Women's Indian Captivity Narratives

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.

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INTRODUCTION BY KATHRYN ZABELLE DEROUNIAN-STODOLA
SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING
A NOTE ON THE TEXTS

Mary Rowlandson:
A True History of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson (1682)

Hannah Dustan:
A Notable Exploit; wherein, Dux Faemina Facti, from Magnalia Christi Americana by Cotton Mather (1702)

Elizabeth Hanson:
God's Mercy Surmounting Man's Cruelty, Exemplified in the Captivity and Redemption of Elizabeth Hanson (1728)

"Panther Captivity":
A Surprising Account of the Discovery of a Lady Who Was Taken by the Indians by Abraham Panther (1787)

Jemima Howe:
A Genuine and Correct Account of the Captivity, Sufferings and Deliverance of Mrs. Jemima Howe by Bunker Gay (1792)

Mary Kinnan:
A True Narrative of the Sufferings of Mary Kinnan by Shepard Kollock (1795)

Mary Jemison:
A Narrative of the Life of Mrs. Mary Jemison by James E. Seaver (1824)

Mary Godfrey:
An Authentic Narrative of the Seminole War, and of the Miraculous Escape of Mrs. Mary Godfrey, and Her Four Female Children (1836)

Sarah F. Wakefield:
Six Weeks in the Sioux Tepees: A Narrative of Indian Captivity (1864)

Emeline L. Fuller:
Left by the Indians. Story of My Life (1892)

EXPLANATORY NOTES