Longhouses, Schoolrooms, and Workers’ Cottages: Nineteenth-Century Protestant Missions to the Tsimshian and the Transformation of Class Through Religion
This paper explores the blurring of boundaries among class identities in nineteenth-century Protestant missions to the Tsimshian, Aboriginal people of the northwest British Columbia coast. Through an exploration of the nature of Christian chiefs, Tsimshian demand for literacy and schooling, and fina...
Published in: | Journal of the Canadian Historical Association |
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Main Author: | |
Format: | Text |
Language: | English |
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The Canadian Historical Association/La Société historique du Canada
2000
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.7202/031131ar http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/031131ar |
Summary: | This paper explores the blurring of boundaries among class identities in nineteenth-century Protestant missions to the Tsimshian, Aboriginal people of the northwest British Columbia coast. Through an exploration of the nature of Christian chiefs, Tsimshian demand for literacy and schooling, and finally mission housing, this paper highlights ways in which the class implications of religious association had profoundly different meanings in Native and non-Native milieus. Scholars must take into account historical Aboriginal perspectives not only on conversion, but on their class positions in mission Christianity and more precisely, how their roles within the mission sphere were informed by their own notions of class. While some Native converts undoubtedly utilized conversion to Christianity to circumvent usual social conventions surrounding rank, privilege, and access to spiritual power, other Tsimshian sought transformation by using these new forms of spirituality to bolster their existing social positions. Le présent article explore la mouvance des frontières des identités de classe au XIXe siècle dans les missions protestantes chez les Tsimshian, un peuple autochtone de la côte Nord-ouest du Pacifique en Colombie-Britannique. En analysant tour à tour la nature des chefs chrétiens, le désir des Tsimshian d'être alphabétisés et scolarisés, et le logement dans les missions, l'auteure démontre comment les notions de classe véhiculées par la religion ont pris des significations fort différentes dans les milieux autochtones et non autochtones. Pour traiter d'un tel sujet, les chercheurs doivent tenir compte des perspectives historiques des Autochtones non seulement sur la conversion, mais aussi sur leur hiérarchie sociale dans les missions chrétiennes il s'agit plus précisément de voir comment le rôle des Autochtones au sein même de la mission était déterminé par leur propre notion de classe. Si quelques Autochtones avaient indéniablement utilisé la conversion à la chrétienté comme un moyen de contourner les ... |
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