The Deerfield Raid Analysis

English Narrative: John Williams’ Religious Account of the Deerfield Raid

Reverend John Williams’ narrative on the Deerfield raid (1704) is an informative account on what this experience entailed for him; although, while one may think that his narrative would be mostly focused on the actual raid and what occurred to him as a captive, the primary focus of Williams’ narrative was largely based on his views on Catholicism and his extreme hatred for this religion (pg. 91). In essence, most of his narrative was an anti-Catholicism rant describing how blasphemous the religion is and how though there was numerous opportunities to change his faith through forced measures while being a captive, he never faltered, choosing death over all else (pg. 91).

“In 1659, both Joseph-François and his eldest son Zacharie-Francois, spent several years as captives among the Iroquois” (pg. 206). Because of their captivity, this allowed them to “familiarize themselves with the language and customs of the natives” thus enabling them “to collaborate with Native warriors”, when necessary (pg. 206). Joseph-François was maltreated during his two year captivity. Often he would be at the “risk of being buried alive” and due to his treatment from the Iroquois, he unfortunately suffered “a crippled hand” (pg.

There was large fires, shots that rung everywhere and overall sense of death that surrounded the raid (pg. 229). Unfortunately, like her father, Eunice was taken during the Deerfield Raid. Although, unlike him, she remained with her captors and eventually became integrated into their culture and customs going as far as “[forgetting] how to speak English, [converting] to Catholicism, and [marrying] a Mohawk man (pg. 221).

Eunice was taken by a woman from the Mohawk tribe who came to Deerfield in search of a child in which to replace the child she had lost. In essence, a war broke out because many Mohawks were in search of a new replacement for the people that they lost due to an “untimely death” (pg. 223). Because this is a practice that is part of the Mohawk customs and culture, this may explain the reason for why Mohawk natives attacked Deerfield and furthermore, “explains why so many of the captives who did stay in New France remained with the Mohawks” (pg. 223). Maybe, this is why Eunice was treated well by her mistress. If the Mohawks were looking for replacements, they would have probably treated their captives with more respect. By doing so, this would give their captives a reason to remain with them. If the Mohawks were to mistreat their captives,