by John Demos
To say it differently: While the frame of the story is historically real—Eunice Williams was a real person, who really was captured by Indians, and really did refuse to return to her original home—much of her life has had to be imagined, based on research about that period and educated guesswork. Thus it seems best to identify the book as historical fiction.
Still, that need not count against it. We can never know the absolute truth about lives in the past. All history is, in one way or another, the product of our imagination.
NOTES
Chapter One: Wintertime
“You are a smart child . . .” On schools and schooling in early New England, see James Axtell, The School Upon a Hill: Education and Society in Colonial New England (W. W. Norton, New York, 1976).
tried to distract herself by humming tunes . . . On children’s lives in early New England, see Alice Morse Earle, Child Life in Colonial Days (Macmillan, New York, 1899); John Demos, A Little Commonwealth: Family Life in Plymouth Colony (Oxford University Press, New York, 1970), chapter 4; Edmund S. Morgan, The Puritan Family: Religion and Domestic Relations in Seventeenth-Century New England (Harper & Row, New York, 1966), chapter 2.
He also preached sermons . . . There are many studies of early New England religious life. See, for example, Charles Hambrick-Stowe, The Practice of Piety: Puritan Devotional Disciplines in Seventeenth-Century New England (University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC, 1986).
Chapter Two: A Baby Sister
what they called swaddling . . . On childbirth in colonial New England, see Richard W. Wertz and Dorothy C. Wertz, Lying-In: A History of Childbirth in America (Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, 1989), chapter 1.
Chapter Three: Enemy Attack
the moon shone red . . . On Deerfield’s preparations for war, see George Sheldon, A History of Deerfield, Massachusetts (E. A. Hall & Co., Greenfield, MA, 1895), volume 1, chapter 11. A more recent, definitive history of Deerfield is Richard I. Melvoin, New England Outpost: War and Society in Colonial Deerfield (W. W. Norton, New York, 1989).
But it was too late . . . For details of the Deerfield raid, see John Demos, The Unredeemed Captive: A Family Story from Early America (Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1994), chapter 1. For a firsthand account, see John Williams, The Redeemed Captive Returning to Zion (Forgotten Books, Boston, MA, 1774), pp. 44–47. Original documents about the raid are reprinted in Sheldon, A History of Deerfield, Massachusetts, volume 1, chapter 11; see especially pp. 302–03.
Chapter Four: The Journey
with every footstep . . . The journey to Canada is described in Demos, The Unredeemed Captive, pp. 25–35. See also Williams, The Redeemed Captive, pp. 47–64. Some years ago a plaque was installed at the site of Mrs. Williams’s death alongside the Green River just to the north of Deerfield.
Eunice cried herself to sleep. Ibid., pp. 48–49.
she, like Warham, was carried. Ibid., pp. 54, 65.
Chapter Five: Canada
its people were called the Kahnawakenerons. On the history of Kahnawàke, see Demos, The Unredeemed Captive, chapter 6, and Edward J. Devine, Historic Caughnawaga (Messenger Press, Montreal, 1922), passim.
that surrounded the village. On the layout of the village, see Joseph François Lafitau, Customs of the American Indians Compared with the Customs of Primitive Times, two volumes (originally published in Paris, France, 1724; reprinted by the Champlain Society, Toronto, Canada, 1974), volume 2, pp. 16–19.
Arakwente gave a shout . . . For a description of housing in Kahnawàke, see ibid., volume 2, p. 19.
metal pots and barrels . . . On domestic life among the Kahnawàke Mohawks, see Demos, The Unredeemed Captive, chapter 7. For firsthand description of many details, see Lafitau, Customs of the American Indians, passim.
Chapter Six: The Rest of the Family
Her gravestone was carefully engraved . . . On events immediately following the Deerfield raid, see Demos, The Unredeemed Captive, chapter 2, and Sheldon, A History of Deerfield, Massachusetts, chapter 11. The gravestone of Mrs. Eunice Williams, mother of the captive girl of the same name, stands near the center of the old burial ground in Deerfield.
