1 - “Honoratissimi benefactores” Native American students and two seventeenth-century texts in the university tradition

Summary

Some of the earliest literary texts written in European languages by Native American authors were written in the seventeenth century by students at Harvard's Indian College. The fact that they were written in Latin and Greek, the languages of university education, as well as their limited accessibility, probably explains why these pieces have so far received next to no critical attention. Two texts by Harvard Indian students have survived. The main purpose of this essay is to reprint them together with approximate translations as well as observations on the form, structure, and grammaticality of the texts and their background in literary tradition. In addition, the problem of their authorship will be discussed. Finally, an attempt will be made to position them historically and ideologically within the context of seventeenth-century colonial discourse.

In 1656, some twenty years after its foundation, Harvard College incorporated the first institution of higher education for the aboriginal population in the English colonies. The aim of the “Indian College” (Vom Puritanismus 98) was the education of Indian youths who appeared to be promising proselytes and who could later propagate the gospel as well as European civilization among their tribes. In this the Puritans were following the example of the Spanish colonizers, whose attempts to train Native Americans as teachers and preachers, however, proved more successful. The comparable success of the Spanish (and, to a lesser degree, the French Jesuits) can be attributed to their relative flexibility in regard to their students's needs and wants.