Captivity narratives are personal stories written by people who were captured by enemies, especially those from different cultures. In North America, the most well-known captivity narratives describe Europeans and Americans who were taken by Indigenous peoples. These stories have been important in many areas, such as literature, history, and the study of Native peoples.

Before these North American stories, English-speaking people wrote about captivity experiences involving English individuals who were taken by Barbary pirates in the Middle East. Some were held for ransom or slavery. These early accounts often included religious themes, with writers thanking God or Providence for their freedom. Later, similar stories were written about British people captured during exploration and settlement in India and East Asia.

Since the late 20th century, scholars like David G. Bromley and James R. Lewis have studied captivity narratives as stories about people who left or were held in modern religious groups.

A famous example is the story of Mary Rowlandson, a colonial American woman. In 1676, she was captured by Native Americans during King Philip's War and held for 11 weeks before being ransomed. In 1682, six years later, she published The Sovereignty and Goodness of God: Being a Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson.

Many North American captivity narratives about being held by Native peoples were published between the 18th and 19th centuries. Earlier, there were already many English accounts of captivity by Barbary pirates.

Other types of captivity narratives, such as stories from people who left religious groups (called "cult survivor" tales), continue to appear in modern books, magazines, films, and television shows, both fictional and nonfictional.

Background

Because of the competition between New France and New England in North America, attacks between the colonies happened often. People living in New England were sometimes captured by Canadiens and their Native American allies. Similarly, New Englanders and their Native American allies also captured Canadiens and Native Americans. Kathryn Derounian-Stodola says that numbers about captives from the 15th through the 19th centuries are not always accurate because records were not kept carefully, and the fates of some captives who disappeared or died were unknown. However, some estimates suggest thousands of people were captured, and the actual number might be even higher. Between King Philip's War (1675) and the end of the French and Indian Wars (1763), about 1,641 New Englanders were taken as captives. During the long conflict between white settlers and Plains Indians in the mid-1800s, hundreds of women and children were captured.

Many stories included a theme of finding strength through faith when facing dangers and challenges from unfamiliar cultures. Stories about English people captured by Barbary pirates were popular in England during the 16th and 17th centuries. The first Barbary captivity story written by someone from North America was by Abraham Browne in 1655. The most famous story was written by Captain James Riley in 1817, titled An Authentic Narrative of the Loss of the Brig Commerce.

Jonathan Dickinson’s Journal, God's Protecting Providence… (1699) describes how a group of Quakers who survived a shipwreck in Florida were captured by Native Americans. He wrote that they survived by trusting in God for protection. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature calls this account "in many respects the best of all the captivity tracts."

Ann Eliza Bleecker’s The History of Maria Kittle (1793), written as a series of letters, is considered the first known captivity novel. It helped shape how future stories about Native American captures were written.

Origins of narratives

American Indian captivity narratives are stories written by people of European descent who were captured by Native Americans. These stories were popular in America and Europe from the 17th century until the end of the United States frontier in the late 19th century. One famous example is A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson (1682) by Mary Rowlandson. Scholars Nancy Armstrong and Leonard Tennenhouse said this story was one of the most popular captivity narratives in both America and Europe. Although the book was not widely read after 1720, people became interested in it again in the 1780s. Other well-known stories from the late 17th century include Cotton Mather’s accounts of Hannah Duston and Hannah Swarton’s captivity during King William’s War, as well as Jonathan Dickinson’s God’s Protecting Providence (1699).

Most American captivity narratives were based on real events, but some included made-up details. A few stories were entirely fictional because they were popular. Examples include The Remarkable Adventures of Jackson Johonnet (1793) and the story of Nelson Lee.

Being captured by another culture made people question their beliefs and lives. Puritans, who were religious groups in America, often wrote about Native Americans in a negative way. They saw their suffering as a warning from God about their spiritual state and believed only God could save them. This idea was also found in earlier English stories about being captured by Barbary pirates. Conflicts between Anglo-American colonists, French people, and Native Americans led to stories that focused on the cruelty of Native Americans, which helped spread hatred for them. In Narrative of the Sufferings (1750) by William Flemming, Native American violence was blamed on Roman Catholic priests.

During Queen Anne’s War, French and Abenaki warriors attacked Deerfield, Massachusetts, in 1704. They killed many settlers and took over 100 people captive. The captives were marched hundreds of miles to Montreal, where some were adopted by Native American families or held for ransom. Families or communities raised money to free captives, but the government did not help. One captive, John Williams, wrote The Redeemed Captive (1707), which was widely read and is still published today. Because of this story and the large number of captives, the Deerfield Raid became an important part of the American frontier story.

During Father Rale’s War, Native Americans attacked Dover, New Hampshire. Elizabeth Hanson wrote a captivity story after returning to her people. Susannah Willard Johnson also wrote about her capture during the French and Indian War (part of the Seven Years’ War).

