Keywords

Lamanite Mission, Women, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Relief Society, female missionaries, modern prophecies, Indian Mission

Abstract

Since the Church's founding in the early 19th century, numerous historians have chronicled the story of "Lamanite" Missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Most of these Indian Mission histories, however, mention little more about women than missionaries marrying Native women, and non-native women receiving blessings that they will one-day teach the "Lamanites." Although the continuing conversation of these historic missions covers a wide range of views and interpretations, the roles and contributions of women often take a subordinate position in the Indian Mission narrative. The Northern Indian Mission of 1964 to 1973 serves as a microcosm in its exemplifying of the role of women in the missionary efforts of the Northcentral United States through a recently discovered collection of primary sources preserved by mission president Rex C. Reeve Jr. These primary sources, as supplemented by oral histories, emphasize the experiences of the mission president’s wife, the mission Relief Society, and numerous sister missionaries and female converts within the Northern Indian Mission boundaries of Montana, Wyoming, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, and Minnesota. These records reveal that Native and non-Native women played an integral role in the dissemination of the gospel to the Native American people in the Northern Indian Mission through teaching and testifying, comforting and unifying, and ultimately inspiring many as examples of faith.

Document Type

Class Project or Paper

Publication Date

2022-12-17

Language

English

College

Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Department

History

University Standing at Time of Publication

Senior

Course

History 490

Included in

History Commons

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