just keep translating...

I am half way through translating the icnoquicatl. it gets easier and easier every day... not that I'll be singing it any time soon, but hey! Also, planning conference for November - I will have this paper/chapter written to present and hoping to get help from Yale conference.

f. 13r-v done...

When playing beat the online dictionary... you usually only win when you spell it wrong. Or when the site goes down... sigh.

Information about the indigenous convents

Convento de Corpus Christi: 1724

Convento de Santa Maria de Cosamaloapan, Valladolid/Morales: 1734

Colegio de Indias Doncellas de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe: 1759, converted into a convent in 1811

Convento de Santa Maria de los Angeles: 1782

proposal for a convent in Puebla: 1779-1805

proposal for a convent at Santa Maria de los Angeles: 1779-1784; proposal for a school on the site, 1793, 1804-1814

proposal for a convent in Dolores: 1809-1810

Joseph Fish, Old Light on New Ways

90 -- Edward Deake 1773 letter, calls Samuel Niles a minister
Struggles w/ separatism -- Sam Niles a "new light," accuses Fish of being "dead" in the spirit --> evidence of Indian religiosity being different than English?
114-115 Edward Deake 1775 letter, describes how one party of Indians (the anti-Sachem party?) are gone off in support of the American Revolution,  and the other group is demanding control of the schoolhouse so they can set up a private school for themselves without Deake.
Attempts are made to settle the issue, but in the end Deake/Fish abandon the mission

Ironically... I've done a lot recently!

Ironically, I've been getting more done in the last 15 days than when I was posting more regularly.

Transcribed and translated the first three folios of ycnoquicatl.

Angry with god, two places where "Dios" might have just been added in later.  the idea that the earth is paradise is strong in what I worked on today.


talking to peter about the possibility of panel in Poland at lockhart conference.

plans for Yale conference. working with cami,

Planned with cami that i will use one of the prayers from the FC and will go over another annal besides tecamachalco (spellcheck thinks this is supposed to be whatchamacallit...). using the plays will be my "placing it in broader discussion"

Newberry, Ayer MS 1147

Petition to establish a Capuchin convent for Indians in Dolores, promoted by El Bachiller Don Josemaria Gonzales, Doña Maria Micaela Rodriguez de Oton [Mariano Abasolo's sister?], y Don Mariano Abasolo and investigated by Miguel Hidalgo on behalf of the diocese. (!!) None of them are indigenous

-- convent would be useful because there are many noble Indian women in the city who would like to become nuns.

p 20 The convent would be for 33 Indian black-veiled nuns and 8 Spanish white-veiled ones, along with Maria Micaela. Following the order of Corpus Christi and Nuestra Señora de la Concepcion (doesn't mention Oaxaca?) 

25 - will only admit cacicas, or noble Indians, or pure-blooded Indians
(I wonder at what point the cacique language drops out -- after independence?) 

25-27 letter of support from the Indians of San Luis de la Paz
28-30 letter of support from the Indians of Santiago del Rio
Both support the project as contributing to the happiness of Fernando VII

67 Fiscal argues that this will benefit all the Indians in the region by providing them an example of morality and freeing them from the habitual corruption present in many of the most Catholic towns of Europe. Fits with Royal aims of teaching the Indians the faith and Spanish. What reason could there be to deny this project, when there are so few convents in America, and even fewer for Indians? 

Cabildo of Valladolid sends the application to Mexico City for approval by the Fiscal de lo Civil.

Fiscal de lo Civil rejects their application in the current form. Reasons:
1) lacking the budget and calculations of the cost of the convent
2) do not present evidence that they have collected 20 mil pesos
3) Unclear if third order Franciscans have the legal power to donate the church
4) Don't present the Real License for the church to clarify #3
5) the donations from the Hacenderos aren't legally binding for their heirs, so the donations could dry up
6) The idea of mixing races sounds nice, but the benefits are doubtful: it's more likely that the Spanish women will try to supress the Indian ones, which is why the dispensation to admit Indian women into Spanish convents hasn't been extended
7) didn't get permission for the founding nuns to leave the Valladolid convent
It would be better if the petitioners gave their money for the defense of the monarchy in its wars against France, which is an urgent need and one that is also in defense of religion. If necessary, however, they could try getting all the above-mentioned missing documents and resubmitting their petition. 

Monday, Feb 27

Went through list of published primary sources to make sure I have everything combined between Evernote and my moleskin.
Discovered a new blog: https://brothertowncitizen.wordpress.com/

Newberry Library, 2/10/17

Eleazar Williams -- calls himself an "Indian minister" (TF #573)

1819 -- still focusing on teaching the Indians agricultural techniques to "improve" them.

Oneidas protest when a white man wants to settle among them, because they are afraid he will try to sell liquor. (TF #587)

Writings of Joseph Johnson

David Fowler, Samuel Adams, 3 Montauks, and 6 Narragansetts among first party.

Complaints by both David Fowler and Joseph Johnson that the white New Englanders are now trying to draft the Indians into the Revolutionary war -- pointed criticism (although while writing to British agent Guy Johnson) of how the Americans stole their land and now want them to fight to defend it.

Letters from Samson Occom and Solomon Adams to Joseph Johnson -- Adams married Occom's daughter Olive.

Johnson again identifies himself as a minister (not an Indian) when writing to NY Congress, 1775/06/21.

June 1775, Johnson and 3 others (John Shattuck, John Skesuck, and Samuel Tallman) decide to return to New England until the tensions between GB & US decline. 

In  July 1775 while writing to the NY Congress, Johnson reverses position from his letter to Colonel Johnson and now claims to have deep love for America, not be a tory, etc. 

Elijah Wampy of Farmington is the one spreading these rumors about him. 

