Westmeier, Karl-Wilhelm

Evacuation of Shekomeko and the Early Moravian Missions to Native North Americans

1995 0-7734-9141-4
Based on extensive handwritten Moravian sources, but also using ethno-historical methods, this study evaluates the approach of the missionaries and the Native Americans' response in light of the reactions of the colonial whites who desired the destruction of the mission. It is an important contribution to the contemporary missiological debate on contextualization. It also explores the conflict between Church/mission and State/society in view of Americanization processes, examining early American racism and its effects beyond the closing of Shekomeko to the Native American communities at large, especially with regard to their growing resistance to the Christian message. It contributes not only to missiology but also to the ethnohistory of America and anthropology and sociology, especially in the narrower fields of peace and racial studies.