As to how young "Stands with a Fist" ends up with the Sioux when her family was attacked by the Pawnee?
I always thought the Pawnee saw her as she was running away. I would guess she would've ended up with the Pawnee tribe after her family was murdered.
If I remember correctly she hid inside a hole and Kicking Bird found her.
… sometimes one life… If it’s the right life… That’s enough. Goodbye, Harold."
John Reese
Plains tribes would quite often abduct young children when they were raiding the whites or Mexicans. Their own number of children was low & they needed more children to continue their lineage so some of them were adopted into a family if they weren't considered too old. I think part of their low number of kids being born was not only the harsh plains life but warriors would go on hunting or raiding party & were were away for months at a time. Anyone they captured they considered too old for adoption were made slaves & very harshly treated. The screen play was actually based on the Commance tribe but was changed to the Sioux for whatever reason. I believe the
character of Stands with a Fist is based loosely on the life Cynthia Ann Parker who was abducted at 9 years old when her family's fort was raided in Texas. She was adopted & spent 25 years with them where she was the wife of a chief. They had 3 children but 2 of them died. Although she did remember some of her childhood she grew to love them & considered herself one of them. While the men & older boys were away (25 yrs later)on a hunting trip, Col. Randel Mackenzie & his troops found & raided the camp. They had been trying to capture them for many years. When they saw Cynthia's blue eyes they knew she had to be a white. They took her & her young daughter with them. She always wanted to go back to what she considered her people now after so long & tried many times to escape. Eventually her child become ill & died & she lost all hope. She was only 34. She starved herself to death after that. Her one son who had been with his dad was Quannah Parker & was a very interesting & well known character who accomplished many things. Sorry, didn't mean to give a history lesson it's just something that I have read & studied for years. I was born & raised in Oklahoma (formerly Indian Terriorty) & am part Cherokee myself.
Interesting story, thank you.
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