Mary Jemison: Colonial Women Captured By Shawnee Indians

Mary Jemison was born September 17, 1743. She and her family was captured by Shawnee Indians and French soldiers in April of 1758 in Pennsylvania when she was about 15 years old. Her family would later be killed and she would be taken to Ohio to be sold into slavery to the Senecas. Eventually to be adopted by the tribe. In this essay I will cover the way that women were treated in the tribes as well as their place in their tribes in contrast to that of the colonists treatment of women. In these points I will explain, why when given the opportunity to go back to the colonies, Mary Jamison chose to stay with her tribe.

To begin, I'll speak on what life was like for colonial women at the time. When it came to the decision making process, women were not included. Everything from having the right to vote, to choosing who they would marry. Societally it was not the place of a woman to often share their opinion on matters of state even at home. Women as a matter of speaking, property. They were not even what we would call today a citizen.
It is evident with Mary Jamison's first contact with her purchasers. They were on their way to this slave market to pursue their right to receive wither a prisoner or scalp for the loss of their brother in Washington's war. They had the right through their own customs, that when one of their own is taken captive or slain in battle that the nearest relative to have the scalp of the enemy. The retribution was being done by