Only much later . . . The old Mohawk words included here are taken from a list made by the anonymous author of A Narrative of a Journey into the Mohawk and Oneida Country, 1634–35, reprinted in Narratives of New Netherland, J. Franklin Jameson, ed. (Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1909), pp. 157–62.
French boys who lived nearby. On the placement of the Williams children following their arrival in Canada, see Demos, The Unredeemed Captive, p. 35. Details of their experiences are imagined.
Chapter Seven: The Visit
he was very eager to get there. For John Williams’s own account of this event, see his Redeemed Captive, pp. 66–67.
Chapter Eight: Left Behind
They prayed also for his children . . . On the general topic of Indian captivity, see June Namias, White Captives: Gender and Ethnicity on the American Frontier (University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC, 1993). Older but still useful studies are C. Alice Baker, True Stories of New England Captives, (Cambridge, MA, 1897), and Emma Lewis Coleman, New England Captives Carried to Canada, two volumes (Southworth Press, Portland, ME, 1925).
Reverend Williams for Captain Baptiste. Demos, The Unredeemed Captive, pp. 16–17.
the townspeople looked on and cheered. On John Williams’s return, and his sermon in particular, see ibid., pp. 49–50, 60–65.
she was an Indian girl now. Ibid., p. 146.
Chapter Nine: Becoming a Different Person
instead of actual corn. The details of farming as practiced in Kahnawàke are scattered throughout Lafitau, Customs of the American Indians; see especially volume 2, pp. 54–55, 60–64, 105, 288, 290–91. For a quick summary, see Demos, The Unredeemed Captive, pp. 160–61.
it was time to stop. Such dances among the Mohawks are described in Lafitau, Customs of the American Indians, volume 1, pp. 323–24.
Corn was their most important food . . . On eat-all feasts, see ibid., volume 2, p. 61. On the foods typically consumed, ibid., volume 2, pp. 62–68.
if you dropped it or let it fall . . . This girls’ game is described in ibid., volume 2, p. 199.
or even a spanking. Ibid., volume 1, p. 361.
it took about a year . . . Demos, The Unredeemed Captive, pp. 141–42. For details of Mohawk naming and renaming practices, see the works cited in endnotes 3–6 in ibid., pp. 282–83.
As the family arrived . . . On the role of certain village elders—shamans, we call them now—see Lafitau, Customs of the American Indians, volume 1, pp. 237–38, and volume 2, p. 210.
These same clans were in every Mohawk village . . . On Mohawk clans, see ibid., volume 1, pp. 287–88. See also Demos, The Unredeemed Captive, p. 163.
called by different names. On beliefs about Shonkwaiiatihson, see Lafitau, Customs of the American Indians, volume 1, p. 102.
her original name, Eunice. Ibid., pp. 151–52. On the history of the Catholic Church in Kahnawàke, see Devine, Historic Caughnawaga.
Chapter Ten: Learning Their Beliefs
a hole in a tree in the forest. Lafitau discusses wampum and its various uses in Customs of the American Indians, volume 1, pp. 308–10.
How will I recognize him? There are multiple sources for this story of Iroquois origins, and versions differ. For an excellent summary of these, see Christopher Vecsey, “The Story and Structure of the Iroquois Confederacy,” in Journal of the American Academy of Religion, LIV (1986), 79–106. See also Daniel K. Richter, Ordeal of the Longhouse: The People of the Iroquois League in the Era of the European Colonization (University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC, 1992), chapter 1, and Douglas M. George-Kanentiio and Joanne Shenandoah-Tekalihwa: Skywoman: Legend of the Iroquois (Clear Light Publishers, Santa Fe, NM, 1998).
when I grow up. Again, there are multiple sources and versions. See Darren Bonaparte, Creation and Confederation: The Living Hist
ory of the Iroquois, (Wampum Chronicles, New York, 2008), chapter 6. For a contemporary account, see Lafitau, Customs of the American Indians, volume 1, p. 86.
how lucky the nations were . . . For a full discussion of this legend, see Matthew Dennis, Cultivating a Landscape of Peace: Iroquois-European Encounters in Seventeenth-Century America, (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1995), chapter 3.
to act always in accord with them. On the power accorded to dreams by the Mohawks, see Richter, The Ordeal of the Longhouse, pp. 25–28, and, for a contemporary account, Lafitau, Customs of the American Indians, volume 1, pp. 231–35.
