Narrative of My Captivity Among the Sioux Indians
by Fanny Kelly
This book, published in 1871, not only tells a thrilling story of an American white woman’s five month captivity in 1864 and her ultimate rescue from the Sioux Indians, and is a very well written account of it, but in addition, it is valuable both as a historical record of life in the untamed American West and as a Christian witness to both God’s grace and the woman’s perseverance in faith, contrasting the attitude and behavior of a godly woman in hardship and suffering with that of her superstitious, treachorous, and often brutal pagan captors. Miss Kelly’s account of her captivity is, furthermore, useful for dispelling the “noble savage” myth that man in an environment closer to nature and untouched by the supposed polluting influences of civilization, will manifest an inherent virtue and innocency, and it is helpful in countering the many slanders heaped upon the white man who is often today one-sidedly and exaggeratedly portrayed as the victimizer and brutal oppressor of the Indians. It is the kind of book that the reader may find difficult to put down after passing through the introductory parts and progressing into the meat of the narrative, being drawn into the poignant drama of it.
Click here to open a pdf version of the book.