John Gyles
John Gyles, born in 1678 in present-day Maine, is notable for his unique life experiences, particularly his abduction by the Maliseet Indians at the age of nine. Following nearly nine years of captivity, he was returned to his family in Boston, where he began to document his journey and the cultural interactions he experienced. Gyles became fluent in several languages, including Maliseet, French, and Micmac, which allowed him to gain insight into the perspectives and conflicts of various cultures during the latter half of the seventeenth century. His language skills later facilitated his role as an interpreter and hostage negotiator among the English, French, and Indigenous peoples. Gyles's writings provide valuable historical context, although the authenticity of all his journals has been debated, leading to their publication as "semi-fiction" in 1966. His experiences reflect the complex dynamics of colonial America and Indigenous cultures, contributing to our understanding of that period. Gyles's life and work remain of interest to historians and those exploring cross-cultural interactions in early American history.
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Subject Terms
John Gyles
Writer
- Born: 1680
- Birthplace: Pemaquid, Maine
- Died: 1755
- Place of death: Roxbury, Massachusetts
Biography
Born in 1678, John Gyles lived in what is now Maine. At the age of nine, he was abducted by the Maliseet Indians, and subsequently became a slave of the St. John River Indians. After almost nine years of captivity, he was returned home to Boston. He later chronicled his journey, and how he had become familiar with the way his Indian captors lived and thought. Learning to speak Maliseet, French, and Micmac languages, he was able to see the viewpoints of each of the cultures, and their individual conflicts during the second half of the seventeenth century. Gyles’s language skills were useful, because not only was he one of only a few people to speak both French and Maliseet during his lifetime, but through his journals, historians can infer much about the different cultures of American Indians that he encountered throughout his journey.
After being held captive by Indians, sold to a French Canadian family, and then being rescued and sent back home, John Gyles put his unique language skills to use. He became an interpreter and hostage negotiator between the English, French, Maliseet, and Micmacs. Because all of his journals could not be historically verified, his journals were published as “semi-fiction” in the year 1966.