“. . . there is only joy.” Mohawk beliefs about the soul and the afterlife are described in ibid., volume 1, pp. 253, 258.
Chapter Eleven: Tragedy Strikes
And she had no wish to leave. See Demos, The Unredeemed Captive, pp. 84–97.
If she remembered anything . . . Ibid., p. 165. See also Lafitau, Customs of the American Indians, volume 1, p. 69.
Kahnawàke had already suffered . . . On mortality among the Kahnawàke Mohawks, see Demos, The Unredeemed Captive, pp. 158–59.
help them fight the disease. Sweathouse treatment is described in Lafitau, Customs of the American Indians, volume 2, pp. 207–09.
Grieving his loss, Hiawata . . . On Kahnawàke funerary practices, see ibid., volume 2, pp. 218–30.
withdraw from mourning. On mourning practices, especially for women, see ibid., volume 2, pp. 242–43.
Chapter Twelve: Other Worlds
The village chiefs held long discussions . . . Demos, The Unredeemed Captive, p. 90. (See the works cited in endnotes 43–45, in ibid., p. 271, for original sources on these diplomatic maneuvers.)
deerskin tunic and hair decorated with pink flowers. Ibid., p. 155. On Mohawk naming practices, see Elisabeth Tooker, “Women in Iroquois Society,” in Extending the Rafters: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Iroquoian Studies (State University of New York Press, Albany, NY, 1984), Michael K. Foster, Jack Campasi, and Marianne Mithun, eds., p. 112.
Gannenstenhawi was exhausted. For a general account of the fur trade in this region, see Thomas Elliott Norton, The Fur Trade in Colonial New York, 1686–1776, (University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, WI, 1974). On participation by the Kahnawàke Mohawks in particular, see Jean Lunn, “The Illegal Fur Trade Out of New France, 1713–60,” in Report of the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Historical Association, volume 18, number 1, 1939, pp. 61–76.
lacy bonnets on their heads. For a description of Albany in this period, see Demos, The Unredeemed Captive, pp. 188–89.
following a few paces behind. On slavery in colonial New York, see Edgar J. McManus, A History of Negro Slavery in New York (Syracuse University Press, Syracuse, NY, 1966).
jewelry as a mark of honor. For a contemporary account of Mohawk trade with Europeans, including the articles most often given and received, see Lafitau, Customs of the American Indians, volume 2, p. 184.
trade only with the French. On the laws against trading across national lines, see Lunn, “The Illegal Fur Trade Out of New France, 1713–60.”
Chapter Thirteen: A Winter Hunt
the heavy burdens of the trip home. For details of the winter hunt, see Lafitau, Customs of the American Indians, volume 2, pp. 110–119.
Chapter Fourteen: A Marriage
they loved each other and wished to marry. On Kahnawàke customs on courtship and marriage, see Lafitau, Customs of the American Indians, volume 1, pp. 342–44. See also Demos, The Unredeemed Captive, p. 155.
They had the Lord’s blessing after all. This portrayal of their attempts to be married in the church is based on the account sent by John Schuyler following his visit to Kahnawàke; see Demos, The Unredeemed Captive, pp. 104–05.
Chapter Fifteen: A Final Answer
Surely Eunice’s turn would come. On the return of captives from Canada to Deerfield, see ibid., pp. 43–51.
so translation would be necessary. Schuyler’s account of his visit to Kahnawàke is printed in full in Sheldon, A History of Deerfield, Massachusetts, volume 1, pp. 349–50.
“She would gladly have gone to see him . . .” Arosen’s words about Gannenstenhawi’s willingness to visit her father “had he not married again” are quoted in Schuyler’s account of the visit; see ibid., p. 350.
