Nicholas Cresswell, The Journal of Nicholas Cresswell (1774-1781), 91

Item

Title

Nicholas Cresswell, The Journal of Nicholas Cresswell (1774-1781), 91

Includes music itself or text of song

no

Identity of singers; solo/group

native american
group

Voice/instrument

voices
voices

Space/room

meeting house

activity

worship

Ornamentation / improvisation

n/a

Excerpt

The parson was a Dutchman but preached in English. He had an Indian interpreter that explained it to the Indians by sentences. They sing in the Indian language. The men sits on one row of Forms and the women on the Other with the Children in the front each Sex comes in and goes out on their own side the house. The Old men sits on each side the parson.

Context

In this section Cresswell is traveling through the midwest, the "Indian Country." He describes many customs of the different indigenous towns.

Bias of author

Cresswell was an English man visiting America with the goal of acquiring land to live in the future, as stated in the first entry of his journal. His text is often concerned with agriculture and the possibilities of improving the land and farming methods in the US. His writing is usually condescending, pointing out what he sees as the "immorality" or "backwardness" of the territories he visits. This is particularly true in descriptions of enslaved African Americans or Native American people.

Item sets