In the last 30 years of the 18th century, people became interested in captivity stories again. Examples include A Narrative of the Capture and Treatment of John Dodge (1779), A Surprising Account (1786), A Very Surprising Narrative (1787), Narrative of the Remarkable Occurrences (1788), and A Narrative of the Captivity and Sufferings of Mr. Ebenezer Fletcher (1798). Some stories showed British soldiers as the main enemies.

Seven captivity stories were written after colonists were captured by the Mi’kmaq and Maliseet tribes in Nova Scotia and Acadia. Two other prisoners, future Governor Michael Francklin (taken in 1754) and Lt. John Hamilton (taken in 1749) during the Siege of Grand Pre, may have also written about their experiences, but it is not known for sure.

The most famous story from this time was written by John Gyles, who was captured during the Siege of Pemaquid (1689) and wrote Memoirs of odd adventures (1736). He described being tortured by Native Americans during King William’s War. His story is considered an early example of frontier romance stories by writers like James Fenimore Cooper.

Merchant William Pote was captured during the siege of Annapolis Royal during King George’s War and wrote about his time as a prisoner. He also described being tortured. Some Native American tribes used ritual torture of war captives as a way to mark their passage.

Henry Grace was captured by the Mi’kmaq near Fort Cumberland during Father Le Loutre’s War and wrote The History of the Life and Sufferings of Henry Grace (1764). Anthony Casteel was captured during the Attack at Jeddore and also wrote about his experience.

John Payzant wrote about being taken prisoner with his mother and siblings during the Raid on Lunenburg (1756) by the Maliseet and Wolastoqiyik people in the French and Indian War. On their journey to Quebec, John and his siblings were adopted by Native Americans in New Brunswick but reunited with their mother in Quebec after about seven months. In 1760, the family returned to Nova Scotia after the British won the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759. John Witherspoon was also captured during the French and Indian War and wrote about his experience.

Gamaliel Smethurst wrote about his capture during a war and published his story in 1774. Lt. Simon Stephens and Captain Robert Stobo escaped from Quebec during the French and Indian War and wrote about their journey to British-controlled Louisbourg.

During the Petitcodiac River Campaign, the Acadian militia captured William Caesar McCormick and his group from William Stark’s rangers and took them to Miramichi and Restogouch. They were later released by Pierre du Calvet to Halifax. In August 1758, William Merritt was captured near St. Georges (Thomaston, Maine) and taken to the Saint John River and then to Quebec.

North America was not the only place where captivity stories were written. In North Africa, white Europeans and Americans who were captured by pirates and enslaved wrote about their experiences in the 18th and early 19th centuries. If captives converted to Islam and accepted North Africa as their home, they could sometimes end their slavery, but this made it harder for European consuls to free them. Between the 17th and 18th centuries, about 20,000 British and Irish captives were held in North Africa, and around 700 Americans were enslaved there between 1785 and 1815. British captives wrote 15 full accounts of their experiences, while American captives wrote more than 100 editions of 40 full-length stories.

Conclusions

This article discusses captivity stories found in literature, history, sociology, religious studies, and modern media. Experts note common themes in these stories. Regarding early Puritan captivity narratives, David L. Minter explains:

The University of Houston at Clear Lake summarizes captivity narratives by stating:

The Oxford Companion to United States History explains that the increase in Catholic immigrants after 1820:

Alexandra Heller-Nicholas (mentioned earlier) notes the presence of a "helpless" young woman and a "hero" who saves her.

These observations show that some common features in captivity narratives may include:

• A captor shown as clearly evil
• A victim who suffers, often a woman
• A romantic or sexual event happening in a different culture
• A rescue by a male hero
• A message meant to influence others

Notable captivity narratives

• Johann Schiltberger (1460), Reisebuch (Travel Book)
• Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca (1542), La Relacion (The Report); Translated as The Narrative of Cabeza De Vaca by Rolena Adorno and Patrick Charles Pautz.
• Hans Staden (1557), True Story and Description of a Country of Wild, Naked, Grim, Man-eating People in the New World, America
• Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda (1575), Memoir On the Country and Ancient Indian Tribes Of Florida

• Gentleman of Elvas (1609), Narrative of the captivity of Juan Ortiz, a Spaniard, Who Was Eleven Years a Prisoner Among the Indians of Florida
• Fernão Mendes Pinto (1614), Pilgrimage
• Anthony Knivet (1625), The Admirable Adventures and Strange Fortunes of Master Antonie Knivet
• Ólafur Egilsson (c. 1628–1639) [1852], Lítil saga umm herhlaup Tyrkjans á Íslandi árið 1627
• Robert Knox (1659–1678), An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon
• Hendrick Hamel (1668), Hamel's Journal and a Description of the Kingdom of Korea, 1653–1666
• Francisco Núñez de Pineda y Bascuñán (1673), Cautiverio feliz y razón individual de las guerras dilatadas del reino de Chile (Happy Captivity and Reason for the Prolonged Wars of the Kingdom of Chile)
• Mary Rowlandson (1682), The Sovereignty and Goodness of God
• Cotton Mather (1697), "A Notable Exploit: Dux Faemina Facti," (the captivity of Hannah Duston); and "A Narrative of Hannah Swarton, Containing Wonderful Passages, relating to her Captivity, and her Deliverance," both published in Magnalia Christi Americana.

