Apes was 18 when he returned home to his father and reunited with the Pequots. After five years of drinking and neglecting his meetings with the Methodists he returned to them and was baptized by immersion at Bozrah, Connecticut in December 1818 (O�Connell xxxiii). He studied religion and the differences between ideas of religion. His mind was �much occupied about those who preach the Gospel, there being a difference between those who preach and those who read� (Apes 125). Those who read the Gospel are not pure Christians for they do not pray from the heart and simply read a page. Those who preach the Gospel do so spontaneously and from the heart (Apes 125).
Continued
Apes preached to the Indians but he wrote his autobiography and his sermons for the white race. The tradition of Native Americans was to pass stories on orally from generation to generation. They were often afraid of misinterpretation by the whites which is one reason they passes these stories on orally. It is hard to believe while reading Apes�s sermons that he actually wrote them. They are eloquently written in the English language without any visible struggle with English grammar. Evidence that Apes actually wrote his pieces lays in the realization that there were no American writers that could �effectively mimic the Native American voice� (O�Connell xli). Apes not only wrote well in the English language but he changed the spelling of his name to Apess in order to avoid any racial slur that might be used by the Americans. The word ape commonly refers to the animal species and Apess foresaw that this might prevent his writings from being taken seriously. He wanted not only a Native American voice but a Pequot voice to be heard. He warned the white readers to find a �plan for salvation� no matter how grave their sins are or how old they are when they call on God.
His writings can be compared to those of Frederick Douglass in his �Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.� Both authors speak of the difference between a true Christian and one who professes to be a Christian. Douglass calls this the �slave holding religion and describes it much the same way that Apess does. Apess takes this inconsistency among the white race to another level when he states, �But it is a fact that whites, with the same principle, would turn against their own kin, if the providence of God should have happened to change the shades of their complexion, although the same flesh and feelings� (Apess 145). It is only upon accepting that the religion that has been used to justify the treatment of Native Americans and all �people of color� is not in fact the Christianity that Apess preaches of that the Native Americans can find peace in Christianity. In writing the story of his life and writing his sermons, Apess preserved a part of American history and literature.
Link to Works Cited
Link to Cherokee Trail of Tears Page
for Eng323@SUNY Albany
April 2002