Lori Rogers-Stokes, PhD
Saunkskwa, Sachem, Minister: Native kinship and settler church kinship in 17th and 18th-century New England
Political records from 17th-century Massachusetts show that Algonquin people and English colonists defined and valued kinship very differently—civil society for English settlers was based on legal obligations.
Congregational church records, on the other hand, show that the ideal puritan church defined kinship in a way that was astonishingly similar to native kinship. Religious life for English settlers was based on loving bonds of reciprocal relationship.
Bring your knowledge of and questions about Algonquin and English society as Lori shares her work in progress.
Session Handout [59 Pages]
[Click on the Download button above (gray bar, second from right) to open in a new window—where you can save a copy to your computer.]

Lori Rogers-Stokes, PhD, is an independent scholar studying puritan New England with a focus on women’s roles and its place in the development of American democracy.