Women's Indian Captivity Narratives

by Kathryn Zabelle Derounian-Stodola (Editor / Contributor), Mary Jemison (Contributor), Sarah F. Wakefield (Contributor)

Enthralling generations of readers, the narrative of capture by Native Americans is arguably the first American literary form dominated by the experiences of women. The ten selections in this anthology span the early history of this country (1682-1892) and range in literary style from fact-based narrations to largely fictional, spellbinding adventure stories. The women are variously victimized, triumphant, or, in the case of Mary Jemison, permantently transculturated. This collection includes well known pieces such as Mary Rowlandson's A True History (1682), Cotton Mather's version of Hannah Dunstan's infamous captivity and escape (after scalping her captors ), and the "Panther Captivity", as well as lesser known texts.As Derounian-Stodola demonstrates in the introduction, the stories also raise questions about the motives of their (often male) narrators and promoters, who in many cases embellish melodrama to heighten anti-British and anti-Indian propaganda, shape the tales for ecclesiastical purposes, or romanticize them to exploit the growing popularity of sentimental fiction in order to boost sales.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, 17th Century, 18th Century, American, Classics, 19th Century

356 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1998

Reviews

[Graychin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The editor’s agenda (damn the patriarchy!) occasionally distracts, but this is a fine collection of first-hand accounts from the 1600s through the 1800s, of real historical value. I was particularly fascinated by Mary Rowlandson’s experiences during King Philip’s War in New England (I’d read a bit about her in Nathaniel Philbrick’s Mayflower) and especially by Mary Jemison’s story. Jemison was captured as a young girl about 1755 after the family’s Pennsylvania farm was raided and all her family members killed. Adopted by the Senecas, she eventually became fully assimilated to tribal culture, married twice and had children, and refused on more than one occasion to return to Anglo-American life. She tells her story (as an eighty-year-old woman, in the 1820s) with appealing honesty, balancing fairly the real virtues and the no less real brutalities of native life.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

In their first and many subsequent editions, these stories were heavily edited, prefaced and foot noted by their white male settler publishers. Most of these, make their Puritan, Colonial, Manifest Destiny, purposes in publishing these, instant best sellers of their time, explicit. One going so far as to tell the reader that he does so in order "to perpetuate the remembrance of the atrocities of the savages in former times".
Even with this thick veneer, or maybe because of it, these stories left me with a lot of questions about the "facts" from the other side. In her introduction Derounian-Stodola (editor of this Penguin Edition) asserts that these narratives are "fictive" in that they mix fact and fiction. As these narratives represent a significant body of work on women settler's experience those questions remain unanswered. Not only do we not get the captives' unedited account, the captors' perspective drifts even further away from us.
These stories are repetitive. Each tale begins with a violent confrontation at a settler's door, the Indigenous person at the door is in most cases starving, having been driven off their land, or perhaps they have come to question the settlers' claim to the land on which they have created their new home, the protagonist's husband is often killed. Having killed a white man the Indigenous people must flee. They take the women and children with them for security. What follows is a detailed account of the often tedious realities of trudging for weeks through the wilderness, starvation, and much waiting to be ransomed, or rescued.
Though there must have been significant language issues in many of these exchanges, this is hardly mentioned at all. In the oldest narrative, from 1675, the editor writes of the "causeless enmity" of the Narragansetts while on the same page referring several times to their having been driven from "their own country" by "the English Army". Over and over again the editors tell us they both have no idea, and know exactly what the Indigenous experience was.
The perspective and voice of the captive is often obscured by this editorial framing. But each one develops at the very least a mild curiosity about the Indigenous experience.
Worth noting, in all but one story the captive is not believed when she claims she has not been"harassed" , "interfered with", "violated" or suffered "the abuse of unchastity". The persistent belief of their rescuers that this was impossible cast a shadow over their lives. Those who eventually changed their story received no better reception. The exception being the case of Mary Jemison, who told her story in 1824 after living 70 years with her adoptive Seneca family, who refused several times to return to "the blessings of civilization". So many questions.

