Indigenous Christians, in their own words
Native American conversion narratives
Some of the most striking autobiographies in American literature are by Native American Christians — Pequot, Ojibwe, Odawa, and Dakota writers who told their own stories of conversion, culture, and survival between two worlds. These are their first-person accounts, free to read in the public domain and offered here as clean editions with discussion questions.
- 1
1829 · Pequot, New England · William Apess
A Son of the Forest
William Apess · 1829
The first extended autobiography published by a Native American — the Pequot Methodist preacher William Apess on a hard childhood and the conversion that turned his life.
- 2
1833 · Pequot, New England · William Apess
Experiences of Five Christian Indians of the Pequod Tribe
William Apess · 1833
Five Pequot voices, Apess's among them, on being brought to faith — with his searing closing essay on 'the color line' inside the church.
- 3
1847 · Ojibwe, Great Lakes · George Copway
Life, History, and Travels of Kah-ge-ga-gah-bowh
George Copway · 1847
The Ojibwe Methodist Copway's bestselling account of a traditional hunting childhood and his turn to Christ — and to preaching among his own people.
- 4
1860 · Mississauga Ojibwe, Canada · Peter Jones
Life and Journals of Kah-ke-wa-quo-na-by (Rev. Peter Jones), Wesleyan Missionary
Peter Jones · 1860
Peter Jones — Ojibwe chief and the first ordained Indigenous Methodist missionary in Canada — in his own journals of conversion, mission, and translation.
- 5
1861 · Ojibwe, Canada · Peter Jones
History of the Ojebway Indians
Peter Jones · 1861
Jones surveys his own nation's history and turning to Christianity, written from the inside as a converted Ojibwe churchman.
- 6
1887 · Odawa, Michigan · Andrew Blackbird
History of the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians of Michigan
Andrew J. Blackbird · 1887
The Odawa leader Andrew Blackbird preserves his people's story and his own life on the L'Arbre Croche country of Michigan.
- 7
1916 · Santee Dakota · Charles Eastman
From the Deep Woods to Civilization
Charles Eastman · 1916
The Santee Dakota physician Charles Eastman (Ohiyesa) measures the promise and the cost of the 'civilization' he entered — one of the great Native American autobiographies.
Questions about Native American autobiographies
- What are the earliest Native American autobiographies?
- Samson Occom's short narrative (1768) is the earliest, but William Apess's A Son of the Forest (1829) is the first extended autobiography published by a Native American. The accounts gathered here — Apess, Copway, Peter Jones, Blackbird, and Eastman — span the 1820s to the 1910s.
- Did the authors write these themselves?
- Yes — each is a first-person account by the person who lived it. Several were published under missionary-society direction, and scholars read them for what the converts chose to emphasize and the constraints they wrote under; we note the context on each book's page.
- Are these good for a history or literature course?
- Very — they are standard primary sources for early-American and Indigenous studies, pairing conversion, culture, and survival. Each page includes background and discussion questions.
- Are the texts free to read?
- All are in the public domain, with a free source linked on each title. Our clean editions add readable typesetting.
T.S. Baker Books — Indigenous testimonies in clean editions, free sources linked.