T HE I NDIAN C APTIVITY OF M ARY R OWLANDSON Monique Enih Texas Tech University

W HO IS M ARY R OWLANDSON ?!? Orthodox Puritan Young woman who lived in Lancaster, Massachussets with her parents At 18, married a minister named Joseph Rowlandson, and had 4 children Her youngest child, Sarah,6, died during their captivity by the Indians from the wounds she suffered

T HE 411 Tensions had built up between the Indians’ (New England) and the British colonists King Philip, war chief of the Indians’s, was not happy about the expansion the British colonists were making in America, so he set his army out to attack Killed in 1676, his body was chopped into pieces and the remains thrown into trees for entertainment. His surviving wife and son were captured and sold as slaves in Bermuda

W HY WAS M ARY CAPTURED ? During King Philip’s War, 1675, the Native American’s came to her town and began firing bullets into her home; then set it on fire During this attack, she was wounded by a gunshot, with the same bullet that struck the baby she was carrying She was forced to go along with her captors, where she carried her wounded baby on a long 3 day trek, without food, water, or shelter On the 4 th day of her grueling journey, she met another captive, Robert Captive, who suggested that she put oak leaves in her gunshot wound to speed her recovery Unfortunately, her baby did not make it.

D URING HER CAPTIVITY Her children are given away to the warriors, and she is given a bible to read She couldn’t bring herself to eating the Amerindian food: nuts, acorns, various roots, and beans She was also subject to forcing herself to eat: bear, beavers, frogs, skunk, and snakes (all without proper cooking methods)

A S THE D AYS WENT BY … Mary made clothes and sold them to the tribe who captured her She wasn’t paid in money, but rather with other forms of payment such as knives or soup made from tree bark

M ARY ’ S REACTION TO THE CHAOS Mary does not see this period of her capture as torture, but rather as a “remove” from civilization. She is truly convinced that all of her struggles are the works of God, and if she “believes”, then she will be freed Ex. She says although she gets lost in the woods, she will plot her way through Christian existence.

R ESEARCH Q UESTION : W HAT WAS HER T RANSFORMING RELATIONSHIP WITH F OOD ?? Prisoner amongst “barbarians” and “heathens” The Narragansets were very limited on their food due to the harsh winters They were forced to survive off horse guts, bear, and tree bark After trying to avoid this food for so long, she finally submits to the wilderness, and begins eating with nature

R ESEARCH Q UESTION : M ARY ’ S RELATIONSHIP WITH THE N ATIVE I NDIAN A MERICANS She initially refers to the Indians as “wild beasts of the forest” and refuses to join in any of their customs Her 1st week of capture, she fast because she cannot handle the nature of the food. The 2nd week, she begins to overcome her fear. The 3 rd week, she finally begins to eat Although everyone is not friendly to her, she makes a “bestfriend” to an Indian named Quanopen. Sexual abuse also took place during her capture

R ESEARCH Q UESTION : W HAT ARE M ARY R OWLANDSON ’ S S URVIVAL S KILLS She begins to find her niche in Indian society in order to cope with her need for food and shelter She would perform as a seamstress in exchanges for food As time passes, she learns to assert herself more amongst the Indians

M ARY R OWLANDSON B EFORE AND A FTER Sometimes she feels guilty that she is the one who survived out of all that were captured She sees herself as “Rowlandson the survivor” vs “Rowlandson in search of faith in God” She convinces herself that her captivity and the experiences she has endured are all part of God’s way of communicating with her

H ER B OOK An intense reading of her stories and survival techniques during captivity Very important and prominent figure in English Literature