MARY JEMISON: Seneca Captive

by Jeanne Le Monnier Gardner ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 14, 1966

Mary Jemison was fifteen when, in 1758, she was captured by Shawnees and then given to two Seneca sisters. Her story has been told in dramatic form here, but the dialogue and descriptions seem to be based on Mary Jemison's own narrative of her life which was taken down when she was eighty. There is a first-hand forth-rightness and poignancy to her reactions: her horror at being seized and at seeing the scalps of her family, her gradual introduction to and acceptance of the tribal ways, her affection for her Indian family, her two marriages to Indian braves, and her eventual refusal to rejoin the white settlers. It's a short, but often revealing view of Indian life from a viewpoint that is frequently a popular but superficial fictional device.

Pub Date: Sept. 14, 1966

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harcourt, Brace & World

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1966

Categories: NONFICTION