Indian Captive: The Story of Mary Jemison

The two Indian women paddle the canoe down the river, which is beautiful and calm. Molly observes that the women look similar, like sisters, yet she also perceives “a great difference between them” (107). One sister is beautiful and kind, offering Molly food and watching over her as she sleeps; the other sister is “plain” and harsh.

Molly’s canoe and the canoe carrying the Indian men finally come to rest along the shore. The Indians leave Molly alone in the canoe, and she sees the smoke of an Indian village inland. The Indian women return, bathe Molly, and dress her in deerskin clothing. Although Molly’s dress from home is ragged, she is upset when her old clothes are discarded in the river. She sees that another tie to home is severed and inwardly vows to preserve her own identity as a white girl.

The women allow Molly time to cry; afterward, they braid her hair and take her into the village called Seneca Town. In a longhouse, Molly is confused when she is surrounded by Indian women, weeping and waving their arms. Later, she learns that they were grieving the death of a young man, a member of their community that Molly had been brought to replace.