BULL. 30] 



CAPTIVES 



205 



among the eastern Indians of holding 

 white prisoners for ransom dates from 

 early times, it is questionable whether it 

 was founded on aboriginal usage. The 

 ransoming or sale of captives, however, 

 was common among the Plains and S. W. 

 tribes, while the custom of ransoming 

 slaves on the n. Pacific coast was cer- 

 tainly pre-Columbian. In most of North 

 Atuerica, however, it was probably a rare 

 procedure, especially since many tribes 

 are said to have disowned any person who 

 once had been taken prisoner. Doubt- 

 less it became common in dealing with 

 white captives owing to the difficulty of 

 reconciling adult whites to Indian life 

 and customs, while captives taken from 

 another tribe no doubt settled down into 

 their new relationships and surroundings 

 very contentedly. 



The usual object in thus adopting a 

 prisoner was that he might fill the place 

 of someone who had died, and it is af- 

 firmed by one writer that, whatever his 

 own character, he was treated exactly as 

 if he possessed the character of his pre- 

 decessor. John Gyles, who was cap- 

 tured by the Abnaki in 1689, informs us 

 that a prisoner was brought out to be 

 beaten and tortured during the war 

 dances unless his master paid over a cer- 

 tain amount of property. Women and 

 children were generally preserved and 

 adopted, though there are instances in 

 which white women were tortured to 

 death, and it is said of the TJte that fe- 

 male captives from other Indian tribes 

 were given over to the women to be tor- 

 tured, while male prisoners who had dis- 

 tinguished themselves were sometimes 

 dismissed unhurt. Among tribes pos- 

 sessing clans the adoption of captured 

 women was of special importance, as it 

 often resulted in the formation of a new 

 clan from their descendants. Such, no 

 doubt, was the origin of the Zuiii and 

 Mexican clans of the Navaho. The Ute 

 clan of the latter was recruited liy a sys- 

 tematic capture and purchase of Ute girls 

 undertaken with the object of supply- 

 ing the tribe with good basket makers 

 (Culin). Among the Plains tribes cap- 

 tives, especially children, were sometimes 

 taken for the express purpose of being 

 trained to_ the performance of certain 

 ceremonial duties. Besides the num- 

 bers of white persons carried away by 

 Indians and subsequently ransomed, it 

 is evident from all the accounts that 

 have reached us that many of English, 

 French, and Spanish descent were taken 

 into the tribe of their captors and, either 

 because carried off when very young or be- 

 cause the}' developed a taste for their new 

 life, never returned. Some of these even 

 rose to high positions, as in the case of a 

 Frenchman who became chief of the 



Attacapa, of a Mexican who is recorded 

 as the most prominent and successful war 

 chief of the Comanche in 1855, and of 

 another INIexican still a man of influence 

 among the Zuiii. The present chief of 

 the Comanche, Quanah Parker (q. v.), is 

 the son of a captive American woman. 

 The confederated tribes of Comanche, 

 Kiowa, and Kiowa Apache still hold at 

 least 50 adopted white captives, and it is 

 probable that fully one-third of the whole 

 population have a traceable percentage 

 of captive blood. The same is probably 

 truein nearly equal measure of the Apache 

 of Arizona. 



From Oregon to s. Alaska a different 

 treatment of captives was brought about 

 by the existence of a slave class. Since 

 slaves were the most valuable property a 

 man could have, the lives of those taken 

 in war were always spared unless such 

 captives had committed some great injury 

 to the victorious tribe that prompted im- 

 mediate revenge. After this they might 

 be killed at any moment by their masters; 

 but such a fate seldom overtook them 

 until they grew too old to work, unless 

 their masters became involved in a prop- 

 erty contest, or the people of the town 

 from which they had been taken had com- 

 mitted depredations. Among the Tlingit, 

 however, slaves were killed during mor- 

 tuary feasts, and bodies of slaves were 

 thrown into the holes dug for the posts 

 of a new house. Slave women, especially 

 if they were known to be of noble descent, 

 sometimes married their captors and be- 

 came free. Four prominent Haida clans 

 and one clan among the Tsimshian are 

 said to have originated from marriages of 

 this kind, while another prominent Haida 

 clan was called "the Slaves," though it 

 is impossible to say whether they were 

 descended from slaves or whether the 

 term is applied ironically. Whether male 

 slaves ever rose to a high position is doubt- 

 ful, owing to the strong caste system that 

 here prevailed. Instead of receiving com- 

 mendation, a slave who had escaped suf- 

 fered a certain opprobrium which could 

 be removed only by the expenditure of 

 a great amount of property. At the same 

 time it is related of the greatest Skide- 

 gate chief that he had been enslaved in 

 his youth. 



Consult Baker, True Stories of New 

 England Captives, 1897; Drake, Indian 

 Captivities, 1851; Eastman, Seven and 

 Nine Years among the Camanches and 

 Apaches, 1874; Gentl. of Elvas. in Hak- 

 luyt Soc. Publ., IX, 1851; Harris, Life of 

 Horatio Jones, 1903; Herri ck, Indian 

 ' Nam, 1854; Hunter, Captivity among the 

 Indians, 1823; Johnston, Incidents attend- 

 ing the Capture, etc., of Charles John- 

 ston, 1827; Kelly, Narr. of Captivity 

 among the Sioux, 1880; Larimer, Cap- 



