Indian Captive: The Story of Mary Jemison

“Molly and her father walked out the door together. Despite his stern ways and blustering words, he had a great affection for his children and Molly was his favorite. He put his great, knotty hand on her head and rumpled her tousled yellow hair. ‘Pa…’ Molly hesitated, then went on: ‘Ain’t you ever afeard like Ma?’ ‘Why should I be afeard?’ laughed her father. ‘There’s nothin’ to be scared of. The Injuns’ll never hurt you, Molly-child! Why, if they ever saw your pretty yaller hair, a-shinin’ in the sun, they’d think ‘twas only a corn-stalk in tassel and they’d pass you by for certain!’” 

Neighbor Wheelock has just warned the Jemisons that “the Indians” are coming and suggests that they leave the area along with him. Thomas Jemison laughs at the warning and insists that his family will stay. This quote demonstrates Thomas’s confidence, which is quickly proven to be misplaced; however, his prediction that “the Indians” will not hurt Molly is correct. Throughout the novel, Molly is noticed and set apart because of her hair. In his final farewell to his daughter, Thomas Jemison repeats these words. 

“Molly stood motionless, watching. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she was suddenly conscious of her mother’s actions. Time seemed to stand still as she waited. She saw her mother walk across the room, carrying a stack of wooden trenchers toward the slab table. She saw her mother open her lips, as if about to speak. She knew what she would say before the words came. She had heard them often enough before: ‘Stop your dreamin’, Molly, and git to work!’ But this time the words were never said.” 

This ordinary moment is interrupted by the sound of gunshots. The last moment before her world is forever altered, it becomes frozen in time. Throughout the attack on the Jemison home, the narrative is closely tied to Molly’s perspective, and the style of narration illustrates the state of shock that Molly experiences. Molly watching her mother’s lips move as if in slow motion begins this narrative shift. 

“Long afterwards, there was one thing that Molly was to remember—the tender beauty of that fair spring morning on the Pennsylvania meadows—April 5, 1758. More than the terror of the Indians’ war whoop, more than the shock of sudden death and capture, the pain and suffering of rushed flight—or by very contrast with these horrors—the beauty of that April day always stayed with her. The beauty of that sweet April day, when all the buds were bursting, was shattered by what happened and cried out in protest against it.” 

At this point, the narrative breaks away from the detailed description of Molly’s experience of capture. By giving the historical date of Molly’s capture and referring to Molly’s future recollection of the experience, the author highlights the fact that this novel is based on a true story. Throughout the book, the beauty of nature is noticed by Molly and described in the narrative. Here, nature is personified as a protesting witness to Molly’s suffering. 

‘“No matter where you are, Mary, my child, have courage, be brave! It don’t matter what happens, if you’re only strong and have great courage. Don’t forget your own name or your father’s and mother’s. Don’t forget to speak in English. Say your prayers and catechism to yourself each day the way I learned you—God will be listening. Say them again and again…don’t forget, oh, don’t forget! You’re a-goin’ now…God bless you, Mary, my child, God…go…with…you…’” 

Molly’s mother realizes that Molly is going to be taken to live with the Indians. She seizes the opportunity to make an impassioned speech, giving Molly vital advice and encouraging her for what lies ahead. She uses Molly’s formal name, Mary, to quickly get her attention. This farewell speech helps Molly to understand the finality of the moment. Throughout the novel, and particularly at the end of the book, Molly remembers her mother’s words. 

“Courage was better than fear, Molly said to herself. Courage helped not only yourself but others.” 

Molly and Davy have been separated from their families, and Davy is terrified. Molly is inspired by her mother’s calm strength in the face of the Indian attack and resolves to be a source of courage for Davy. The theme of courage runs throughout the novel, and the Senecas eventually rename Molly based on this trait. This is one of the first instances where Molly consciously reaches for courage for the sake of someone else. 

“Molly put up her hands and hid her face in shame. Then she looked at Davy and Nicholas, scarce recognizing them. A strange picture the three captives made—a young man, a half-grown girl, a little boy—their white, white faces streaked with red. What did it mean? What was going to happen? Were they being prepared for something worse? ‘All we need now is black hair!’ said Davy, bitterly. ‘And black hearts!’ added Nicholas, with a flash of insight.

‘They can change our faces,’ said Molly, ‘but our hearts they cannot change.’” 

