According to Barry O'Connell (listed below) , Apes changed his name to Apess is his later publications and in the legal documents of 1836 and 1837. His family members continue to use the spelling Apes. 

Primary Works

A Son of the Forest: The Experience of William Apes, A Native of the Forest, Comprising a Notice of the Pequod Tribe of Indians, Written by Himself, 1829; The Increase of the Kingdom of Christ, a Sermon, 1831; The Experiences of Five Christian Indians of the Pequod Tribe; or An Indians's Looking-Glass for the White Man, 1833; The Indian Nullification of the Unconstitutional Laws of Massachusetts, Relative to the Marshpee Tribe: or, The Pretended Riot Explained, 1835; Eulogy on King Philip, as Pronounced at the Odeon, in Federal Street, Boston, by the Rev. William Apes, an Indian, 1836.

O'Connell, Barry. ed. On Our Own Ground: The Complete Writings of William Apess, A Pequot. Amherst: U of Massachusetts P, 1992.

O'Connell, Barry. ed. A Son of the Forest and Other Writings by William Apess, a Pequot. Amherst: U of Massachusetts P, 1992.  

Selected Bibliography

Berson, Robin K. Marching to a Different Drummer: Unrecognized Heroes of American History. Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1994.

Bizzell, Patricia. "(Native) American Jeremiad: The 'Mixedblood' Rhetoric of William Apess." in Stromberg, Ernest. ed. American Indian Rhetorics of Survivance: Word Medicine, Word Magic. Pittsburgh: U of Pittsburgh P, 2006.

Brooks, Lisa. The Common Pot: The Recovery of Native Space in the Northeast. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P, 2008.

Carlson, David J. Sovereign Selves: American Indian Autobiography and the Law. Urbana: U of Illinois P, 2006.

Doolen, Andy. Fugitive Empire: Locating Early American Imperialism. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P, 2005.

Elrod, Eileen R. Piety and Dissent: Race, Gender, and Biblical Rhetoric in Early American Autobiography. Amherst: U of Massachusetts P, 2008.

Konkle, Maureen. Writing Indian Nations: Native Intellectuals and the Politics of Historiography, 1827-1863. Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina P, 2004.

Krupat, Arnold. All That Remains: Varieties of Indigenous Expression. Lincoln: U of Nebraska P 2009.

Warrior, Robert . The People and the Word: Reading Native Nonfiction. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P, 2005.  

A Student Project by Aaron Garcia

William Apess began his life on the 31^st of January 1798 in the small town of Colrain, Massachusetts. His father, William Apes, was a shoemaker and a laborer while his mother, Candace, was thought to have been a slave or an indentured servant. His parents were both part Pequot Indian while his father was also part Anglo-American and there are indications that his mother was possibly part African-American (O' Connell, American 555). In his autobiographical writings he refers to having two brothers, two sisters and two additional brothers after he no longer resided with his parents (O'Connell, Dictionary 21).

At the age of three, William's parents split up and left him and his four siblings to be taken care of by their grandparents. They were extremely abusive towards the children and the level of violence was surpassed only by their excessive drinking. William, along with his brothers and sisters were bound out to white families after being petitioned for by the family next door. This came only after William was severely beaten with a club by his grandmother. He now resided with the next-door neighbors and was introduced to Christianity by Mrs. Furman (O' Donnell, Dictionary 24). He was to live with the Furmans for the next six years; during this time William was able to attain his only formal schooling. At the end of the six years, Mrs. Furman passed away and William was sold after Mr. Furman discovered his plans to run away.

He met the same fate with his next family, the Hillmans, and at the age of eleven, was promptly sold again. The Williamses, a wealthy New London Congregational family, were the next to attain William in defiance of his new family, began attending Methodist meetings where he found his new surrogate family. (Tiro 657). He then took flight with another indentured servant after being flogged several times for attending these meetings

At the age of fifteen, William enlisted in the army, and became a drummer in the spring of 1812 (Tiro 657). He was released from the military in 1815 and for the next few years took on many odd jobs. In 1817, he moved back to Connecticut where he was reunited with his family. An aunt, Sally George, was a influential religious icon for William and this awakening led to his Baptism in 1818. Two years later he married Mary Wood on 16^th of December 1821. From this marriage resulted one son and three daughters, but is thought that there could have been more (O' Connell, Dictionary 25).

