Sarah F. Wakefield (1830–1899)

An amazing account by a woman held captive during an outbreak of ethnic cleansing. I read it in one sitting. I can’t believe it’s not been filmed.

The story is interesting enough, but it’s also a fascinating record of Native American culture as it’s being destroyed. Also interesting is the light it throws on mob mentality. I saw a documentary about chimpanzees many years ago and apparently when a female joins a new troupe, the males will always kill her first child to ensure they don’t have an outsider in their midst. In her treatment by the other colonists after her release, and in their murder of Chaska, the Dakota man who saved her life, I wonder if we’re seeing something similar.

A word about editions. I have the 2004 TwoDot edition. I knew nothing about the time and place where this happened. Wakefield assumes you do and I found it disorientating, as, handsome paperback though it is, it’s just the text and a brief editor’s note. There’s another edition edited by June Namias. I downloaded the sample from Amazon and there was enough of the introduction to help me make sense of things. If you’re in a similar position of ignorance I think I might suggest you try that one.… (mais)