To do good to my Indian brethren
Subtitle: the writings of Joseph Johnson, 1751-1776
By: edited by Laura J. Murray.
Contributors: Murray, Laura J., 1965-
Series: Native Americans of the Northeast
Publisher: University of Massachusetts Press
Published: 1998
Place of publication: Amherst
Language: eng
Number of pages: 324
Subjects: Johnson, Joseph, 1751?--1777 -- Correspondence.; Mohegan Indians -- Biography.; Missionaries -- New York (State) -- Biography.; Teachers -- New York (State) -- Biography.; Brotherton Indians -- Missions.
Description: This book brings together the writings of Joseph Johnson, a Mohegan Indian preacher, schoolteacher, and leader of the movement to relocate eastern Christian Indians to "Brotherton" in upper New York state.

Johnson's diaries, written between 1771 and 1773, document daily life in the Indian Christian communities of Mohegan and Farmington, Connecticut, with a remarkable richness and intimacy. His letters - to his teacher, Eleazar Wheelock, and other white benefactors, as well as to his fellow Native Americans - reveal both an uncommon talent for diplomacy and a powerful vision of Indian solidarity.

Commentary by Laura J. Murray illuminates the meaning of Johnson's writings in their historical context. One essay traces the cultural changes and political conflicts at Mohegan in the generations before Johnson's; other essays illuminate the rhetorical challenges Johnson faced as a literate Indian in the eighteenth century.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 309-318) and index.