Preface: an essay I did for my Pacific Islands college course several years ago that I wanted to share, especially as I haven’t done a post recently. I, myself, am not Mormon, but it was an interesting topic to me at the time as I have Polynesian family members who are Mormons.
As many Christian denominations swept into the Pacific, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began their mission throughout the Pacific in the nineteenth century. Mormonism came in after Christianity had already taken root in the Pacific, and it’s now one of the most dominating religions spanning it. The Mormon missionaries had multiple ways of spreading their religion into the Pacific, and eventually gained a large following because of their drive to succeed in their mission.
Part of the Christian ideology with the Mormons stems from: “The theology of the Latter-day Saints is based on the belief that the Church was founded by a prophet who represents Jesus Christ on the earth” (Britsch). Mormonism is just like any religion with its own following and set of faiths. It’s a denomination of Christianity, although, some people contest that it’s not a Christian denomination, but Mormons follow the Book of Mormon rather than just simply the Bible. The spread of Mormonism was spearheaded by Europeans who took a particular interested in the Pacific because “they had been considered descendants of Israel since George Q. Cannon’s revelation to the effect during his missionary days in Hawaii, and the president of the Church have identified the Polynesians as the posterity of father Lehi in the Book of Mormon” (Pacific). Considering that the Pacific Islanders were thought to be a part of the book of Mormon, despite being oceans apart and unaware of Mormonism, the Latter-day Saints missionaries took it upon themselves to educate those left in the dark of the light that was Christianity.
The best way that the Mormon missionaries thought to help in their mission to spread their faith would be to convert the local men into Mormonism and then have them spread the religion to their people. “Missionaries to French Polynesia (and everywhere else they served) ordained local men to the priesthood and placed them in charge of groups and branches” (Britsch). At the beginning, the missionaries tried to train and teach the local indigenous population about the ways of Momornism, but that proved to be only a small portion of the number of priests that were needed. This would lead to many of the priests being the missionaries themselves. “Too many missionaries barely out of their teens directed the work of island men who were many years their senior in both age and administrative and ministerial experience” (Britsch). Those who often left for missions were young adult folks who were able to make the journey and not have such things like a wife or children that they would be leaving behind. Many of the missionaries were young, eligible bachelors who could afford to make the trip without sacrificing too much. They didn’t have much experience in the world, but due to their status as missionaries, they held jobs that others would have been better off having. Eventually, many of the Pacific Islanders became involved in Mormonism and were granted more rights and the ability to have higher responsibilities within the church, and gain the positions that they were able to qualify for. “In the past thirty or so years, proportionately larger number of Polynesians have been placed in responsible leadership positions, not only in the ecclesiastical part of the Church, but also in temporal areas, such as in Church schools, seminaries and institutes, in the Church building area, welfare services and the Translation and Distribution Department” (Britsch).
Mormon missionaries were sent from Nauvoo to begin the conversion of whom the Caucasians called ‘Heathens’ to become Christians. “Mormon missionary work began in the Pacific Islands in April 1844, when Addison Pratt, Benjamin F. Grouard and Noah Rogers landed at Tubuai, south of Tahiti” (Britsch). The missionaries had no real way to communicate with the local indigenous population as they did not know how to speak the language of the people they wanted to convert besides what they had learned from other islands. However, they didn’t let that stop them. Within a few years, there were hundreds of Pacific Islanders being converted into Mormonism even though the Mormon missionaries were being pressured by the newly established French Government, who were predominantly Catholic, to stop.
Between 1844 and 1852, when the mission was closed because of pressure from the newly established French government, Pratt, Grouard and others who joined them in 1850 managed to establish a number of small units or groups on Tubuai, Tahiti and many islands in the Tuamotu Archipelago. Well over two thousand Polynesians became baptized Latter-day Saints. (Britcsh)
The Mormon missionaries weren’t about to let their mission completely fall apart, even if they had to do it secretly in order to avoid prosecution by the reigning government in French Polynesia. Nevertheless, they were able to do it in the open several decades later. By the time the late nineteenth century came about, the missionaries “once again found their way to French Polynesia. This time they were sent from Samoa, where the Church had been established for four years. The second mission has remained to the present and now has more than five thousand members” (Britcsh). From then on, the missionaries of the Latter-day Saints freely went around spreading their messages and trying to convert the Pacific Islanders to become Mormons.
