Shawnee Captivity Ethnography

Abstract

One of the fruits of the strife and warfare between European Whites and the North American Indians is a considerable body of rather unique literature commonly referred to as captivities. The captivity has remained a neglected field of scholarly pursuit although it is certainly a legitimate one, particularly from the standpoint of North American literature, I ethnology, and history.2 Aside from a few articles in professional journals little has been published on the captivities.3 It is the purpose of this study to determine the value of the captivity for ethnologists and historians. A raid on a pioneer settlement, an attack on an unsuspecting traveller on a Midwestern river or in the Old Northwest wilderness, or formal military combat quite often resulted in the Indians taking White prisoners. Some of these prisoners died of wounds incurred while being captured. Some were tomahawked or else ingeniously tortured to a slow death to satisfy the anger of an intoxicated captor, to quench the sadistic thirst of a tribal gathering, to punish the captive if suspected of attempting to escape, to revenge the death of a member of the group, or because it was much easier to carry a scalp than to bother with a prisoner.4 But some captives survived. Several factors motivated Indians to take prisoners. Capture frequently occurred as a natural outcome of war; and the captives were sometimes considered as much a wai trophy as scalps. Revenge or retaliation led to capture and torture, but often resulted in death. When