Jennifer Graber has published an article called “Beyond Prophecy: Native Visionaries in American Religious Studies” in the Journal of American Religion. The article traces how Euro-Americans came to use the word “prophet” to describe Native visionaries such as Handsome Lake and Wovoka.
The term has a long history of derogatory designation applied to Islam’s founder, Muhammad, various ecstatic Christians, and the Mormon leader, Joseph Smith. The piece then explores media used by Native visionaries, including wampum, carved canes, and inscriptions on animal skins and paper, to suggest new ways of writing and teaching about these important historical figures.
Jennifer Graber is the Gwyn Shive, Anita Nordan Lindsay, and Joe & Cherry Gray Professor in the History of Christianity and Interim Director of Native American and Indigenous Studies.