At one point in time, Mormon meant “American missionaries, or Polynesian church” to many people in the Pacific (Changing Faces). Americans were the main force in spreading Mormonism, which meant they had a lot of sway in also pushing parts of their own culture onto the ones they’re trying to convert. That’s not to say that they didn’t also try to integrate a part of themselves into the local culture to understand the native population and find better ways to convert them into Mormons. Although it took a while for Mormonism to gain a hold in the Pacific, it eventually did as the Mormon missionaries began learning the language and culture of the people they wanted to convert. “Few missionaries have lived closer to the people they have served than the Mormons” (Britsch). To that point, Mormonism was quickly becoming a part of Pacific culture. This helped them to communicate easier with the population, which allowed the preaching to take place. Being able to communicate with people is the key to make them understand and listen to you, and the Mormons understood that, and made it a point thereupon to continue to immerse themselves in the new culture but still spread their religion and give mild influences. As previously noted, most of the Mormons were already being sent to places where the population was already Christian, so the long stretch of becoming a Mormon wasn’t too far of a thought for the Pacific Islanders who were already used to the Christian ways.
The missionaries did whatever they could to make converts out of the Pacific Islanders whether it is by door-to-door interactions, the media, or even religious schools. Literature was being printed in order to have the Pacific Islanders be able to read the book of Mormon and other things. It was being printed in the language of the European, but also in the vernacular language of the Pacific Islanders. All of these methods were done in the name of spreading Mormonism.
Taking into account the religious schools, people were now being educated with the sense that the teacher could influence what their student could particularly think. This is primarily where the Americans tried to interfere with other nation’s areas of influence. Despite their problems with the Americans trying to force their way onto British sphere of influence, religious schools proved to be the one of the best methods in order for Mormonism to take root in the society of whatever island it was converting. “At the end of 1978, 5055 students were enrolled in LDS schools throughout the Pacific. When post-secondary and seminary and institute students are added, the number swells to 18,291” (Britsch). More Pacific Islanders were being sent to school as their global contact with the Americans and Europeans increased. This would also leave the Pacific Islanders open to propaganda fed by the Latter-day Saints’ schools.
Some of the missionaries going into the Pacific knew what they were going into, but most of the time, they didn’t know what to expect. It wasn’t until recently since the 1970s that people were being taught about where they were going, who to expect, and how to survive in the new world they were going to by understanding their language and the culture that they were going to most likely partly assimilate into. “In early times, they [missionaries] went to the Pacific without much knowledge of what they would encounter. During the past decade or so, however, missionaries to non-English areas have gone such places with eight weeks of language and cultural training” (Britsch).
Taking a look at the Maori, Mormonism was successful because of the way it was introduced, and the fact that it wasn’t particularly forced upon them, but something they choose to accept as part of themselves.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LSD) launched a sustained mission to the New Zealand Maori beginning in the 1880s. Within a few short years, thousands had been baptized. By the turn of the century, the church counted nearly a tenth of the total Maori population as members with a significantly higher percentage in certain pa (settlements) along the east coast of the North Island from the southern Wairarapa to Poverty Bay and beyond. (Underwood)
More Maoris were willing to become Mormons as time passed. Not only was it something that was introduced by foreigners, but it paid homage to some of the creational stories of the Maori themselves. “If the arrival of the Mormon missionaries had been anticipated by Maori prophets, then it was possible for Maori rangatira and their people to welcome Mormonism as an authentic part of their destiny rather than as one more foreign intrusion” (Underwood). People accepted Mormonism the more it resembled their own ways of living. It wasn’t something entirely new to them, but rather like a welcoming back of an old friend who has been gone for far too long. This has a basis in that there had been a few prophesies within the Maori that matched with the introduction of Mormonism. This helped the Pacific Islanders to not see the new religion as something being forced onto them, but something that was prophesized and foretold to occur by their own people, and so they would give it a chance and follow it. This was great for the missionaries as a good portion of the Maori accepted their religion, but also showed signs of maybe having origins in Israel the more they were able to communicate with the Aotearoa indigenous population. The Mormons followed along with those thought processes and held a continuous interest in the Maori and their culture, which furthered their idea that they should stay within the Pacific and convert more Pacific Islanders to Mormonism.