Molly, Davy, and Nicholas—white captives held by Indian warriors—are groomed and painted in Seneca custom before entering Fort Duquesne. They are disgusted by their appearance; this reaction demonstrates the deeply negative view they hold of Senecas at this point in the book. Molly is resolved to retain her English identity, and this struggle is an internal conflict that runs throughout the novel. 

“She knew now what they were doing. They were taking away her homespun clothing and putting deerskin upon her. They were making an Indian out of a white girl. She made up her mind she would never, never let them. Her feet ran fast, but not fast enough. For when they reached the shore, the little pile of ragged clothing was floating down the stream. The last thing, the only tie that bound her to home, was gone. She had nothing now to wear but Indian clothing. She fell down upon the ground and sobbed as if her heart would break.” 

Before bringing Molly into Seneca town, the two Indian sisters—Squirrel Woman and Shining Star—bathe her and give her deerskin clothes in Seneca fashion. Although Molly’s clothes from home are ragged, she is devastated when they are thrown into the river. The clothes represent her connection to home and her English identity; as she watches the clothes float away, she realizes again that she has been torn from her English family and community. 

“It was her hair that pleased them most. It made them think of blooming corn-stalks, of soft, fresh corn-silk, of pale yellow ripened corn—the dearest things in life. So when they gave her a name, there was only one that they could think of. They called her Corn Tassel that day and for many a long day thereafter.” 

After arriving in Seneca Town, Molly is welcomed by the village women. Just as Molly’s father predicted, the Indians notice Molly’s hair and delight in its color, which reminds them of a silky corn tassel. Molly’s new name, Corn Tassel, is a reminder of her father but also signals the beginning of her life among the Senecas. The warm welcome Molly receives, and the name she is given, suggests that, despite her fears, Molly is being adopted as a member of the community. 

“Little Turtle, the Indian boy, heard the faltering words and hurried faster. The new captive girl was singing. She was singing a strange song of the white people. She must be happy today. She had put her sorrow aside at last.” 

Up until this point, the narrative has been almost exclusively tied to Molly’s perspective of events. For the first time, the narrative shifts to focusing on a different character’s perspective. Molly is navigating the strange new world she finds herself in—Seneca Town. By focusing on Little Turtle’s perspective in this chapter, the author provides a way for the audience to gain more information about the Seneca people and culture. The audience learns the names of important Seneca characters and has access to their conversations. 

“A voice in Molly’s heart kept crying out to make her hear: ‘You must not love Shining Star. There is a purpose behind her kindness. If you listen to her words and love her, she will turn you into an Indian.’ An answering voice cried out: ‘How can a girl torn away from her people live without affection? How can I live without someone to love?’” 

At this point, Molly has lived in Seneca town for four months. She has learned a lot about Seneca customs and culture, and she has developed a warm relationship with Shining Star. Shining Star gently encourages Molly, and Molly is drawn to her words. However, Molly is conflicted about her growing attachment to her Seneca sister. She feels wary of Shining Star’s motivation but feels a deep need for loving relationships. Molly’s inner turmoil over her own identity and her place in the Seneca community is an important part of the novel. 

“A dreadful truth like a burning fire consumed. Molly Jemison had begun to think like an Indian, to see white people from the Indian point of view. Molly Jemison was turning into an Indian. What could she do—oh, what could she do!” 

In this scene, Squirrel Woman has just caught Molly speaking English to herself in the cornfield. In a rage, Squirrel Woman shakes her violently. When Molly gets up, she calmly criticizes Squirrel Woman as “the only Indian in the village who, like a pale-face, gives loud expression to hot anger!” (208). While Molly was originally focused on surface-level differences between English and Seneca culture, she is now able to recognize deeper philosophical differences. She has articulated how the Seneca approach to anger and to discipline differs from the English approach, and she has assumed the Seneca approach as the superior one. After this encounter, Molly realizes that she is changing on a deeper level and is horrified. Again, she is torn by an inner conflict over her identity as an English girl in a Seneca community. 

“It’s a fine, free, open life and you can be happy if you’ll be just make up your mind to like it. The Indians don’t work half so hard as the whites and they get lots more joy out of life. In fact, I think Indian life is not half bad myself. I like it.” 

These words are spoken by Old Fallenash, the white trader who visits Genesee Town. Molly recognizes him from her former life in Marsh Creek Hollow and begs him to take her with him. Fallenash refuses but encourages Molly to seek happiness with the Senecas. At this point, Molly has already started to notice strengths of Seneca culture—their kindness to her, their knowledge and respect for nature, and the wisdom of their stories. However, she is still caught in a view of Indian life as inferior, and she is pitied by other white people she encounters. Fallenash, a white man, reframes her situation and points out the positive aspects of it. This conversation moves forward Molly’s own shift in thinking, and she eventually chooses life with the Senecas over the chance to return to English culture. 

