"A Useful Christian Woman": First Nations' Women and Protestant Missionary Work in British Columbia

Research on British Columbia's missionary frontier suggests that women made a vital contribution to the Churches' proselytization work among the province's First Nations. However, proselytization was not the work of white women only. Aboriginal women appear to have contributed signifi...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Whitehead, Margaret
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Mount Saint Vincent University
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.msvu.ca/index.php/atlantis/article/view/5175
Description
Summary:Research on British Columbia's missionary frontier suggests that women made a vital contribution to the Churches' proselytization work among the province's First Nations. However, proselytization was not the work of white women only. Aboriginal women appear to have contributed significantly to the missionary work of the Protestant Churches. Christianity, which imposed European values along with conversion, had a profound effect on aboriginal women's lives. For some, it offered, as it had to their white sisters, new opportunities for influence and status; for others, it created alienation from their people and culture. La recherche sur les missionnaires de la Colombie-britannique révèle que les femmes ont joué un rôle vital dans le travail du clergé parmi les autochtones de la province. L'évangélisation n'a cependant pas seulement été l'oeuvre des femmes blanches; en effet, les femmes autochtones semblent avoir, elles aussi, grandement contribué à ce travail. Le christianisme, qui imposait les valeurs européennes tout en convertissant, a profondément marqué la vie des femmes autochtones. Pour certaines, il leur a offert, comme pour leurs consceurs blanches, une chance d'avoir de l'influence sur leur condition et de l'améliorer. Pour d'autres, cependant, il les a aliénées de leur peuple et de leur culture.