| Lcnaf uri | http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85087226 |
| Organization name | Moravian indians |
| Other names | Christian Indians |
| Org type | Indian group |
| Bio notes | Sometimes known as Christian Munsee or under the more general name of Christian Indians, the Moravian Indians were a group of mostly Delaware Munsee converted by Moravian Church missionaries in the mid 18th century. In 1740 the Moravians missionized the Mahican village of Shekomeko in New York. Missionaries and converts abandoned the town in 1746 because of colonist difficulties, and temporarily relocated to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, which had been founded in 1741 as a base for missionary activities among the Delaware. Refugees then traveled to found Gnaddenhutten, Pennsylvania in 1746. This was attacked and burned in 1755, the surviving Moravian Indians forced to relocate once again to Nain and Wechquetank, Pennsylvania, or possibly Ontario. After the Seven Years War the Moravian Indians moved to Wyalusing Valley, where they founded a second Friedenshutten. Land disputes pressured them to relocate to Ohio Country. In 1772, missionaries founded Schoenbrunn, Lichtenau, and a second Gnaddenhutten along the Muskingum River in Ohio. These towns were prosperous until the Revolutionary War, during which residents of the later were massacred by a Pennsylvania militia in 1782. In 1792 most of the remaining Moravian Indians established Fairfield (also known as Moraviantown) along the Thames River in Ontario, which was burned in the War of 1812 and later rebuilt somewhat more south. |
| Citations | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Munsee;http://bdhp.moravian.edu/community_records/christianindians/narrative.html; http://nativeamericannetroots.net/diary/1459; http://www.easterndelawarenations.org/people.html; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnadenhutten,_Ohio |
Baltimore Yearly Meeting Indian Committee Minutes, 1795-1815
Jacob Lindley's Account, 1793
Joseph Moore's Journal
John Peirce Notes, on a visit to Several Tribes of Indians, 1796
Wm. Hartshorne's Journal of Journey to Detroit 1793