‘“Who is the Great Spirit?’ asked Molly. ‘The Great Spirit is Ha-wen-ne-yu,’ replied Earth Woman. ‘He made the world and all that is good. He made the corn and the plants of the earth to grow, to blossom and bear fruit, so we may be happy. His brother is the Evil Spirit, Ha-ne-go-ate-geh. He made the snakes, the mosquitoes, the flies and all the poisonous plants. He brings sickness into the world.’ ‘Oh yes! I remember now!’ cried Molly. ‘Ma used to tell me something like that at home—only the names of the spirits were different. If you ask the Great Spirit for things, will he give them to you?’

‘We try to remember what he has already given,’ said Earth Woman.” 

In this quote, Earth Woman shares a fundamental part of the Seneca spiritual worldview with Molly. Instead of seeing this worldview as competing with her own mother’s spiritual teachings, Molly begins to see them as complementing one another. Although she sees similarities between what Earth Mother tells her and what her mother told her, this conversation also exposes a difference: Molly gravitates to a worldview by which things are asked of the Great Spirit; Earth Woman emphasizes the Seneca focus on gratitude. In Molly’s own situation, recognizing the positive things in her life rather than longing for what is lost becomes key to her happiness. 

“Earth Woman had been willing to let him go free, to let him go back to the pale-faces, rather than see him suffer. By giving him up, Earth Woman showed how great was her love.” 

When Josiah leaves the village, various characters react in different ways. Squirrel Woman is vengeful and wants to see him captured and punished. Earth Woman, in contrast, is devastated by his departure but longs for him to go free rather than be punished. Shagbark reveals that he deliberately helped Josiah leave because he recognized that his escape was inevitable. At first, Molly is upset that Josiah did not take her with him; as she thinks about it, however, she realizes that she is happy for him, and happy that he did not take her along as an added burden. This theme of selfless love runs throughout the novel. 

“The flap was raised and Molly stepped out. The children stared to see her, then clapped their hands and cried out with joy. For she wore a fine new gown, made in Seneca fashion, not of deerskin, but of cloth. Her blue skirt and bright red broadcloth leggings were richly embroidered in bead designs. Her overdress of flowered calico was fastened down the front with a row of silver brooches. ‘Corn Tassel is a Seneca woman now!’ cried the children. ‘Corn Tassel is dressed as fine as Beaver Girl!’” 

Molly is becoming a true part of the Seneca community, and her clothing is a symbol of that change. More and more, she behaves and looks like Beaver Girl, her peer in the village. Throughout the novel, her grief at leaving home and her longing for home have been illustrated through a longing for homespun English clothing. When Molly was first dressed in Seneca fashion, she felt ashamed and resented the clothing; at this point in the novel, Molly has longed for an outfit of broadcloth, and she admires the way she looks. 

“After a pause, Molly heard Chief Burning Sky speaking, slowly measuring each word: ‘Many moons ago, there was a time when there were no pale-faces in the land of the Iroquois. Then were the people happy and content. The first pale-faces who came were the French traders and hunters. We gave them our skins and furs and they gave us steel hatchets, tomahawks, paint and tobacco. We made them our friends, not knowing what friendship with the pale-faces would lead to. The Indians were happy until the pale-faces began to change their way of life. Now, the Indian wants cloth to wear in place of deerskin garments, blankets to take the place of fur robes, brass kettles in place of earthen pots and fire-arms for bows and arrows. Worst of all, the pale-face brings fire-water…Can he who pours down our throats water that burns like fire, be called friend?’” 

Chief Burning Sky meets with the English man Captain Morgan. Captain Morgan tells the chief that the French have been defeated, and he is eager to know if the Senecas will help the English. Through Chief Burning Sky’s speech, the novel presents a different account of history—the Seneca perspective. This account differs greatly from the English perspective, and from the perspective that Molly learned before living with the Senecas. Chief Burning Sky is wary of the changes taking place in his community; he fears that the traditional Seneca way of life is in jeopardy. 

“Why did the pale-faces always doubt the Indians and suspect them of cruelty and unkindness? Didn’t they know that a captive was treated the same as an Indian child? Didn’t they know how kind the Indians were to their own people?” 

