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Why did Eunice Williams remain unredeemed
There is no singular reason as to why Eunice Williams remained unredeemed. There are however some factors which are likely to have played a more important role than others, such as her loss of English, her religion, the difference in her environments and the difference in her upbringing with the Indians in comparison to her life in New England. The lack of extensive documents on her captivity and the one sidedness of the sources make it difficult to draw any concrete conclusions as to Eunice and her reasons for not returning to the place of her birth.
One reason for Eunice remaining unredeemed could be due to her relationship with her father and the Puritan attitudes towards parenting. Puritan children were brought up in a very strict environment. They were moulded from being young to be just like their parents and led a very structured life. In contrast the way of life of the Indians must have seemed very free and much more fun for a small child. In the case of Eunice Williams her father is seen as showing very little emotion towards her, which could have affected her decision to stay, as could, upon her arrival in Canada, receiving an adoptive mother. Her own mother was killed in the raid on Deerfield and so having a surrogate mother could have proved very appealing to Eunice who at the time was young and still very much dependant on her mother.
Another major factor would be the differing religions of the two communities. Due to her young age when she was taken from Deerfield she remembered less of her Protestant beginnings the longer she stayed away until eventually Catholicism was all she knew. She told her father at an early stage in her captivity that the Indians “force me to say some prayers in Latin” and how they “profaned God’s Sabbaths” This would have caused her to lose her Protestant religion the longer she remained in captivity. As she grew up returning to a Protestant community and re embracing their way of life would not have appealed to Eunice as she remembered nothing or very little of her former religion.
The starkly contrasting environments could also have played a major role in her decision to stay in Canada. Deerfield where she spent her early years was a frontier outpost and was surrounded on all side by walls to discourage any attacks. Living in a fortified village, afraid to go outside the walls for fear of an attack could have felt much like a prison for Eunice, especially compared to her much freer existence among the Indians. This could have been a reason why she did not wish to return to living her life in fear of what might be on the other side of the walls if she were to return to Deerfield.
Puritan women in Deerfield at the time of the attack were subservient to men. The men did all the hard work while the women kept the home and raised the children. [next page]