• John Williams (1709), The Redeemed Captive
• Robert Drury (1729), Madagascar, or Robert Drury's Journal
• John Gyles (1736), Memoirs of odd adventures, strange deliverances, &c. in the captivity of John Gyles, Esq; commander of the garrison on St. George's River
• Thomas Pellow (1740), The History of the Long Captivity and Adventures of Thomas Pellow
• John Peter Salling (1745), The Journal of John Peter Salling
• Lucy Terry Prince (1746), "Bars Fight"
• Nehemiah How (1748), A Narrative of the Captivity of Nehemiah How in 1745–1747
• Jane Frazier (1756), Narrative of the Captivity of Jane Frazier
• William and Elizabeth Fleming (1756), A narrative of the sufferings and surprizing deliverances of William and Elizabeth Fleming, who were taken captive by Capt. Jacob, commander of the Indians, who lately made the incursions on the frontier of Pennsylvania, as related by themselves.
• Charles Stuart (1757, published in 1926), The Captivity of Charles Stuart, 1755–57
• Jacob Hochstetler (1758), "Examination of (Jacob) Hochstattler"
• Marie Le Roy and Barbara Leininger (1759), The Narrative of Marie Le Roy and Barbara Leininger, for Three Years Captives Among the Indians
• Mariana Hoeth (1760, published 1896), "The Surprise and Massacre at Frederic Hoeth's Plantation in 1755, and the Subsequent Fortunes of His Daughter, Mariana."
• Jean Lowry (1760), "A Journal of the Captivity of Jean Lowry and Her Children, Giving an Account of her being taken by the Indians, the 1st of April 1756, from William McCord's, in Rocky-Spring Settlement in Pennsylvania, With an Account of the Hardships she Suffered, &c."
• Ethan Allen (1779), A narrative of Colonel Ethan Allen's captivity, from the time of his being taken by the British, near Montreal, on the 25th day of September, in the year 1775, to the time of his exchange, on the 6th day of May, 1778: containing voyages and travels … Interspersed with some political observations
• William Walton (1784), The Captivity of Benjamin Gilbert and His Family, 1780–83
• Mercy Harbison (1792), The Capture and Escape of Mercy Harbison, 1792
• Arthur Bradman (1794), A narrative of the extraordinary sufferings of Mr. Robert Forbes, his wife, and five children during an unfortunate journey through the wilderness, from Canada to Kennebeck River, in the year 1784, in which three of their children were starved to death
• Susannah Willard Johnson (1796), A Narrative of the Captivity of Mrs. Johnson, Containing an Account of Her Sufferings During Four Years Among the Indians
• John McCullough (1832), A narrative of the captivity of John McCullough, ESQ
• James Smith (1876), The Remarkable Adventures of Col. James Smith, Five Years a Captive Among Indians
• Gardner, Abbie (1885), History of the Spirit Lake massacre and captivity of Miss Abbie Gardner
• Pote, William (1896), The Journal of Captain William Pote, Jr., during his Captivity in the French and Indian War from May, 1745, to August, 1747

• Herman Lehmann (1927), Nine Years Among the Indians
• Clinton L. Smith (1927), The Boy Captives
• Helena Valero (1965), Yanoama: The Story of Helena Valero, a Girl Kidnapped by Amazonian Indians
• F. Bruce Lamb (1971), Wizard of the Upper Amazon: The Story of Manuel Córdova-Rios

Artistic adaptations

• The Searchers (1956), directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne, is a drama about a man searching for his niece, who was captured by the Comanche in the American West. The film focuses on his journey and is known for showing the deep emotions and thoughts of its characters. It is loosely based on the real-life 1836 kidnapping of nine-year-old Cynthia Ann Parker by Comanche warriors.

• A Man Called Horse (1970), directed by Elliot Silverstein and starring Richard Harris, is a drama about a man captured by the Sioux. He is first treated like an animal but later learns to respect their culture and earns their respect. The film inspired two sequels: The Return of a Man Called Horse (1976) and Triumphs of a Man Called Horse (1983).

• Where The Spirit Lives (1989), written by Keith Leckie, directed by Bruce Pittman, and starring Michelle St. John, is a story where the roles are reversed. It follows Ashtecome, a First Nations (a group of people in Canada) girl who is kidnapped and sent to a residential missionary school, where she suffers abuse.

• The cello-rock band Rasputina made a parody of captivity stories in their song "My Captivity by Savages" from their album Frustration Plantation (2004).

• Voltaire’s song "Cannibal Buffet" from the album Ooky Spooky (2007) is a funny version of captivity narratives.

• Hilary Holladay’s book of poems, The Dreams of Mary Rowlandson, uses short, poetic stories to describe Rowlandson’s experience of being captured by Native Americans.

• W. B. Yeats (1889), "The Stolen Child," tells the story of a human child who is taken by fairies and taught their way of life.