Epilogue
she was a true Mohawk. See Demos, The Unredeemed Captive, pp. 113–16.
his daughter’s captivity and life in Canada . . . Ibid., pp. 173–74.
come home for good. Ibid., chapter 9.
known by her English name. Ibid., pp. 231–32.
actually she was eighty-nine. Ibid., p. 237.
Descendants of hers live in Kahnawàke today. Ibid., pp. 246–52.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
C. Alice Baker, True Stories of New England Captives (E. A. Hall & Co., Cambridge, MA, 1897). An early, charmingly written account of several captives’ stories, including that of Eunice Williams.
Emma Lewis Coleman, New England Captives Carried to Canada, two volumes (Southworth Press, Portland, ME, 1925). A detailed compilation of hundreds of cases.
John Demos, The Unredeemed Captive: A Family Story from Early America (Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1994). The book on which this one is based.
Edward J. Devine, Historic Caughnawaga (Messenger Press, Montreal, 1922). A detailed history of Kahnawake (note variant spelling), largely from the viewpoint of the Catholic Church.
Douglas M. George-Kanentiio and Joanne Shenandoah-Tekalihwa, Skywoman: Legends of the Iroquois (Clear Light Publishers, Santa Fe, NM, 1998).
Evan Haefeli and Kevin Sweeney, Captive Histories: English, French, and Native Narratives of the 1704 Deerfield Raid (University of Massachusetts Press, Amherst, MA, 2006). Several firsthand accounts of the 1704 raid.
———, Captors and Captives: The 1704 French and Indian Raid on Deerfield (University of Massachusetts Press, Amherst, MA, 2005). A detailed examination of the 1704 raid, with conclusions somewhat different from those presented here.
Joseph François Lafitau, Customs of the American Indians Compared with the Customs of Primitive Times, two volumes (originally published in Paris, France, 1724; reprinted by the Champlain Society, Toronto, Canada, 1974). William N. Fenton and Elizabeth L. Moore, eds. The indispensable primary source on Kahnawàke and its people during the time of Eunice Williams’s residency. For several years, Lafitau was a priest at Kahnawàke.
Richard Melvoin, New England Outpost: War and Society in Colonial Deerfield (W. W. Norton, New York, 1989). The definitive modern history of Deerfield in the colonial era.
June Namias, White Captives: Gender and Ethnicity on the American Frontier (University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC, 1993). An overview of Indian captivities from the colonial era through the nineteenth century.
Daniel Richter, The Ordeal of the Longhouse: The People of the Iroquois League in the Era of European Colonization (University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC, 1992). A careful study of Iroquoian society and culture in the colonial era.
George Sheldon, A History of Deerfield, Massachusetts, two volumes (E. A. Hall & Co., Greenfield, MA, 1895). An early and exhaustive account of Deerfield history, including many primary sources presented verbatim.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am indebted to family members and friends, for valuable assistance as I went along with this project.
To Michael Demos, Jill Lepore, and Elise Broach, for their crucial response to the very first of its draft chapters.
To Violet Demos, Clover Demos, and Alison Demos, for reading the whole story while still in manuscript form and giving it an important thumbs-up.
To Virginia Demos, life partner and insightful critic of all my work, for important suggestions about character and plot.
To Michael Jacobs, president of Abrams, for committing to its future as a book.
To Howard Reeves, for astute editorial guidance (and extraordinary patience) at every stage.
To Lynn
e Manring, for setting me straight on some ground-level particulars.
To Douglas M. George-Kanentiio (Mohawk), for lending his deep expertise on Mohawk culture and history.
To a corps of youthful readers—Hawthorne Warren, Rosemary Warren, Asa Warren, Sojourner Fitz-Green, Tessa Silver, Lydia Vermillion, Cecily Vermillion, and Cora Vermillion—for encouraging me to think that the book might please its intended (age-based) audience.
To the parents of the above named—Wendy Warren, Caitlin Fitz, Peter Silver, Julia Ott and Richard Vermillion—for the same.
I offer warm thanks to all.