Molly’s interaction with Captain Morgan is interrupted by Squirrel Woman, who is angry that Molly has approached the English man. Before she leaves, Captain Morgan asks Molly if Squirrel Woman will hurt her; the white people Molly met in Fort Duquesne asked her the same thing. When Molly was first brought to the Senecas, she distrusted their kindness and expected cruelty. At this point in the novel, Molly is baffled by how the white people she meets misunderstand the Seneca people. This difference reflects how much Molly has changed, and the narrative use of the word “pale-face” further distances her from English culture. 

‘“When someone we love is in danger,’ said Old Shagbark, ‘the Great Spirit makes us strong and gives us courage.’ Molly could almost hear her mother speaking and the words were much like Shagbark’s: ‘It don’t matter what happens, if you’re only strong and have great courage.’” 

After Molly saves Blue Jay from a snake while berry picking, the children with her tell the story of what happened when they return to the village. Shagbark remarks that Molly’s courage sprang from a place of love, highlighting the fact that Molly has come to deeply love Blue Jay and others in the community. Molly’s act of bravery demonstrates the depth of her love, and the gratitude of Blue Jay’s mother, Shining Star, further strengthens their family bond to Molly. Molly recalls her mother’s words, and rather than triggering a feeling of guilt, the words seem to mirror Shagbark’s wisdom. 

‘“Killed them?’ gasped Molly. ‘All this time…they’ve never been alive at all?’” 

Old Fallenash returns to Genesee Town briefly to bring Molly news of her home and family. He tells her that her family was killed and her home was burned. Molly is devastated by the news, but it is also an important turning point in the book. Molly’s hope of returning to her home and family evaporates; she begins to focus on the Seneca friends and family she has made, grounding her future in these relationships rather than the ones she has lost. 

“Better to live with those who understood her because they loved her so much, than with one who could never think with her, in sympathy, about anything. Better to stay where she belonged, with the Indians who loved and understood her, and whom she could always love and understand in return.” 

Molly is faced with the decision of going with Captain Morgan or staying with the Senecas. In the midst of weighing these options, Molly sees Shagbark and recognizes empathy in his eyes. In contrast, Molly senses that Captain Morgan would never truly understand her. Rather than identifying her place of belonging based on race, as she has throughout most of the novel, Molly identifies her place of belonging based on love and mutual understanding. Through this lens, she sees that she belongs with the Seneca people she has come to know and love, not with white strangers.

“Perhaps the Englishman was right—she ought to hate the Indians for the crime which they had committed against her—but in her heart there was no feeling of revenge, no hate. It was only war that she hated—war which set nation against nation; the French against the English, and the poor Indians between them both. As she had suffered once in losing her family, so did the Indians suffer like losses, over and over. Her loss was no greater than theirs.” 

This quotation is from the scene in which Molly weighs her decision to stay with the Senecas or leave with Captain Morgan. In his speech to her, Captain Morgan blames the “Indians” for all her suffering. Molly considers this argument but realizes she does not feel the same way. Rather than blaming the Indians for the pain she has endured, Molly blames war. She recognizes the pain that war inflicts on all sides of a conflict and hates war itself rather than the Indians who took her captive. Molly humanizes the people she once saw as the enemy, feeling empathy for their suffering. This is an important theme in the novel and a key factor in enabling her to stay with the Senecas. 

“Because her pain had been so great, she would be sister to the suffering as long as she lived. Washed clean by pain, she faced the future unafraid.” 

Throughout the novel, Molly has suffered. She has endured shock, physical exhaustion, illness, cultural isolation, and deep grief. At the end of the novel, Molly moves away from self-pity to recognizing how suffering has shaped her for good. She is keenly aware of the suffering of others, including animals; while some Senecas see this sensitivity as a weakness, Molly sees it as a strength. This quote demonstrates the development of her character and also the author’s style of writing. Metaphors in the book—such as “washed clean by pain”—add depth to the text but utilize simple language and comparisons that would be familiar to Molly’s character and time period. 

‘“I cannot go!’ she said, in a clear, steady voice. ‘I wish to stay. The Senecas are my people. I will live and die with the Senecas.’

The core climax of the novel builds toward this quote. Although Molly has spent much of the novel yearning to return to English people, her desires change as she develops relationships and history with the Senecas. Finally, she is offered the opportunity to leave the Senecas and live the life of an English woman. The highest point of tension in the novel is when Molly weighs this decision, and this tension is relieved when Molly declares that she wants to stay with the Senecas forever.