Jemison narrative

Colonial America

Acculturation through an Adopted American Indian's Perspective: An Analysis of "A narrative of the life of Mrs. Mary Jemison" by James Seaver

For years, colonial American society held the view of American Indians as savages whose barbaric traditions and ways illustrated life leading to stagnation and eventual disintegration of the early periods of civilization. As America moved towards progress and development, American Indians' stubborn attitude of holding on to their heritage became an impediment to the Americans, who planned America to be inhabited by a civilized, and not barbaric, society. The autobiography of Mary Jemison's life as a captured prisoner and eventually, an adopted member and "daughter" of the American Indians demonstrated how, despite the popular view that the American Indians are "savages," the conflict between the new American settlers and Indians is not a clash between the old and new societies and human economies, but rather, a clash of two radically different cultures.

The culture clash between the white Americans and American Indians were evident in the kind of society that each culture maintains: while white Americans are primarily individualists, putting premium on the self before other people, American Indians are collectivist, valuing cooperation and unity more than individual achievement or success in life. Thus, for white Americans, the ways of the Indians, who worships Nature and participate in violent, yet socially acceptable traditions of human sacrifice and engaging in tribe wars are considered 'barbaric,' reminiscent of the old ways of human civilization that had failed to develop over time. The savage nature of the Indians was demonstrated early on in Jemison's recollection of her and her family's capture, narrating how her parents were killed and later scalded by her captors: "[t]hose scalps I knew at the time must have been taken from our family...That sight was most appaling [sic], yet, I was obliged to endure it without complaining."

However, as she became acculturated to American Indian culture, Jemison was able to understand and tolerate more the traditions of what she and her race of white Americans considered as savages. As an adopted daughter of the Indians, Jemison was able to provide an objective and unbiased observation of the ways and traditions of the race that has so long been in animosity with the white Americans. As she became adopted as an American Indian, she realized that her adoption was the Indian's way of "replacing" a dead brother or sister, who was killed in a conflict with the white Americans. The Indians' acceptance of Jemison was an indicator that,

It is family, and not national, sacrifices amongst Indians, that has given them an indelible stamp as barbarians, and identified their character with the idea which is generally formed of unfeeling ferocity, and the most abandoned cruelty.