What is "praying indian"

Praying Indian is a 17th-century term referring to Native Americans of New England, New York, Ontario, and Quebec who converted to Christianity. Many groups are referred to by this term, but it is more commonly used for tribes that were organized into villages. These villages were known as praying towns and were established by those such as Puritan leader John Eliot, Jesuit Missionaries of St. Regis and Kahnawake (formerly known as Caughnawaga) and the missionaries among the Huron in western Ontario.