than placing them within their own sections. The current configuration is a bit disjointed, and the book would flow better if smaller excerpts and selected images were scattered throughout. Switching to first-person narrative accounts around 1900 is disruptive to the previous historical narrative. The book lacks a coherent historical narrative beginning around the turn of the twentieth century. The first-person accounts fill in some of the twentieth-century narrative history but leave the reader wanting a more structured secondary account to contextualize the primary accounts.

This book thoughtfully and appropriately engages with academic scholarship and has value beyond the scope of its focus. This book would complement other studies on Native American religious history, Native mission history, and colonialism and state formation. Christopher Vecsey's chapter places the book within a larger postcolonial studies context that privileges the indigenous perspective of Christian mission history. This penultimate chapter almost reads like a book review within the book.