Engraver Aldert, Meijer. Published by Carolus Allard in Orbis Habitabilis, Amsterdam, ca. 1700. Source: New York Public Library.
At some point, conversion of Elmhurst Lenape to Christianity must have become the subject of conversation. The idea was widespread among their fellow tribal members. How did this take place? The fullest, most perceptive self-reflection about this process came from a Mahican chief who lived in Shekomeko, about a hundred miles north of Queens. This Lenape-related village birthed in 1743 the first Indian Christian congregation in the United States.
Job Wauwaumpequunnaut, a chief in the Mahican village of Shekomeko, was one of the early converts in the extended Lenape tribal circle. He became a close collaborator with Brainerd. In 1640, writing about how his conversion took place, Wauwaumpequunnaut reflected on the common beliefs between the European Christians and his tribe (which was related to the Lenape) and what added value he found in Christianity.
The chief recounted:
Once a preacher came and began to explain to us that there was a God. We answered, ‘Dost thou think us so ignorant as not to know that? Go back to the place from whence thou camest.’”
Right away, Wauwaumpequunnaut declared that Lenape were knowledgeable and confidant religious people. So, he asked, how can you Europeans advance our religious thinking? He was skeptical
“Then again another preacher came and began to teach us, and to say, ‘Thou must not steal, nor lie, nor get drunk, &c.’ We answered, ‘Thou fool, doest thou think that we don’t know that? Learn first thyself, and then teach the people to whom thou belongest, to leave off these things. For who steals, or lies, or who is more drunken than thine own people?’ …”
The chief had observed several missionaries at work. He also saw that the people from whom the missionaries came didn’t seem to bear much moral fruit from the preaching. This complaint was also noted among other Indians in New York City.
The Mahican’s comments indicate that morality was something praised and practiced by the Indians. Moral instruction was likely an important quality of Lenape religion in Elmhurst. This was particularly taught by the women (Lenape were matrilineal) and reinforced by the men to the boys.
The Lenape shared this moralism with European Christians and didn’t appreciate them acting like they were superior in their moral excellence. This point was fiercely emphasized in the face of European liquor peddlers and cheats. However, one European missionary came with a different manner, emphasizing not how good he was but how he survived because someone else had shed his blood for him despite his faults.
Brother Christian Henry Rauch [of the Moravian Church] came into my hut and sat down by me. He spoke to me nearly as follows, ‘I come to you in the name of the Lord of heaven and earth. He sends me to let you know that he will make you happy and deliver you from [the] misery in which you lie at present. To this end he became a man, gave his life a ransom for man, and shed his blood for him, &c. &c.’ When he had finished his discourse, he lay down upon a board, fatigued by the journey, and fell into a sound sleep.
I then thought, ‘What kind of man is this? There he lies and sleeps. I might kill him and throw him out into the woods, and who would regard it? But this gives him no concern.’ However, I could not forget his words. They constantly recurred to my mind. Even when I was sleeping, I dreamt of that blood which Christ shed for us. I found this to be something different from what I had ever heard, and I interpreted Christian Henry’s words to the other Indians. Thus through the grace of God, an awakening took place amongst us. …”
The chief saw three qualities of the missionary that started to persuade him. First, the Moravian came into the chief’s household and sat with him. Then, he risked himself into the chief’s hands. The message was that he was willing to die so he could talk to the chief. This action resonated with the message that Jesus laid down his life for the Indians.
Lenape in Elmhurst undoubtedly had this admiration for the bravery for the sake of others. In the frictions with the European settlers who came into the area, the Indians would have observed and judged how the Europeans were acting. Although we have some very small mentions of Lenape-European interaction in what is now the Astoria area, we have to look elsewhere for analogies to the Elmhurst situation.
Wauwaumpequunnaut’s reflections are priceless as they showed a deep understanding of the spiritual currents of his day. Several have concluded that his translations of Brainerd’s discussions and sermons were a brilliant match to Lenape culture.
Lenape were used to long discourses about religious matters so Christian sermons felt compatible with their practices. Pastors found that certain topics and parts of the Bible strongly resonated with the Lenape. Sermons on Jesus’ suffering for the Indians, his compassion, and gifts of peace were most often winners with the Lenape. Brainerd’s sermon on John 7:37, “come unto me and drink,” was an effective combination of Lenape hospitality, peacemaking, and compassion. The local Lenape would also have responded with attentiveness to sermons on the great Suffering Servant passage in the Book of Isaiah 53, verses 3-10, Jesus’ welcoming of the outcasts of society in Luke 14:16-23. A sermon on the welcoming of the outcasts unleashed a religious movement among the Lenape in New Jersey. The Moravian Church grew among the tribal peoples in upstate New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Although there were few observations of the Lenape living in Elmhurst, his comments on their thinking process about religion have widespread application to a congeries of Lenape tribes on their way to Christian identification. What happened in those early times has parallels with the Moravian later growth later in the borough mainly through its appeal to African Americans. Grace Moravian Church in Springfield Gardens, Queens is an example of that development.
