The Assimilation of Captives on the American Frontier in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1977 The Assimilation of Captives on the American Frontier in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. Joseph Norman Heard Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Heard, Joseph Norman, "The Assimilation of Captives on the American Frontier in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries." (1977). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 3157. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/3157 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 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University Microfilms International 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor. Michigan 48106 USA St John's Road, Tyler's Green High Wycombe, Bucks, England HP10 8HR with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission 78-7548 HEARD, Joseph Norman, 1922- THE ASSIMILATION OF CAPTIVES ON THE AMERICAN FRONTIER IN THE EIGHTEENTH AND NINETEENTH CENTURIES. The Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, Ph.D., 1977 History, United States University Microfilms International,Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE ASSIMILATION OF CAPTIVES ON THE AMERICAN FRONTIER IN THE EIGHTEENTH AND NINETEENTH CENTURIES A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of History by Joseph Norman Heard B. J., the University of Texas, 1947 M.J., the University of Texas, 1949 M.L.S., the University of Texas, 1951 December 1977 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Without the encouragement and assistance of a con siderable number of individuals this dissertation would never have been completed. I would like to express my appreciation to the members of my committee and, especially, to the chairman, Dr. John L. Loos, for invaluable guidance and assistance. I greatly appreciate, also, the valuable advice of the following ethnohistorians: Dr. Wilcomb E. Washburn, Dr. William N. Fenton, Dr. Arrell M. Gibson, Savoie Lottinville, and Gaines Kincaid. Finally, I would like to express heartfelt appreciation to my wife, Joyce Boudreaux Heard, for her infinite patience and under standing. Her courage during thirty years of adversity has sustained me and inspired many. with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............. ii ABSTRACT ............................................... iv CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION .................................... 1 II. A CONTEST OF CIVILIZATION ...................... 23 III. THE CULTURAL MILIEU FROM WHICH THEY CAME ................................. 59 IV. THE CULTURE AREA IN WHICH THEY WERE HELD ................................. 110 V. LENGTH OF TIME IN CAPTIVITY .................... 174 VI. THE CRITICAL AGE ................................ 199 VII. AFTER RESTORATION .............................. 236 VIII. INDIAN CHILDREN AND WHITE CIVILIZATION .............................. 258 IX. CONCLUSION ...................... 295 BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................... 319 VITA ................................................... 334 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT THE ASSIMILATION OF CAPTIVES ON THE AMERICAN FRONTIER IN THE EIGHTEENTH AND NINETEENTH CENTURIES The experiences of white persons held \ captivity by Indians have fascinated readers for almost three centuries. Hundreds of redeemed captives have written or related accounts of their adventures, and many of them acknowledged that they had enjoyed the life style of their captors. Other former captives charged, however, that they had been brutalized by the Indians to the point of pre ferring death to a life of captivity. Many captives retained almost no recollection of white civilization, having lost the use of their native languages and even for gotten their own names. They had become proficient in the skills required for survival in the wilderness and, except for the color of their skins, they could scarcely be dis tinguished from their captors. This study analyzes narratives of captivity in order to identify and evaluate factors which facilitated or retarded assimilation. A number of anthropologists and historians have suggested the need for a study, based upon a large number of cases, which would help to determine why iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. V some captives became "white Indians” while others com pletely rejected native American culture. Scholars have speculated that both white and Indian children, when ex posed to both civilizations, invariably preferred the Indian way of life. The experiences of Indian children reared by whites were analyzed, therefore, to ascertain whether assimilation occurred along similar lines among both races. The first section of this study examines Indian- white relationships as a contest of civilizations. While the Indian perceived that the white man held superior technological knowledge which could make his life easier, he rejected many aspects of European culture, and he did not consider his own civilization to be inferior. Many whites, on the other hand, regarded Indians as savages who must be forced to abandon their way of life for the benefit of both races. The experiences of young captives who were adopted by Indian families show that these whites were treated as natural-born Indians, and that they accepted and enjoyed the way of life of their captors. The next section looks at factors which have been suggested as determinants of the assimilation of white captives. It was concluded that the original cultural milieu of the captive was of no importance as a deter minant. Persons of all races and cultural backgrounds reacted to captivity in much the same way. The cultural Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. characteristics of the captors, also, had little influence on assimilation. While some tribes treated captives more brutally than others, abuse delayed but did not prevent Indianization. A lengthy captivity resulted in greater assimilation than a brief one, but many captives became substantially Indianized in a matter of months. It was concluded that the most important factor in determining assimilation was age at the time of captivity. Boys and girls captured below the age of puberty almost always became assimilated while persons taken prisoner above that age usually retained the desire to return to white civili zation. The final section compares the assimilation of Indian children reared by whites during frontier times with that of white children who were captured by Indians. It was concluded that an Indian child reared and cherished in a white family became assimilated in much the same manner as a white child adopted by an Indian family. The deter mining factor was age at the time of removal from natural parents for Indian