SAMSON OCCOM
(The Reverend Samson Occom)
From the earliest days of the nation, alcohol has been a competitor for the resources and time of people, especially native Americans many of whom have a genetic predisposition to the deleterious effect of alcohol.
The Reverend Samson Occom was a member of the Mohegan nation, from near New London, Connecticut, who became a Presbyterian cleric. Occom was the second Native American to publish his writings in English (after son-in-law Joseph Johnson (Mohegan/Brothertown) whose letter to Moses Paul, published April of 1772, preceded Occom’s by 6 months), the first Native American to write down his autobiography, and also helped found several settlements, including what ultimately became known as the Brothertown Indians. Together with the missionary John Eliot, Occom became one of the foremost missionaries who cross-fertilised Native American communities with Christianized European culture.
