Customer Reviews

The Captivity of the Oatman Girls Among the Apache and Mohave Indians (Native American)

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I found this book in a Souix Indian Tribe Bookstore in the Dakotas a long time ago. (For the reviewers who think it is racist, why do Indian bookstores feature this book then?)

After reading the amazing story of the Oatman family and what happened to them, I understood the reason why Americans rose up and insisted that the government squelch Indian uprisings in the West and Southwest. This book destroyed many popular myths in my mind about Indian culture and American English culture in the 19th century. It also reveals a lot of detail about the way these two sub tribes of the Apache & Mohave Nations lived. The good and the bad are depicted side by side. For example, the Oatman girls were apparently never molested by the Apache or the Mohave, but they were treated pretty harshly at times (not to mention the unprovoked murder of their parents).
The account of the difference in lifestyle between the two tribes that held the Oatman girls is also very interesting (at least for me it was fascinating). It was like looking back into history and seeing things from a perspective you would NEVER see in the movies.

It shows that the tribes varied quite a bit, and that America was reluctant to send out the Cavalry-at least in this case. But this book may have been the trigger that changed the reluctance into a "righteous" indignation.

I think it also reveals something about one Mormon family who travelled (or tried to travel) to California...and what happened to them on the way. The spirituality of the family (if the account is accurate) is remarkable and the customs of other religious people around them are as well. (I'm not a Mormon). The book is not about spreading religion, be does exhibit the religious practice and character of many of the people in the story in detail.

This book shows how the US government was slow to rescue people who were captives...and how the power of the free press turned that around. For when this book was first published, it was a best seller in the USA. The newspapers in the west coast apparently splashed this story throughout LA. Apparently it created a groundswell public outcry that the military provide safer passageways across this vast land.

I think every American should be required to read this as part of a US History class. I'm sure some of the accounts are hyped a bit...but one cannot help but feel they are looking into history from the authentic eyes of a 19th century history shaping author. And that it brings one far closer to something that happened, that may have been very important to changing the way the US Government dealt with Indian tribes out west, even though it is clear not all tribes acted as the ones in this book did.

I highly recommend this book!

This book is a "captive narrative" about two children abducted by a breakaway (p. 105) tribe. While some reviewers have classified it as "racist," it's only reasonable that Olive would feel resentment toward her kidnappers and the people who killed her family, regardless of race or creed. Olive, as the narrative progresses, chides herself for originally lumping all Indians together as one, because she learns that each person is an individual (p. 147). However, because some of the language is harsh, and this is a one-sided account, it would be helpful to read this in conjunction with an Indian narrative. The author (the book wasn't written by the Oatmans), when narrating, does come across as racist and as trying to make a point--the conclusion is especially biased and an illustration of "Manifest Destiny."

As another reviewer mentioned, the language and writing style can be difficult to follow (and Dover's text spacing is somewhat difficult to read, as can be witnessed in the preview) but once you catch the flow of how three voices have been combined (that of the narrator, Olive, and her brother Lorenzo), it becomes easier to read . . . and quite fascinating.

I really like this book. It was a somewhat difficult read, but I just kept in mind that it was written in 1857 when the American language and writings were much different than they are today. I thought the story was very intriguing and I actually went online and found more information on the Oatman's, though some of it may be disputed. If you are interested in the capture of white's by the Indians then I would recommend this book, it gives a pretty good historical account of the Oatman tragedy straight from the surviving Oatman's themselves.

Much of this story is outright fiction written by Rev. Stratton, even though it is told in the first person narrative as if it was Olive Oatman who was writing. Very little of what the narrative says about the Oatman girl's captivity after being sold to the Mojaves is true---- Rev. Stratton flat out lied, for reasons one can only guess: religious, political, cultural, and financial.

For example, the Mojaves did not crucify their prisoners, and Rev Stratton writing about the purely imaginary crucifixion by the Mojaves of a prisoner is just idiotic.

For another example, Mary Ann Oatman and Olive Oatman were not enslaved by the Mojaves: the girls were rescued from the Yavapai (most likely: this is not confirmed and never will be) by the Mojaves.

For another example, the Mojaves did not tattoo their slaves. Rev. Stratton has the Mojaves tattooing Mary Ann and Olive to mark them as slaves: that is absurd. The Mojaves tattooed themselves to mark themselves as Mojaves, and they would never tattoo a slave or a prisoner. They only tattooed family members. The tattooing of Mary Ann and Olive show that the girls had been adopted by a Mojave family; the narrative even describes the girls' new Mojave families and parents. For a Mojave to tattoo a slave would be to insult the entire Mojave nation---- this would ever be done.

Yet another example, the Mojaves treated their slaves extremely well, as their slaves were considered delegates from other tribes. Their slaves were kept for a few years, treated kindly and generously, and then released, as a form of cultural exchange. The rescue of the Oatman girls would have been an act of mercy by the Mojaves, but was also a way for the Mojaves to learn about the European "white" invaders in their country. The Mojaves would never have treated the Oatman girls the way Rev. Stratton claimed in his book.

The Mojaves love and loved puns and joke names ("nick names"), and they showered their friends and each other with joke names. They would not have given a nick name to a slave or prisoner; they did give Mary Ann and Olive nick names, which is another indicator that they were adopted and considered members of the Mojave tribe--- not slaves and not prisoners.

There is some evidence the Oatman girls did not want to return to "white" society; they may even have hidden from "white" travelers and Army members so that they would not be rescued.

Finally, the Mojave Head Man "Orator to the stars" (the great Irataba) visited Washington D.C. while Olive Oatman was in the city, and the two reunited for a few hours. It is likely that he had heard of the lies Rev Stratton had written, attributed to Olive, and was puzzled and perhaps angry at the lies; there is some evidence Olive Oatman was shamed by the encounter, as in her following tours she denied some of the lies in the book, and lies she had told while on tour throughout the east.

Once Olive and Lorenzo Oatman had the financial stability to give up touring the country and selling their stories, they both abandoned Rev. Stratton and refused to have anything to do with him.

December 12, 2011

I liked the book somewhat, but it dragged on so at some points I just had to skip paragraphs at a time. It actually was very boring at some points and very very drab at others. I would have a hard time recommending this book to others but I wouldn't say it was that bad. Just didn't have a good flow and it was very hard to get into. It was the type of book that you read 4 pages a night and fall asleep without remembering anything if you can identify with that...

Don't buy this book unless you have a good understanding of the way journals were written in that time. It is not for everybody. It is hard to keep track of where they are in the story, it jumps around too much and is written in religious code.