Young Romance ~ the blending of cultures: Quaker Sarah and the Indian (book)

 

The book "Quaker Sarah and the Indian" explores the possibility of two young people from distinct cultures falling in love.  It describes the life of Quakers and also the outlook and lives of New Jersey's "first nations", the Lenape Indians.  It reminded me of the true life story of Cynthia Ann Parker who actually lived this experience.

Cynthia Ann Parker who was taken captive by the Comanche Indians in 1836 during a raid in Texas. She was taken with several of her family members, including her younger brother John.  Cynthia Ann Parker's later married a Comanche, the chief Peta Nocona, a prominent warrior with whom she lived for 24 years, raised a family. Cynthia became fully assimilated into Comanche culture before her recapture by Texas Rangers in 1860.

Cynthia and her young daughter were taken back to her original family, by an uncle.  But then the difficulties began.  She barely spoke any English, and cried most of the time, missing her Comanche husband and sons.  Frequently she would attempt to leave, running through a forest nearby.  Too much time has passed, Cynthia was now a Comanche in outlook and feelings. 

On the American frontier there were many "white" captives who often did not want to return to European culture or to be released. Eunice Williams of Deerfield, Massachusetts married a Mohawk Indian and did not return to her original family.  Also Mary Jemison of New York,  stayed with the Seneca Indians. 

In the book "Quaker Sarah and the Indian" a Quaker girl and a Lenape or Delaware native meet and fall in love.  It may seem farfetched but love has crossed many cultural divides before.  Many American settlers had already felt cultural upheaval by leaving Europe and coming to the New World.

The life of Cynthia Ann Parker often saddened me.  She only lived a few short years with her "white" family.  Her daughter died from the flu and Cynthia died soon afterward, perhaps from a broken hart.  

In "Quaker Sarah and the Indian" a more optimistic viewpoint is taken, that it was a possible love story.

Quaker Sarah and the Indian book (historical fiction)

Historical Fiction:  French Indian War

Romance blooms against all odds.  Based on real events at the dawn of the French Indian War, includes many eyewitness accounts such as Indian attack on Quaker meeting in Easton, Pennsylvania, when Indians on the warpath came to attack the Quakers but spared them. 

Explores Quaker and Lenape (Delaware) Indian philosophy and views of the world. Romance, adventure, and education. Recipes of colonial cooking such as “Hasty Pudding” and “Johnny Cakes” included. Contains historical Glossary at end of book. Accounts of real events woven into romantic fiction. An entertaining way to study history. For youth, romantics and history buffs.

History Lenape Indians -- New Jersey & Pennsylvania

During the 16^th century, explorers from Europe found a rich new continent, which had plentiful supplies of fish, lumber, furs and other goods.  The Italian explorer, Giovanni da Verrazano first met the Lenape Indians off the coast of Sandy Hook, New Jersey in 1524.

1600s map showing location of Indian tribes in NJ and PA:

Verrazano was greeted by local Lenape who approached his ship by canoe. He reported: “There appeared a new land which had never been seen before by any man, either ancient or modern.  At first it appeared to be rather low-lying; having approached to within a quarter of a league, we realized that it was inhabited, for huge fires had been built on the seashore."

Verrazano’s description of the Lenape:

“The older man had on his naked body a stag skin, skillfully worked ... with various embroideries; the head was bare, the hair tied back with various bands, and around the neck hung a wide chain decorated with many different colored stones.  These people are the most beautiful and have the most civil customs that we have found on this voyage.  They are taller than we are; they are a bronze color, some tending more toward whiteness, others to a tawny color; the face is clear-cut; the hair is long and black, and they take great pains to decorate it; the eyes are black and alert, and their manner is sweet and gentle.  They are very generous and give away all they have.”

Soon after the voyage of Verrazano, more and more European fishermen who searched for schools of cod fish, whalers, and slavers interacted with the native people along the Atlantic coast, changing the ancient life of the Lenape and other native groups forever.

By the time Henry Hudson and his crew aboard the Half Moon ship entered the New York Bay in September 1609, the native people of the area no longer trusted the Europeans and occasional problems and fighting soon ensued.

European Colonization:  First came the Swedes, who established the colony of “New Sweden” in 1638 at Fort Christina, now Wilmington, Delaware), and included parts of the present-day states of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.  Then came the Dutch and lastly the English and the Quakers. 

The original inhabitants, the Lenni Lenape or Delaware Indians, were not one single tribe, but made up of three groups. In the northern areas of their territory were the Munsee, “the people of the stoney country.” In the middle, or central area was the Unami, or the “people down river.”  South of the Unami were the Unalactgio, or the “people near the ocean,” who were also known as the Nanticokes.

The first attacks were from diseases such as Smallpox which the Europeans brought.  The next attacks were from the settlers.  Less hunters stalked the game, and walked the forest paths.  Ancient village sites were abandoned.  Slowly the Lenape lost their ancient homeland, their world forever changed.

Historical Fiction.  A tale of romance between a Quaker girl and Delaware Indian during the dramatic days of the French Indian War in Pennsylvania area.

Read EXCERPT:

Real events in 1700s in Pocono area in Pennsylvania.  True story of Indians on the warpath who came to attack Quakers.  Historical Glossary at end of book.

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Reviewed in The Pocono Record newspaper 4/25/14: "Book about 18th-century Poconos debuts. The author, previously lived on Old Mine Road during an archeological excavation ... She fell in love with the area and has visited often, and studied its history." 

                          

Contact Author:  safeinthewoods@gmail.com