Week 3

"Women's Indian Captivity Narratives"

Class Discussion

This week in class we watched a documentary film on the relationship between the native Americans and the Puritans when they were just beginning to settle in the New World and on Thursday we spent time discussing the selected reading from "Women's Indian Captivity Narratives". Watching the film in class on Tuesday was a great way to set up our discussion of the book on Thursday. Also, the movie brought to life the text which we were reading from "Women's Indian Captivity Narratives".

In my opinion, I feel like the main difference between the Puritans and the Native Americans was religion. I feel like that was one of the main reasons, if not the root of the problem, as to why the the two groups could not get along. I'm not sure how I feel either way about who's fault it was that the two could not make peace. The film made it out to be the Puritans' fault when Metacom made the statement that the much stronger Englishmen should treat the Indians with respect and kindness just as the Indians had done when they could have easily wiped out the Englishmen. The book, however, depicts the Native Americans as being the barbaric savages. In your opinion, which side is most to blame for the inability to keep the peace? The Indians or the Puritans? Was a war between the two inevitable?

I can see why Mary Rowland would view the Native Americans as savages because of how she witnessed them kill a pregnant woman. This act of murdering a pregnant woman would certainly be considered by most as being barbaric. And perhaps the custom of scalping also influenced the way the Englishmen viewed the natives. But perhaps it was the English who drove the natives to such barbaric behavior. The natives just wanted to keep their land which they had kept for who knows how long before the white men arrived. And the English were definitely not innocent when it came to respecting the enemy. For instance, cutting off indians heads and sticking them on poles in cities for all to see is not civilized at all.

One cannot fully appreciate the irony of the whole situation between the Puritans and the Native Americans until the history of the Puritans is known. The Puritans escaped Europe because they wanted to free themselves of religious oppression. However, once in the New World, the Puritans seemed to become the oppressors and attempted to force their views upon the natives. I wonder if any of the Puritans living at that time took a step back and realized what was happening.

Favorite Quote:

"It is a solemn sight to see so many Christians lying in their blood, some here, and some there, like a company of sheep torn by wolves. All of them stript naked by a company of hellhounds, roaring, singing, ranting, and insulting, as if they would have torn our hearts out, yet the Lord by His almighty power, preserved a numbe of us from death...." (Pg. 14)