(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . History 101: Father Rales' War, religious conflict in colonial New England [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-06-23 Father Rales’s War (also known as Drummer’s War, Grey Lock’s War, or Lovewell’s War) was a religious war: it was a war fought by the Protestant English colonists against the hated, “evil,” and “atheistic” Catholics. Father Sébastien Rales (also spelled Racle, Râle, Rasle, and Rale) was a French Jesuit missionary and lexicographer who worked among the Abenaki Indians. Rales was born in France in 1657 and joined the Jesuits (the Catholic order of the society of Jesus, founded by St. Ignatius Loyola in 1540) in 1675. In her book Chain Her by One Foot: The Subjugation of Native Women in Seventeenth-Century New France, Karen Anderson writes: “In the Jesuits’ view, because Satan was particularly powerful in the New World, it was their task to struggle on behalf of God and Jesus against him and his legions.” In 1689, Father Rales volunteered for missionary work in the Americas. His first missionary work was at the Abenaki village in Saint Francois near Quebec City. In 1694, he was sent to the Abenaki village of Norridgeock on the Kennebec River in present-day Maine (note: Maine at this time was a part of Massachusetts). In 1698 he erected a church in the village. The colonial Puritans were staunchly anti-Catholic and were particularly opposed to the activities of the Jesuit missionaries among the Indians. They were particularly upset that Father Sebastian Rales was strongly encouraging the Abenaki to defend both their lands and their culture against the English colonists. The designation Abenaki (also spelled Abnaki, Wabanaki) is a corruption of the Innu (a neighboring tribe) word which refers to “the people of the dawn land” or “those living in the sunrise.” The Abenakis were not a single politically unified tribe but were a group of loosely related Algonquian-speaking people who have lived in the New England area for thousands of years. Some of the Abenaki tribes included Sokoki, Cowasuck, Missisquoi, Pennacook, Pigwacket, Androscoggin, Penobscot, Wawenock, and Kennebec. In addition, the Canadian Micmacs and the Malecites (also spelled Maliseets) were sometimes a part of the confederacy. At the time of the first European contact, there were an estimated 30,000 Abenaki people living in northern New England and the Canadian Maritime Provinces. The Abenakis had been friends with the French since Jean Vincent de l’Abadie, Baron de Saint-Castin (1652-1707) had established a trading post near present day Castine, Maine, and had married the daughter of the Abenaki sachem (chief) Madokawando. Saint-Castin lived among the Abenakis, came to consider himself Abenaki, and was considered to be an Abenaki chief following the death of Madokawando in 1698. The Abenakis had allied themselves with the French in King William’s War (1689-1697) and Queen Anne’s War (1702-1713). From the perspective of the English colonists in New England, the Abenakis were considered enemies for two reasons: (1) they were friends with the French who were enemies of the British, and (2) they allowed Jesuits to live among them. 1722 In their attempt to eradicate Indians from New England, Massachusetts raised the bounty on Indian scalps to £100. In addition, Massachusetts governor Samuel Shuttle formally declared war on the Abenakis. This marked the beginning of Father Rales’ War. Part of the concern of the English colonists was the presence of Jesuits among the Abenakis In 1722, Massachusetts forces (the New England Rangers) set out to find and kill the infamous Father Rales, a Jesuit missionary. They attacked the village of Norridgewock, plundering the Catholic church and ransacking Father Rales cabin. While the Jesuit priest eluded the English, the raiders claimed that they found letters in his strongbox which proved that he was an agent of the French government and was supplying arms and ammunition to the Indians. 1723 In 1723, a force of about 230 English militia attacked and burned the Penobscot mission town of Passadumkeag. In 1723, the Abenakis raided against the English settlements in Northfield and Rutland, Massachusetts. Colonial cavalry and scouts were unable to find the raiders. 1724 In Maine, the Penobscots captured 14 English fishing vessels and used them to attack St. Georges. A combined group of Maliseets and Micmacs attacked Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia killing 10 English. In Massachusetts, an English force of 87 men under the leadership of John Lovell attacked a small Indian camp, killing ten people. They scalped the dead and then returned home to collect the bounties. Historians Robert Utley and Wilcomb Washburn, in their book Indian Wars, report: “Cheered by his success and the easy money, Lovewell immediately embarked on a summer campaign accompanied by forty-seven volunteers.” This time, however, the English were ambushed and Lovewell was killed. In 1724, the Massachusetts colonial army then attacked the Norridgewock (an Eastern Abenaki group). Father Rales was killed, and his corpse was mutilated. In his book Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes, Carl Waldman writes: “Many of the Indian warriors and their families withdrew to Quebec, where they made new homes among their French allies.” More histories History 101: British exploration of the Northwest Coast History 101: Spanish exploration of the Northwest Coast, 1774-1792 History 101: The Overland Party to Fort Astoria History 201: The Founding of Georgia History 201: The War of Jenkins Ear History 101: Charles Darwin and Evolution History 101: Women Shipyard Workers in World War II History 101: Boise's Basque Block (Photo Diary) [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/23/2247468/-History-101-Father-Rales-War-religious-conflict-in-colonial-New-England?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/