“The Latter-day Saints have succeeded in planting their form of Christianity in all parts of Polynesia and in an increasing number of countries elsewhere in the Pacific” (Britsch). Many people converted, and keep converting to this day as missionaries are continually sent out. Their missions are a blessing and a chance to see the world, and many young folks are happy to go to foreign places to speak of their religion and preach it to the people there.
“Since World War II, the Church has constructed hundreds of small churches in the islands” (Britsch). With the building of the churches, the quantity of it allowed more people (Europeans and Pacific Islanders alike) to attend the church within walking distance of where they lived. The church is more readily available to the practicing Pacific Islanders. Mormons also help with the people in the islands because of the lack of resources and technology unavailable compared to developed countries. “As the Church continues to grow in the Pacific, so too does its outreach to communities in need. The Latter-day Saints’ welfare and humanitarian programs in the Pacific include clean water projects, measles vaccination initiatives, and the donations of wheelchairs as well as education and medical supplies” (Change Face).
From the Polynesians of French Polynesia in 1844, Mormonism continued to spread to “the Melanesians of Fiji and New Caledonia a century later, and in Micronesia/Guam during the 1970s” (Pacific). Not only was it being limited to one part of the Pacific but began to expand the entire of Oceania as the years and generations passed. There was a consensus done in 2000 that showed how huge the growth of Mormonism was in the Pacific. “The Pacific Latter-day Saint population was 418,831 in 2000. The largest memberships were in Australia (99,000); New Zealand (89,952); Samoa (71,277); Hawaii (55,361); and Tonga (44,819 40% of the nation’s population, the highest percentage of Latter-day Saints in the world)” (Pacific). The spread of Mormonism was going terrifically.
By the end of 2009 “there were almost 450,000 Mormons in the South Pacific region, from Australia and Papua New Guinea, across to the Marshall Islands, Kiribati and French Polynesia, and south to New Zealand. In some places Mormons are a strong presence, such as in Tonga, Samoa and French Polynesia. In other countries Mormons are recognized but not always understood” (Change Face). Mormonism is a strong force within the Pacific and only continues to grow. The religion has become a part of the culture as the ones they had previous. For those who are still able to live on their islands, without much American and European influence, are able to keep their culture alive without much of a problem with the exceptions of islands such as the Hawaiian Islands and New Zealand. Taking a look at Hawaii, it’s under American rules and regulation as Hawaii is one of the fifty states of America. The traditional culture of the Hawaiians is being taken over by the American culture, and most of the population in Hawaii do not identify themselves as Hawaiian. Not many people do things according to tradition anymore as new technology is introduced. Mormonism did have its own part to play in overtaking the original religion of the islanders. All of this would leave to an adoption of Mormonism into the culture of the Pacific Isles as it continued to gain a stronghold in Oceania. While most of the Pacific Islanders still have a sense of themselves, they have allotted parts of themselves to make room for the new religion that they converted to.
Works Cited
Britsch, R. Lanier. The Expansion of Mormonism in the South Pacific. Dialogue 13 (Spring 1980): 53-62. 2 May 2014.
“Global Mormonism: Pacific.” Global Mormonism. Brigham Young University, n.d. Web. 7 May 2014.
“The Changing Face of Mormonism in the Pacific.” Scoop. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 30 Nov. 2010. Web. 7 May 2014. <http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK1011/S00662/the-changing-face-of-mormonism-in-the-pacific.htm>.
Underwood, Grant. “Mormonism, The Maori And Cultural Authenticity.” Journal Of Pacific History 35.2 (2000): 133-146. Academic Search Premier. Web. 4 May 2014.
Inquisitive Muse 