[Katy Dickinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

From my January 25, 2008 blog http://blogs.sun.com/katysblog/entry/...

1782 William Crawford, Simon Girty, and History

Last month when I visited Washington, D.C. for the first time in many decades, I toured the National Museum of the American Indian, opened as part of the Smithsonian Institution in 2004. It seemed to me that one way of understanding more about the complex relationship between the European/American cultures and the American Indian cultures was to read reports from individuals who had personally experienced both. In the museum store, I bought two books:

o Women's Indian Captivity Narratives, Editor: Kathryn Zabelle Derounian-Stodola, Penguin Classics, 1998, ISBN-10: 0140436715, ISBN-13: 978-0140436716

o Captured by the Indians: 15 Firsthand Accounts, 1750-1870 Editor: Frederick Drimmer, Dover Publications, 1985, ISBN-10: 0486249018, ISBN-13: 978-0486249018

In these books, I was interested to read for the first time about the death by burning in 1782 of General George Washington's friend, Colonel William Crawford. This disturbing story was told in:

o "That is Your Great Captain" by Dr. John Knight, 1783 (in Captured by the Indians)

o "To Eat Fire Tomorrow" by John Slover as told to Hugh H. Brackenridge, 1782 (in Captured by the Indians)

o "A Narrative of the Life of Mary Jemison" by James E. Seaver, 1824 (in Women's Indian Captivity Narratives)

Knight and Slover were captured with Crawford after Crawford's failed expedition against the Ohio Indians (Wyandot, Huron, Delaware, and Shawnee tribes). Knight and Mary Jemison's husband Hiokatoo (of the Seneca tribe) were witnesses to Crawford's death; Slover was told of it by his captors.

Trying to sort out what happened by reading these memorable accounts is a good exercise in detection and understanding the difficulties of History even when first-hand accounts are available.
...
Having read these books, I have a greater appreciation for the complexity of this early period of American history and the interactions of the Indian, British, French, and American cultures. It is certainly more exciting than I remember from my required American History courses in High School and college!

Copyright 2008 by Katy Dickinson

[Srhbth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collection of women's stories spanning more than 200 years. Variety of experiences - one woman chose to stay with her captors and became a full member of the family/community, one escaped by killing her captors, one published her story to counter false accusations about her behavior during her captivity, and so on.

Introduction gives plenty of helpful background/context for each narrative as well as the captivity narrative as a genre, and points out that the women's stories may differ not just based on their actual experiences but based on whether they were written by the woman alone, or through the assistance of another person who might have had different motives & messages.

[Kristen Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating, but very dry. I found it much more enjoyable to read when I read the actual narratives first, and THEN went back and read the scholarly commentary that preceded each story. Overall, it was so interesting to see the settling of the American continent from a perspective I haven't heard. I read the official bits in history books, was taught the California PC version of our horrible cruelty to the Native Americans, but this was the first time I heard from the settlers themselves and began to understand the fear and distrust rightly earned on BOTH sides.

[Jane Barber · Rating 5 out of 5]

US History Captive Narratives. I guess I read a lot of captive stories, looking for ancestors? It's hard to remember which are which anymore, but that part of history, I was studying and I liked to read all I could get my hands on.

[Lindsey Z · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only read a couple selections from this anthology, but it is well organized with a useful introduction to the entire text as well as to the individual narratives.

[Barbara Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well-researched and interesting collection. Sometimes the unnecessary cruelty on all sides is hard to take but of course, this is what happened back in the day. A good collection of source material for those interested in the subject.

[Bronwyn Cole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn't have time to read all the narratives. I focused mostly on the introductions, since I was looking for more historic information, and the narratives are more literary. Might pick this up later and give the narrative another try.

[Andi S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh.

[Shelby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read Rowlandson, Dustan, Hanson, Howe, "Panther Captivity"

[Allison6876 · Rating 4 out of 5]

ENGL 3021 paper