Page 212 - Confronting Race Women and Indians on the Frontier, 1815 - 1915

CHAPTER FIVE

interfered in a relationship between Willie Boy and the agent's daughter.
Willie Boy's impertinence in connection with a white woman
eventually ended with his death. 191

-- White W o men as Captives --

What of the women f a cing violation and violence? Did white women
taken captive by Native Americans change their attitudes in positive
ways? Despite bestselling captivity narratives, white women captives
were not always negative toward their captors or to Indians in gen­
eral. Women's unpublished writings indicate that white women cap­
tives understood and sometimes had affection f o r their captors. Rather
than being bitter and malevolent, a significant number were accept­
ing and f o rgiving.
Of course, attacks, massacres, and captivity were not all they were
reputed to be. For one thing, both sides committed "outrages" and took
captives. For another, captives ofIndians were often accorded f a ir treat­
ment as prisoners of war, as adoptees, or as potential cultural converts.
Nor was captivity by Indians aimed primarily at women and children.
A study of captives in New England between 1675 and 1763 showed
that 4 9 were male, 186 fe male, 22 infants between birth and two years
3
of age, 128 children between two and six, 117 youths between seven and
fifteen, 288 over sixteen, and 15 of unknown ages 1 92 If such data were
.
collected fo r the trans-Mississippi W e st, a similar pattern would most
likely emerge. Certainly, anecdotal evidence regarding gender and age
of captives in the trans-Mississippi region f a ils to uphold the belief that
natives were intent upon seizing women and children as prisoners.
In addition, little c:;vidence exists that American Indians sexually
abused their fe male captives. Published captivity narratives involving
women who were "ravished" appealed to a wide audience, whereas high
sales gave visibility and a dominant position to the captivity genre. The
popularity of published captivity narratives would gain by suggesting
that women accounted f o r a large number of Indian captives and that
they were always raped, fo rced into unwanted marriages, or otherwise

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