In 1829 William acquired his ordination as a Protestant Minister and traveled around the northeast preaching to a mostly African and Native American audience (O' Connell 26). The following years consisted of trying to put an end to slavery and fighting for the land rights of Native Americans through his position in the church. Throughout his life he fought the same addiction to alcohol that plagued his grandparents and was said to have attributed to his death in 1839. The battles he waged may have induced a premature death but his writings remind us of what he lived for.

William Apess's first work "Son of The Forest" (1829) is the Native American equivalent to Equianos' "The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano", as they are both firsts for their own cultures, due to each being a literary autobiography from non Anglo-Saxon writers. This book tells of his confrontation of the whites and their racist views, while finding how his childhood and the "quest for heavenly reward" have given him grace. His next writings came in the 1830's, concentrating on religious, political and historical topics. In 1831, "The Increase of the Kingdom of Christ: A Sermon" with the appendix, "The Indians: The Ten Lost Tribes" was written to explain the Indians' place in the world of Christianity. After which came, "The Experiences of Five Christian Indians of the Pequot Tribe" written in 1833 detailing the wrong doings of the white man against the Pequot people (Malinowski 15).

He then wrote a documentary on the Marshpee Tribe. The "Indian Nullification of the Unconstitutional Laws of Massachusetts Relative to the Marshpee Tribe" which was printed in 1835 gave accounts of the governmental abuse of their jurisdiction over the Marshpee's natural resources. His final notable work was the "Eulogy to King Philip" which was delivered at the Odeon in Boston in 1836 and was printed by 1837 (Malinowski 15). The "Eulogy" was written to point out the puritan's condoning of, and support for, the extermination of the Native Americans. This piece also pointed out that Methodism was shying away from its initial policy of anti-slavery and siding with members of the church who wanted the Native American's land for monetary reasons.

Within all of Apess's works you can find one driving motivation: his pursuit for equality. Throughout his childhood he was raised by those with a value system he was to adopt and make his own. But as he began to know the white man's god, his writing began to mimic the prose of his oppressors. This was seen by William Snelling who said, "If he writes, it is in the character of a white man." But in contrast, there were others not as appreciative; Rev. James Walker was quoted as saying, "Apes? What has he done? What is he doing now & with what success?" showing his indifference for Apess's writings ("Indian" 457).

This adaptation shows that while writing in a form conducive to another culture, he was still able to keep his own cultural identity intact. He shows that by acquiring the ways of your oppressors, you can understand their value system. With this insight you can "articulate native rights in terms whites would not be able to dismiss so easily."(Tiro 673) This may have been why he changed his name from Apes, with one s, to Apess with two ss, avoiding the inference of him being less than human or a primate. His writings influenced those who might not have seen the errors of their ways, fought for the rights of Native Americans and showed that the puritan belief of manifest destiny was not a law of god but a limitation instituted by man.

Works Cited

Baym, Nina, et al. "William Apess." The Norton Anthology of American Literature 4^th ed. New York: Norton, 1995.

"Indian Literacy, Colonialism and Criticism." American Literature Vol. 69. Durham, North Carolina. Duke University Press, 1997.

Tiro, Karim M., "Denominated "Savage" :Methodism, Writing and Identity in the Works of William Apess, A Pequot." American Quarterly. American Studies Association, 1996.

Malinowski and Abrams, eds. Notable Native Americans. New York. Gale Research, 1995.

Connell, Barry O'., American National Biography. Vol. 1. New York. Oxford University, 1999.

Connell, Barry O'., Dictionary of Literary Biography, Native American Writers of the United States. Ed. Kenneth M. Roemer. Vol. 175. Detroit. Gale Research Co., 1997.

references are to libraries or bookstores that have Apess' books available.

Study Questions

1. (a) Relationship between the publication of "An Indian's Looking-Glass for the White Man" (1833) and the debate over passage of Indian Removal Bill. Also relationship to miscegenation bill in Massachusetts passed around this time.

2. (a) Compare/contrast the oratorical styles used by Apess and Douglass and their treatment of Indian-White relations.

(b) Compare and contrast the oratorical style used by Apess and American Indian orators such as Logan and Seattle.

(c) Discuss Apess's and the slave narrators' criticisms of the treatment of Indians and slaves by White Christians.

(d) Discuss the influence of Christianity and its concept of the essential equality of all men under God as expressed by Apess and Copway and by slave narrators such as Douglass.

MLA Style Citation of this Web Page

Reuben, Paul P. "Chapter 3: William Apess " PAL: Perspectives in American Literature- A Research and Reference Guide. WWW URL: http://www.paulreuben.website/pal/chap3/apess.html (provide page date or your date of logon).  

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