Customer Reviews

Scoouwa: James Smith's Indian Captivity Narrative

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Very authentic insights into native-american life and the life of a captive. Best parts: How James learns native- american knowledge of the forest to save himself when he became lost. (Treetops point south toward the sun, there are more branches on south part of certain trees, etc). He spends a night inside a hollow tree during a fierce blizzard and survives. Unbelievable story! How did these captives ever survive such ordeals? READ THIS BOOK! A good way to gain insight into native-american culture!

I think Scoouwa is a must read for anyone looking for a better understanding of 18th century America. James Smith's writteng is easy to read. For me it is new view of the conflict between the native americans and the english colonies.

James Smith's captivity narrative about his capture and life among the Canawaugha Indians is the best I've read among this gendre of literature. Smith presents his captors as human beings making their way in a beautiful, but harsh environment.

His prose is surprisingly clear, lively and straight forward for a mid-eighteenth century writer.

This is without a doubt the very best book ever written about Indian captives of the French and Indian Wars or Indian captive narratives in general. It is a first person account - sharing a realism no others can match - written over 200 years ago by James Smith. The vast majority of works on this subject are filled with racial hate, a measure of Early American attitudes towards Native Americans, masking the realities of war, captivities and white- Indian relations. Sadly, this perverse formula of writing tales on the captives of native Americans is still alive and well today as we approach the 21 Century - ignoring the actual histories and huge amounts of primary research material available. This book should be read by every 7th or 8th grader in the US studying American history. American history text books used by middle and high school children should all contain excerpts from this book. Anyone interested in Native American history should read it. And, anyone interested in an easy read, something beautiful and inspirational, should buy this book! Michael C. Cohill