Indian Captive: The Story of Mary Jemison

The novel begins with strong divisions between different racial and cultural groups. In the world of Marsh Creek Hollow, Molly is familiar with her family members and neighbors. External groups—such as the French, or “the Indians”—are described in sweeping generalities. Molly views these groups as profoundly different from herself and her family. She describes Indigenous people as “the hated, wicked, dangerous Indians” (15); the first time Molly is painted in Seneca fashion, she “[hides] her face in shame” (91). When Molly, Davy, and Nicholas are held in a cellar, all the stereotypes they have of Indigenous people flood into their minds and fill them with terror: “Back to their tired minds came thronging all the stories they had heard of Indian punishments and tortures, and they wondered if they’d been brought thus far to suffer such a fate” (98). Molly’s beliefs about Indigenous people initially stifle relationships with Seneca characters, such a Shagbark and Shining Star, as she distrusts their kindness.

Throughout the novel, these divisions slowly unravel. Molly’s one-dimensional view of Indigenous people is replaced with knowledge of different Indigenous tribes and nations and how her own Seneca community relates to other tribes.