Survey of American Literature I

· 1723-1792; a Mohegan Indian

· converted to Christianity at age 16; became a pupil of the Reverend Eleazar Wheelock; was later an ordained Presbyterian himself

· betrayed by Wheelock while in England with the Reverend Nathaniel Whitaker to raise funds for an Indian charity school; did not take care of Occom’s family while he was away as he had promised (came back to a sickly and impoverished family); Wheelock, in fact, was planning to use the money to move the present school to a more advantageous location, ultimately making it completely non-Native (present-day Dartmouth College)

· wrote “A Short Narrative of My Life” to justify himself as an “Indian preacher,” out of his new sense of disappointment and alienation (YES, ACTUALLY WROTE IT HIMSELF!); written in 1768, but not published until 1982!

· urged neutrality for the Indians at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War

· Notice his troubles in seeking education: eye strain and weakness from so much (4 years with Wheelock); frustrations with teaching Indian children