This Week in Christian History: New World Baptism, Cathedral Construction, and the First Crusade

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, August 13, 2017

First Native American Protestant is Baptized – Aug. 13, 1587

A 1901 engraving depicting Manteo, the 16th century ally to English settlers widely believed to be the first Native American to be baptized Protestant. | (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

This week marks the anniversary of the first recorded baptism of a Native American into Protestant Christianity.

On Aug. 13, 1587, Manteo, a Croatan Indian known for being an ally of the early English settlers, was baptized into the Church of England on Roanoke Island.

According to the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, Manteo was known to help the English with navigation and visited the British Isles on multiple occasions.

"While in England, Manteo met Sir Walter Raleigh and spent time with the scientist Thomas Harriot, with whom he was already acquainted," noted the Nature and Cultural Resources Department.

"He worked with Harriot learning English and teaching Harriot the Algonquian language. Raleigh designated Manteo 'Lord of Roanoke,' and it is possible that his baptism was a requirement of receiving that title."

The baptism of Manteo is still remembered in the lectionary calendar of The Episcopal Church, which commemorates both his baptism and the baptism of Virginia Dare, the first English settler born in a North American colony.