Description
Book SynopsisThe Mohegan-Brothertown minister Samson Occom (1723–1792) was a prominent political and religious leader of the Indigenous peoples of present-day New York and New England. In this groundbreaking book, Ryan Carr argues that Occom’s writings were deeply rooted in Indigenous traditions of hospitality, diplomacy, and openness to strangers.
Trade ReviewIn
Samson Occom, Ryan Carr makes the powerfully argued case for expanding our interpretive practices regarding Occom through consideration of his work on its own terms—ones that respect what we can know of Occom’s purposes and perspectives. Through careful and broadly considered historical research, Carr creates an impressive network of connected histories through which to situate Occom as a thinker, writer, and leader. -- Robert Warrior, coauthor of
American Indian Literary NationalismRyan Carr has produced a strikingly fresh account of Samson Occom's rendering of Christianity as a tool to maneuver the catastrophe of settler colonialism by centering Indigenous community. He subtly narrates how Occom used language to traverse vast distances in practicing radical hospitality and to elicit ancient notions of sacredness. -- Jean M. O’Brien, coeditor of
Allotment Stories: Indigenous Land Relations Under Settler SiegeIn this magnificent contribution to Native literary history and early American studies, Ryan Carr reconstructs Samson Occom in a way that keeps his complicated humanity, well, complicated, especially when considering Occom as a religious thinker and public intellectual. This book is original, erudite, edifying, and beautifully written. I recommend it highly. -- Scott Richard Lyons, author of
X-Marks: Native Signatures of AssentTable of ContentsForeword by Amy Medford and Megan Fulopp
Acknowledgments
Introduction, on the Occasion of Samson Occom’s Three Hundredth Birthday
Part I1. “Asylum for Strangers”: An Approach to Occom’s Traditionalism
2. Occom Obviously: Literary Studies and the Problem of Indigenous Knowledge
Part II3. A Theology of Land and Peoplehood
4. Piety and Placemaking: Styles of Strangerhood Among Occom and His Kin
Part III5. Seft at Last: Occom’s 1768 Autobiography in Native Space
6. “Time to Awake”: Occom on Perception, Alienation, and “Pure Religion”
Conclusion: “Good Enthusiasm”
Appendix: Unpublished Letters by Susanna Wheatley and Samson Occom
Notes
Bibliography
Index
