Beyond the bounds of the West : the life of John Booth Good, 1833-1916
Date
1991
Authors
Robin, Peter William
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Abstract
BEYOND THE BOUNDS OF THE WEST:
The Life of John Booth Good, 1833-1916.
John Booth Good's missionary career was set against the universal background of the Church of England's missionary experience, pre-contact Christian intrusion to the territory, and missionary exertions of other denominations. Records found in England, Nova Scotia, Washington, D.C., California, as well as in Kamloops, Lytton, Nanaimo, Yale, Vancouver and Victoria, reveal the man and his motives. The scattered locations of the records have contributed to Good's relative obscurity compared to other Anglican missionaries such as William Duncan of Metlakatla.
Good's background as an orphan set the stage for his life, leading to his association with the West family and his resultant impetus to become a missionary to the Indians. His compelling drive to mission and his dependence upon his family may be traced to these early years. The single mindedness of his character was both beneficial and detrimental to his calling. While it gave him the incentive to continue his Indian mission work in the face of extreme adversity, it contributed to conflict with his white parishioners and intruded upon his financial acumen. Good was devoted to his Indian people to the exclusion of all except his family and his church. The unfortunate advent of a new Bishop with no previous missionary experience led to the termination of his work among the Thompson River Indians, and his removal from the mainland to a less prominent position at Nanaimo. Only his long association and friendship with Bishop Hills allowed him a second chance to continue his clerical calling in British Columbia.
Throughout his career, his deep faith gave him the courage to persevere, facing death and hardship with equanimity, and enabled him to accept the pain that resulted from the early deaths of eight of his twelve children, and the disappointments resulting from some of his surviving children's self determination.
Good's lack of prospects in England ensured he would remain overseas; his lack of English social stature drove him to seek personal recognition in the academic world. While his language works received modest acclaim, his ethnological studies were flawed as he conveniently ignored facets of Indian culture that did not support his concept of the Semitic origin of the Indian people. Good exhibited many of the traits shown in missionaries of other denominations yet in some ways he was unique. With William Duncan of Metlakatla he pursued the concept of a model village, but for diametrically opposite reasons; Duncan wanted isolation, Good, integration. He took the "watchman system" from the Roman Catholic Church but applied the discipline parameter in a very different manner. Compared to the Methodists, Good reversed their priorities, believing in first converting the Indians to Christianity, then civilizing them. In spite of confusion created by today's values and issues surrounding Indian land claims and culture suppression, Good was a successful missionary. His Indian church at Lytton still exists as a separate entity within the Anglican Church of Canada. His record of both numbers and quality of converts drew contemporary acclaim and still shines as an exceptional single handed achievement. Good's life was a microcosm of pioneer Christian mission activity in British Columbia. Despite his human failings, he deserves to take his place among the known British Columbia pioneers.