Volume 43- No. 27
July 5, 2012
by lyle e davis As kids, we probably all played Cowboys and Indians. We relived the colorful history of our pioneer days when we were in the process of becoming a nation. Or, more correctly, we were reliving that history as depicted by dime novels and, later, the motion picture cameras. That a great deal of poetic license was taken in writing these epic stories is not disputed. However, there are a lot of stories that really couldn’t be told because they were just too gruesome. Or, surprisingly, in some cases, almost unbelievable. The treatment accorded captives by Indians was governed by ethical concepts which went hand in hand with clan, and other blood-related organizations of Indian society. There might be some variation between Indians in the Eastern area of what was to become the United States, other variations in the Plains Indians, and still different variations in the Pacific Northwest Indians. Toward other clans or bands of the same tribe, actions were also governed by well recognized customs and usages which had developed over hundreds of years, but with remote bands or tribes, good relations were assured only by some formal peacemaking ceremony. A peace of this kind was very tenuous, however, especially where there had been a longstanding feud, and that peace might be broken in an instant. Toward a person belonging to a tribe with which there was neither war nor peace, the attitude was governed largely by the interest of the moment. In such cases, the virtues of the clan as peacemaking factors made themselves evident, for if the stranger belonged to a clan The Paper - 760.747.7119
website:www.thecommunitypaper.com
email: thepaper@cox.net
represented in the tribe he was among, the members of that clan usually greeted him as a brother and extended their protection over him. Another defense for the stranger was, what with civilized people is one of the best guarantees against war, the fear of disturbing or deflecting trade. If he brought among them certain much desired commodities, the first impulse might be to take these from him by force and seize or destroy him, but it would quickly be seen by wiser heads that the source of further supplies of this kind might thereby be entirely cut
Top right, The Prisoner, a painting by Henry Francois Farny, 1886; left, Olive Oatman - captured in Arizona at age 13
(1851) by Yavapai Indians. Note the blue tattoo marks on her face. Bottom center, Comanche Chief, Quannah Parker, was the son of a captive American woman. Isabella Perico Enjady - a daughter of one of Geronimo’s warriors, Perico (Spanish for “White Horse;” She was captured by the Chiricahua Apaches and subsequently married Enjady, a Mescalero Apache. off. If nothing were to be had There are numerous stories of from the stranger, he might great misfortune overtaking be entirely ignored. And one who refused hospitality finally, the existence of a to a person in distress, and of higher ethical feeling toward great good fortune accruing strangers, even when there to him who offered assiswas apparently no self-interest to be served in extending tance. hospitality, is often in eviTreatment applied to captives dence.
“Captured by Indians” Continued on Page 2