HIST 1301-6015- Assignment #4- Amari Papillion
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Assignment 4:
American Indians, Witchcraft, and Witch hunting & Spector of the Salem in American
culture analysis
Amari Papillion
History 1301- 6015
Professor. Lerma
September 21st, 2023
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After reading and analyzing the two articles, I have concluded that they both provide
strong arguments and touch on numerous different aspects of the Salem Witch trials. In the book
“American Indians, Witchcraft, and Witch Hunting," author Matthew Dennis supplies immense
information pertaining to the Native American’s and their tribes’ practices of witchcraft, not just
European practices. While in the second reading, “Spector of the Salem in American Culture,"
author Gretchen A. Adams does not mention Native Indians, instead basing her topic solely on
the remembrance and historical outcome of witchcraft used and how it affected the outside
culture of American culture.
Both authors use compelling or even riveting evidence to support their different beliefs.
Dennis can significantly support his claim that, contrary to popular belief, witchcraft was a
fundamental part of Native Americans day-to-day lives and worldview, not just European
settlers. Natives and Europeans were separated and at odds but “competed for the same thing:
American land and resources” (Dennis, p. 1). This was when the European newcomers migrated
to the American colonies. Native American’s were sought out as suspects in the name of
witchcraft due to the liberal practice of said to be dark arts. The views towards natives and their
use of witchcraft and natural religion were degrading, naming their shamans as witches and the
practitioners as slaves of Satan. This plays a role in why the “Native people believed themselves
to be the primary victims of witchcraft." Dennis (pg. 1) Even after basically sharing the same
practices as Europeans, the Natives were still punished and demeaned for their part in it,
continuously separating the two. Being informed that the Native American tribes took part in
witchcraft just as much as any other colonists, Dennis was also very clear and made sure to be
known that not every tribe had the same beliefs and ideas about witchcraft. Some, including the
Iroquois, up until the nineteenth century believed witchcraft was nefarious and dangerous, yet
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“witch-hunting was gendered among the Iroquois” (Dennis, p. 1), stating that they eventually
took part in it as well; it was just a bit different and implicit. This took charge of representing
both continuous and traditional beliefs and influences from surrounding sources. Most natives
heavily associated witchcraft with sickness and misfortune, using it to harm others after seeing it
as a sign of distress and trouble for so long. The author, Matthew Dennis, takes pride in and has a
strong argument that the shared practices and beliefs between the European colonists and the
Native Americans were not by any means a clash of cultures but instead a struggle for power and
resources, which they both badly needed.
On the other hand, Gretchen A. Adams takes part in explaining the bewildering nature of
the Salem witchcraft itself and the historical symbol that now takes place in American culture.
This is such a significant matter in history due to the variations and different representations of
the Salem witch trials. The Salem witch trials have become a cultural metaphor, as Adams states,
warning against the consequences of ill-advised actions chosen. Over the course of the article,
Adams takes time to explain and give numerous accounts of the Salem witch trials being used as
a metaphor for persecution. The Salem Witch Trials was used in many different perceptions,
making it to where authors of schoolbooks and others sought out to make the Salem Witch Trials
a strong moral lesson and a compelling story of history. Through the Witch Trails, many different
locations and types of people would have altered operations. The public or surrounding colonists
had endless things to say about the trials, as “sliding backward into a world of irrationality and
superstition” (Adam p. 1-2) would most definitely be outside their virtues. Salem was used
immensely in political and religious disclosures, as cautionary tales were used to portray
abolitionist sentiment as a dangerous strain of fanaticism.
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All in all, both articles and authors had very demanding and persuasive arguments, not to
mention that immense evidence in numerous different aspects was provided to support these
arguments. After reading and annotating both articles, I would say Matthew Dennis' argument
was without a doubt more persuasive and compelling to convince the audience that Natives
played a major role in the Salem witchcraft. After reviewing the excruciating and unexplainable
circumstances, I undoubtedly agree with his beliefs. Not to say I completely agree with Gretchen
A. Adams; I just believe there are stronger or more convincing articles that show the effects of
the Salem witch trials on America and its cultures. Both of these articles do an excellent job in
explaining the differences and similarities of the Salem witch trials.
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Bibliography-
American Indians, Witchcraft, and Witch-Hunting
Author(s): Matthew Dennis
Source: OAH Magazine of History, Vol. 17, No. 4, Witchcraft (Jul., 2003), pp. 21-23, 27
Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of Organization of American Historians Stable
URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25163617
Accessed: 20-05-2016 17:21 UTC
The Specter of Salem in American Culture
Author(s): Gretchen A. Adams
Source: OAH Magazine of History, Vol. 17, No. 4, Witchcraft (Jul., 2003), pp. 24-27 Published
by: Oxford University Press on behalf of Organization of American Historians Stable URL:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/25163618
Accessed: 20-05-2016 17:17 UTC