Indian Captive: The Story of Mary Jemison

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1941

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Foreword

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-9

Chapters 10-13

Chapters 14-16

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Chapters 4-6Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 4 Summary: “Seneca Town”

The two Indian women paddle the canoe down the river, which is beautiful and calm. Molly observes that the women look similar, like sisters, yet she also perceives “a great difference between them” (107). One sister is beautiful and kind, offering Molly food and watching over her as she sleeps; the other sister is “plain” and harsh.

Molly’s canoe and the canoe carrying the Indian men finally come to rest along the shore. The Indians leave Molly alone in the canoe, and she sees the smoke of an Indian village inland. The Indian women return, bathe Molly, and dress her in deerskin clothing. Although Molly’s dress from home is ragged, she is upset when her old clothes are discarded in the river. She sees that another tie to home is severed and inwardly vows to preserve her own identity as a white girl.

The women allow Molly time to cry; afterward, they braid her hair and take her into the village called Seneca Town. In a longhouse, Molly is confused when she is surrounded by Indian women, weeping and waving their arms. Later, she learns that they were grieving the death of a young man, a member of their community that Molly had been brought to replace. After the women’s ceremonies of grieving, they celebrate the arrival of Molly and name her “Corn Tassel.” Molly is suspicious of their friendliness.

Molly follows the two Indian sisters across the village to the lodge of the Deer clan. Inside, an older woman offers her soup, but Molly cannot eat the unfamiliar food. Molly studies the lodge and cannot make any sense of the Indian language spoken around her. She falls asleep, and the kind Indian sister lifts her up onto a bunk.

Chapter 5 Summary: “Lost in Sorrow”

Molly dreams of being home with her mother and father and wakes up to realize again that she is in an Indian village. She lays in bed, taking in her strange surroundings, until the older Indian woman signals for her to get up. Outside the lodge, the Indian sisters are pounding corn alongside the other village women. Molly is excited, hoping that they will make the corn meal into the corn-pone that is familiar to her.

The plain sister instructs Molly to get firewood; when Molly hesitates, she kicks her. Through the experience, Molly learns the Indian word for “wood.” Molly tries to find wood to burn but is distracted by a patch of blood-root blooms. The kind sister comes to her and helps her collect firewood. When Molly brings it back, the plain sister kicks her again for using the English word “wood” rather than the Indian word.

Molly is disappointed to see that the corn meal has not been cooked into familiar corn-pone. Instead, the cakes have been boiled. Molly offends the Indians by throwing the corn cake into the fire and rejecting the soup they offer her. The Indian man in the lodge appears noble to Molly, and without a word he makes her feel ashamed of her behavior. Molly eats the corn and soup.

The plain sister instructs Molly to bring back water from the spring. After filling the water vessel, Molly defiantly continues into the forest. She realizes that the forest itself keeps her from any hope of escape; overcome by homesickness and despair, she weeps. Molly is interrupted by a young Indian boy who reminds her of Davy Wheelock. Taking her hand, the boy leads her back to the spring, and Molly carries the water vessel back to her lodge.

Chapter 6 Summary: “A Singing Bird”

The Indian boy, Little Turtle, hears Molly singing in the forest. Every day, Molly has spent time crying. Both the plain Indian sister, Squirrel Woman, and the kind sister, Shining Star, seem to patiently allow it. Every day, Little Turtle brings her back to the village. He tries to communicate by teaching her the Seneca language.

Today, hearing her sing, Little Turtle longs once again for Molly to be happy. He finds her and tries to give her a silver brooch, but she runs back to the village. Little Turtle takes Molly to Chief Standing Pine. Little Turtle respectfully but bravely presents his request to the chief: to end Molly’s suffering and help her return to her people. Chief Standing Pine explains to Little Turtle the ways of war and the Indians’ need to defend themselves against the incoming white settlers. He refuses Little Turtle’s request but encourages him that in time Molly will be happy.

Although she does not understand the language, Molly perceives and appreciates Little Turtle speaking to the chief on her behalf. After Molly returns to her lodge, Squirrel Woman puts a baby on Molly’s back and leads her to the field, where the women are planting corn. The women want Molly to help with the task of planting the corn, but Molly refuses and runs into the woods.

Little Turtle follows Molly, making her laugh by shooting at turtles and constructing a swing. For the first time, they communicate in the Seneca language. Back in the village, Little Turtle brings her to an old man’s lodge and Molly realizes that the man is Shagbark. As Little Turtle speaks with Grandfather Shagbark, Molly realizes that she is able to understand them. Shagbark gives Molly a ladle carved with a singing bird.

Molly returns to the lodge, remembering her defiance in the corn field. Red Bird, the mother of the Indian sisters, makes it clear that the meal she has prepared is only for those who have worked hard that day. Understanding the lesson, Molly goes to bed without supper.

Chapters 4-6 Analysis

In these chapters, Molly finds herself in the unfamiliar world of Seneca Town. While the narration has been largely tied to Molly’s perspective, in this section there are several narrative shifts to allow the audience to access information that is unavailable to Molly. One shift in narration occurs during the grieving ceremony, which takes place immediately upon Molly’s arrival. Molly does not understand the Seneca language and does not understand the ceremony she witnesses. At this point, the narration references Molly’s future knowledge: “Not till long after did she understand what they were doing, did she know that the occasion had been a ceremony” (116). In the next few paragraphs, the ceremony is explained and translated for the reader.

Another shift in narration is in Chapter 6. This chapter begins from Little Turtle’s point of view, and Molly is described as “the new captive girl” (152). Through Little Turtle, readers learn the names of important Seneca characters: Shining Star, Squirrel Woman, Red Bird, and others. Readers are also able to understand Chief Standing Pine’s speech in response to Little Turtle’s request to return Molly to her people. For the first time, an Indigenous character presents a perspective of the war, and of Molly’s captivity, that is different from the English settler perspective.

By the end of Chapter 6, an important breakthrough has occurred: Molly begins to understand and speak the Seneca language. From this point on, the narration returns to a focus on Molly, as she is now able to understand what the Seneca characters are saying.

In these chapters, Molly clings to her English identity and detests the Seneca way of life. She rejects food that is offered to her, and when she notices that she is walking like an Indian woman, she is overcome with hatred: “Suddenly she hated the Indian women and the way they walked. She hated the Indian baby tied fast to a hard, flat board” (164). However, there are subtle shifts in Molly’s view of the Senecas. Encountering Squirrel Woman and Shining Star’s father, “Molly was struck with his noble appearance. She had not known before that an Indian could look so fine, so wise, so good” (144). When she meets Little Turtle, his “soft brown eyes […] made her think of Davy Wheelock” (148). She is forging loving relationships with Shining Star, Little Turtle, and Shagbark; slowly, she is humanizing the Senecas rather than painting them as negative stereotypes.