"Boil them Hearts": The Role of Methodist Revivalist Piety in Indigenous Conversion and Evangelization in Late Nineteenth-century Coastal British Columbia. (March 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Redden, Jason
• Is Part Of: Studies in religion. Volume 46:Number 1(2017:Mar.)
• Page Start: 50
• Page End: 74
• Publication Date: 2017-03
• Subjects: Indigenous Christianity -- religious revival -- Methodism -- anthropology of Christianity -- ritual studies -- Canada -- British Columbia; christianisme autochtone -- réveil religieux -- méthodisme -- anthropologie du christianisme -- études rituelles -- Canada -- Colombie Britannique; Religion -- Periodicals; Religions -- Periodicals; 200.5
• DOI: 10.1177/0008429816660883
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0008-4298

Abstract

This paper addresses the academic conversation on Protestant missions to the Indigenous peoples of coastal British Columbia during the second half of the nineteenth century through a consideration of the role of revivalist piety in the conversion of some of the better known Indigenous Methodist evangelists identified in the scholarly literature. The paper introduces the work of existing scholars critically illuminating the reasons (religious convergence and/or the want of symbolic and material resources) typically given for Indigenous, namely, Ts'msyen, conversion. It also introduces Methodist revivalist piety and its instantiation in British Columbia. And, finally, it offers a critical exploration of revivalist piety and its role in conversion as set within a broader theoretical inquiry into the academic study of ritual and religion.