In
1651 the Massachusetts Legislature granted Natick ("Place of
Hills") as
the home of a major group of Reverend John Eliot's converted
Native
Americans,
brought together from various tribes in eastern Massachusetts.
These
Natick
Praying Indians and Eliot, their original leader, developed the
Natick
Dictionary and the first Native American written language, and
used
them
to create The Natick Bible ("Up
Biblum"), the first Bible printed for Indians (James
Quannapohit,
a.k.a.
James Rumneymarsh, a.k.a. James the Printer). They produced the
first
Native
American minister, Daniel Takawambpait. The Praying Indians
remained
friends
of the English settlers and arguably saved the Massachusetts Bay
Colony
during King Philip's War (1675-76), yet received harsh treatment
during
and after that uprising. Their descendants still reside in
eastern
Massachusetts,
and Natick welcomes them back for its (their!) 350th
Anniversary.
A. Richard (Dick) and Jill Miller of Natick are creating this Web page with help from a lot of friends, including the Natick Praying Indians under Caring Hands, their Clan Mother. We are delighted to find this small tribe of Native Americans still practicing the blend of Puritan and traditional teachings that their forefathers and John Eliot evolved 350 years ago!
We are working to give the Natick Praying Indians their own presence on the Internet. Meanwhile, this site can serve to welcome them back to Natick, and to tell interested readers a little about them and their participation in the Natick 350th Anniversary events.
* Wunneyeu Neekin Kesukok Natick! * Happy Birthday, Natick! *
Natick Praying Indian
events (2003):
April 12th, South Natick, participating in
Natick
Indian Plantation Minute and Militia Companies
Patriots' Day
Encampment
(Bacon Library,
South Natick; 1 PM Saturday
to 7 AM Sunday).
April 26th at the New England Folk Festival
(Natick High School;
1:00 PM Saturday,
in the Auditorium).
This is their (and perhaps
any local
Native-American) second group
performance at NEFFA!
September 27th-28th with other tribes at annual
Harvest
Moon Pow-Wow in Cochituate State Park
(10AM-5PM).
Natick Praying Indian events
(2002):
January 31st, 2002 at Memorial School in South
Natick:
2nd-grade
presentation by Caring Hands and
friends
(photos by Maxine
Klein of Memorial School).
April 13-14th, South Natick, participating in
Natick
Minutemen Patriots' Day Encampment
(Bacon Library,
South Natick; 1 PM Saturday
to 7 AM Sunday).
April 20th at the New England Folk Festival
(Natick High School;
11:30 AM Saturday,
in the Natick Room).
This is their (and
perhaps
any local Native
American) first group
performance at NEFFA!
April 22nd, Natick Selectmen after 7PM. Natick
Praying Indians, the
Natick
Historical Commission and
others asked that
the name of Pegan Cove Park
be
left intact in honor
of the Pegan family,
an original
Praying Indian
family of Natick. (Instead,
the Natick
Selectmen voted to
ask their legislators to
change the
name to Tony
Anniballi Memorial Park at Pegan
Cove.)
October 12th-13th with other tribes at annual
Harvest
Moon Pow-Wow in Cochituate State Park
(10AM-5PM).
-- Caring Hands, Clan Mother of the Natick Praying Indians |
The
Eliot Bible (Up-Biblum God; The Natick Bible):
The
Dartmouth
Copy of John Eliot's Indian Bible (1639): Its Provenance,
by Dick Hoefnagel.
John
Eliot
and America's First Bible, by Dr.
Herbert Samworth.
John
Eliot's
Indian Bible. Cambridge, 1663, 1665, 1685,
University
of California, Berkeley.
The
Word;
Striking Gold Among the Stacks, by
Chad Galts.
More images of the Eliot, or Natick, Bible from U.S.
Library of Congress, University
of
Pennsylvania, .
Massachuset-Natick-Wampanoag
Language:
The
Indian
Grammar
Begun: or, An Essay to Bring the Indian Language into Rules,
for the
Help
of Such as Desire to Learn the Same, for the Furtherance of
the Gospel
Among Them, by John Eliot, 1666. (text;
images;
reprint)
The
Natick Dictionary, by John Eliot (1903 USGPO edition "by
James Hammond Trumbull", with introduction by Edward Everett Hale)
Wampanoag
Electronic
Text Project
An
Introduction to Wampanoag Grammar
Other:
Natick song (Audio, lyrics)
and 1984 album by Rick
Lee, Natick songwriter
(Note: Before the
late 1990s, Rick and most
of Natick thought the Natick Praying Indians had disappeared.)
Natick
Passages, a poem by
Elizabeth Donovan
About Powwows
Some ![]() The first Christian town in America was "Natick", the Indian words for "My Home". It was created for the Natick Praying Indians. This "place of many hills" is the same Natick, Massachusetts in existence today. Also, the first Bible and book ever printed on American soil was in the Natick-Massachusett Indian language. Today the Natick Praying Indian Tribe, under the leadership of the Grand Squaw Sachem Silva and Clan Mother Caring Hands, contributes to the local community and beyond by educational sharing of its unique spiritual and traditional culture. In acknowledgement of the Creator's wishes, the Tribe strives toward healing contributions for the Great Tribe, the Tribe of the Human Race. It does so with "the ointment of understanding, necessary to all true healing." --Caring Hands Silva, Clan Mother Natick Praying Indians 48 Tenth Street, Stoughton, MA 02072 Phone: unlisted E-mail: PrayingIndians@natickprayingindians.org Official web site: http://natickprayingindians.org/ |