NEOLIN: NATIVE AMERICAN PROPHET OR HOAX?

By its end, the French and Indian War had taken its toll not only on the land, but on the Native American peoples, specifically in the Ohio Country. War, famine, violence and separation of families had an enormous impact on the psyche and morality of the Native American peoples. Up to this point, they had never been exposed to such classes of men and cultures as of that of the European; however, this exposure did not come without influence. The makeup of the religion of Native Americans varied widely from region to region; the Indians of the Great Lakes practiced an almost completely alien form to that of Algonquins of the Ohio and Pennsylvania country. But through this meticulous process of development and evolvement, Native Americans, slowly, began to absorb elements of Christianity into their religious practice. With the disillusionment of their lands being taken, their women and children being killed, it arrives with no surprise that, perhaps, the Great Spirit may have had a hand in all of this. How would such a proud people arrive at this conclusion?  

In the year 1761, according to astute documents,² Neolin experienced a road-to-Damascus vision where he told the Native Americans to reject the materials and ideas of the Europeans. Through these ‘visions,’ Neolin would accrue many followers, including Pontiac (whose story will later be told on this website). Possessed with visions and extraordinary narrative, he used these claims to set himself apart from normal ‘Holy Men’ that would have been associated with numerous native tribes of the Ohio Valley region. One such vision that separates himself from other claims was that during the night he ventured onto a road that held three forks; as the night grew darker, the light permeating from the road forks became even brighter; at the widest fork, he encountered the gorgeous appearance of a young Indian maiden. Shocked by astonishment, he was ordered to cleanse himself in a nearby stream; upon completing this ritual, he climbed a mysterious mountain with only one leg and ascended into the entrance of a shiny village which he was permitted to enter. When he got somewhere which he believed to be, perhaps, the main street, his arrival was greeted by a mystical being dressed all in white; from this point in the story, Neolin was led by this being to a man who called himself the ‘Master of Life.’ 

Taking Neolin’s hand, the Master of Life presented him with a gift: a hat made of gold. It was now time for the Master of Life to speak. According to this account, (by Neolin himself), he confessed to Neolin that he was displeased with the lifestyles of his red children; more specifically, they had adopted European ways and discarded Indian ones. This was the most displeasing of their sins. To decide for a better life, he told Neolin, that through him, he would deliver his Red Children to a better land that was far away from Europeans if they could sustain further incursions from white settlers. But the story just doesn’t end here.

With the spread of Christianity by white missionaries in the Ohio Valley, probably by Quakers and Mennonites, the Indians became acquainted with basic doctrine. So, as the story unfolds, Neolin is instructed to recite a ‘special prayer’ in the mornings and evenings of each day; this prayer was mysteriously written down on a piece of deer hide, a sort of extinct reference to the ten commandments with an indigenous context. To take full advantage of the Indian protecting himself from the wicked ways of European influence, he composed a book entitled ‘Great Book of Writing.’ In this mystical work, he drew a map of Indians to follow; in this diagram were various paths from earth to heaven; however, these paths were blocked, some of them, by European entry. In order to obtain entry into heaven, every Indian was instructed to follow the narrowest path in order to elude any European; to help them further achieve this, Neolin proposed to offer his drawings on more buckskins from the Indians themselves. (No copies of these skins have ever been found.) It is also not known how many offerings he got from his fellow Indians to create these skins; in the ensuing months ahead, Indian and White relations grew more violent and Neolin’s influence on his people diminished.

Pontiac and his Indian allies continued to attack white settlements throughout the entire Ohio Country which would cultivate into bloody warfare and the slaughtering of Indian women and children. 

Suffice it to write, though, Neolin’s influence continued to persevere with selected individuals. One of them was a man who called himself Trout. He continued to advocate returning to the traditions of his people by being themselves, not drinking alcohol, gambling, or even marrying white settlers. Neolin’s teachings, though not always popular, continued to influence tribes of the Ottawa, Seneca, Huron, Shawnee and even Delaware. It is not known how Neolin’s life ended or when. His prophecies and peaceful teachings continued to have a considerable, but ineffective influence on the times that would march ahead; like many of the myths and beliefs of the Native American tribes of the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes regions, they would be replaced with Christianity and white influence, although at tremendous cost. For a time, though, Neolin was a hero to the Red People of the region. He attempted to establish exquisite teachings that he knew would have a profound impact on reestablishing the old ways of the Indian; to make things better for the prosperity in the areas in which they lived. Perhaps, though his mystical and misunderstood teachings, Neolin honestly attempted to explain the White expansion of Europeans in the area. But as with all of these expansions into Indian territory, bloodshed and conquering followed violently and compelled Native Americans to keep moving from their ancestral lands.

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1. Insert your note here.
2. See Ohio History Central. 1 July 2005. Retrieved 28 August 2012.