TF #611 nice detail in his fundraising letter -- forced to travel the last 51 miles/24 hours of his journey without food, saving his last few pennies for food for his horse. 

TF #616 -- note that the NH assembly calls the Indians "Brethren" as in "Christian Brethren." 
TF #616 -- Wheelock calls him Mr. Joseph Johnson, not Rev Joseph Johnson (how does he address Occum?) 

Experiments with chapters

1. Context of the movement
What were colonial approaches to evangelization/conversion? What types of Christian Indian spaces had been created? Why would Indians want to have a Christian Indian space that they controlled?
European missionary efforts were usually segregated -- sometimes in an attempt to protect Indians from European settlement, but these efforts are unsuccessful. When Indians advance in their knowledge/acceptance of Christianity, it doesn't earn them social recognition.

2. Rhetoric used by the Indians
What arguments did the Indians use to convince European authorities to support their projects? What arguments did they use to convince other natives to join them?
Indians used European rhetoric about race, gender, and landscape, but flipped these arguments to support the idea that Christian Indians needed their own spaces.

3. Networks that supported these spaces
Who participated in these movements? How were ethnic/tribal identities represented? How were women involved?
Christian Indian spaces were supported by a broad, inter-ethnic collaboration of a network of Christian Indians, including minsters/ordained Indians, who used their influence to advocate for their people. 

4. History of the two spaces
How, when, where were the spaces constructed? When did they open, how did they operate?
Both movements went through a long period of fundraising and permission-seeking before opening. They maintained racial boundaries but slowly lost some of the uniqueness of their original identity

5. Decline of Christian Indian spaces
Why did both spaces shut down in the mid-19th century? What about the network or rhetoric stopped working?
Changing definitions of land usage and the role of the Indian in the national imaginary meant that the arguments in favor of Christian Indian spaces no longer resonated with a larger audience, or seemed like a legitimate avenue of colonial resistance for Indians. 

30 topics I could write 10 pages about

Experimenting in ways to outline my dissertation:

1. Indian rhetoric when writing to white authorities -- positions of deference
2. Indian use of wilderness metaphor
3. physical structure of the convent and where it was located
4. English use of wilderness metaphor
5. Financial struggles of both establishments
6. Limits of indigenous identity at both sites -- caciques or not? Indian or not? intermarriage or not?
7. In-fighting among the founders of the movements
8. Indian acceptance of gendered constructs in their rhetoric
9. Women's roles in establishing/supporting the networks that created these locations
10. Failed attempts to build additional convents -- Corpus Christi petitions
11. Spanish missionary approaches
12. English missionary approaches
13. Immediate context: Seven Years' War, Wheelock
14. Immediate context: Bourbon reforms, extirpation campaigns
15. European-led Indian spaces in US (Stockbridge, Brainerd/Brotherton) & their failures
16. European-led Indian spaces in Mexico (Corpus Christi, that other convent) & their failures
17. Actual process of petitioning for the convent, rules for opening a convent, etc
18. Actual process of founding Brothertown, who moved there, funding, etc
19. Extent of Brothertown network and influence -- connections between families, Indian ministers, etc
20. Influence of Indian ministers/priests
21. Extent of Cacicas' support network, ethnicity of caciques
22. Rhetoric (and real life) positioning of themselves as civilized Indians
23. Exploration of Christianity as practiced in these two sites
24. Difficulty of maintaining Cacicas' convent -- financial struggles, lack of commitment
25. Difficulty of maintaining Brothertown -- forced to leave NY
26. Mexican and American views of land in 19th century, shifting role of Indians in the national imagination
27. Influence of Brothertown on Black separatism
28. rhetoric of invoking Royal/European authority
29. End of Cacicas' convent/Brothertown -- dissolution into private homes (but did it really dissolve?)
30. Conclusion?

Organized into chapters:

1. Context of the movements within colonial culture

1. Spanish missionary approaches
2. English missionary approaches
3. Immediate context: Seven Years' War, Wheelock
4. Immediate context: Bourbon reforms, extirpation campaigns
5. European-led Indian spaces in US (Stockbridge, Brainerd/Brotherton) & their failures
6. European-led Indian spaces in Mexico (Corpus Christi, that other convent) & their failures

2. History of the two spaces

1. Actual process of petitioning for the convent, rules for opening a convent, etc
2. Actual process of founding Brothertown, who moved there, funding, etc
3. physical structure of the convent and where it was located
4. Financial struggles of both establishments
5. Limits of indigenous identity at both sites -- caciques or not? Indian or not? intermarriage or not?
6. In-fighting among the founders of the movements
7. Exploration of Christianity as practiced in these two sites

3. How the Indians argued that the two places should be established

1. rhetoric of invoking Royal/European authority
2. Rhetoric (and real life) positioning of themselves as civilized Indians
3. Indian rhetoric when writing to white authorities -- positions of deference
4. Indian use of wilderness metaphor
5. English use of wilderness metaphor
6. Indian acceptance of gendered constructs in their rhetoric

4. Networks that supported these spaces

1. Extent of Brothertown network and influence -- connections between families, Indian ministers, etc
2. Influence of Indian ministers/priests
3. Extent of Cacicas' support network, ethnicity of caciques
4. Influence of Brothertown on Black separatism
5. Failed attempts to build additional convents -- Corpus Christi petitions
6. Women's roles in establishing/supporting the networks that created these locations

5. The decline of Christian Indian spaces

1. Difficulty of maintaining Cacicas' convent -- financial struggles, lack of commitment
2. Difficulty of maintaining Brothertown -- forced to leave NY
3. Mexican and American views of land in 19th century, shifting role of Indians in the national imagination
4. End of Cacicas' convent/Brothertown -- dissolution into private homes (but did it really dissolve?)