124 In the eighteenth century, snakes were widely believed to hypnotize their prey with their eyes before attacking.
125 In ancient Rome, wreaths of laurel leaves were worn as markers of martial power or military victory.
126 Rogers describes these shouts of battle victory in Concise Account, see page 177 in this volume.
127 Though Pontiac’s Seige of Detroit began on 9 May, the first three forts to fall in Pontiac’s Rebellion were Fort Sandusky, burned 16 May 1763 by the Wyandots; Fort St Joseph, captured 25 May by the Potawatomis; and Fort Miami, taken 27 May by the Miamis. As is typical in heroic tragedy, the play’s timeline is highly condensed. According to the contemporary Journal of Pontiac’s Conspiracy word of the fall of Sandusky did not reach Detroit until 28 May, and word of Miami arrived 19 June.
128 One way to hunt bear is to track the animal to its den and light a fire at the entrance, filling the den with smoke and forcing the bear to emerge with little chance of escape.
129 M’Dole and Murphey, from Act I i.
130 To dance and skip. Rogers describes types of torture of prisoners, including burning, in his Concise Account, page 178 this volume.
131 While exact numbers of settlers and soldiers killed in the conflict are not possible, Dowd suggests that about 100 traders were killed in the early days of the war, and a majority of the soldiers in most of the forts that were taken were killed either in the initial attacks or later.
132 As word spread of Pontiac’s siege and the fall of the first three forts (see note 127), other forts were taken. Fort Ouiatenon was taken by the Weas, Kickapoos, and Mascoutens on 1 June 1763, with no English soldiers killed in the attack. Fort Michilimackinac was taken on 2 June by the Ojibwas; Fort Venango on 16 June and Fort Le Boeuf on 18 June by the Senecas; Fort Presque Isle was taken on 19 June by a large group of Ottawas, Ojibwas, Wyandots, and Senecas. Fort Pitt was held under siege from 22 June 22 to 20 August before being relieved by English troops under Colonel Henry Bouquet. Word of the fall of Fort Le Boeuf and Presque Isle arrived at Pontiac’s camp on 20 June.
133 Rogers describes the process of allocating prisoners to adoption, slavery, or death in Concise Account, pages 177–8 this volume.
134 According to Algonquian tradition, when faced with the prospect of capture and death by ritual torture, many Algonquian captives distinguished themselves by bravely singing death songs in the face of their enemies. This mark of bravery and nobility was reportedly at times rewarded with release and adoption into the captor’s community.
135 Smashed to pieces. Eighteenth-century captivity narratives in particular are replete with descriptions of captured infants being killed by having their heads dashed against trees or objects. While this almost certainly did happen at times, infants also had a strong likelihood of being adopted into a tribe upon capture.
136 A burning piece of wood. Rare even in the eighteenth century was the intriguingly related definition of a person who deserves to burn in hell.
137 In times of peace, captives could often be ‘redeemed’ with cash payment or exchange of goods, allowing them to return home. Important figures in a community would be more expensive to redeem, and many communities took up collections or even held reserve funds for captive redemptions.
138 Excruciatingly painful.
139 This ritual is described in Concise Account, page 178 this volume.
140 Awe-inspiring.
141 In the eighteenth century, shorter five-act plays would often be followed by an afterpiece, a short, often farcical play to fill out the expected four- to five-hour length of an evening a the theatre.
142 General Amherst was reportedly known for referring to Indigenous people as dogs, so this reversal is informative.
143 Ambiguous in implication, rather than suspicious.
144 Ponteach’s speech on the necessary balance of good and evil alludes to both Christian iconography of God and Satan, and to contemporary Ottawa and larger Algonquin ideas of the good manifested in the Manitou and Nanabush and the evil of malevolent spirits such as the Windigos.
145 Gi-be wiikonge (Feast of the Dead) was an Ottawa ritual, performed in spring or early summer to honour the dead. The women prepared the bodies for burial, and deep pits, large enough to accommodate bodies and mourners, were prepared for the ceremony. Mourners feasted through the night until sunrise, while tobacco burned as an offering to the spirits who were present. At the end of the gi-be wiikonge, the pit was filled, and the dead no longer spoken of.
146 Confused.
147 A trick or enchantment. Several accounts, including Rogers’ Concise Account refer to Indigenous shamans and medicine men as ‘jugglers.’
148 Spirit.
149 A state of discord. Jar also refers to discordant sound, making this speech plausible also as a reference to the music of the spheres, a tradition whereby harmonious music was believed produced by the movement of heavenly bodies.
150 Raise a weapon.
151 The Potawattomis and Hurons involved in the Siege of Detroit reached a peace agreement with the English over the course of negotiations and prisoner exchanges between 7 and 12 July.
152 Untrustworthiness or breach of faith.
153 Perhaps an attempt to lay claim to the greatness of stature conventionally demanded by classical tragedy.
1 Corrected from Canaans.
Ponteach, or the Savages of America Page 28