ABSTRACT
Samson Occom (or Occum) was the first Native American to publish in English and to achieve some recognition as a writer. Though his works do not stand out much from those of other eighteenth-century clerics-a body of literature tending to emphasize the practical rather than the poetic-there are sections that give insight into his unique experiences as a Native American in the service of the church. On the whole, his marginal fame is undoubtedly due more to his peculiar situation, the anomaly (then) of being a Native American preaching in English, than to his talents as a writer. His primary importance is thus of a historical nature as the “father” of Native American literature.
