Standing in the Light

Standing in the Light (1998) is a film about Caty Logan, a teenager captured by the Lenape Indians in 1764.  It stars Stephanie Mills as Caty; its director is Stacey Stewart Curtis.   The movieis based on the young adult novel of the same name by Mary Pope Osborne.  Part of the Dear America series from Scholastic, Inc., the format is a diary written by a teenage girl.  It is an HBO film and appears currently on Amazon Prime.

Caty Logan is from a Quaker family.  She is taken, with her brother, to replace Lenape children who have died.  Gradually, she comes to feel part of the Lenape, realizing their Great Spirit and her Inner Light are the same.  English settlers attack their camp, however, and she and her brother are returned to her family.  After Caty approaches her father to speak to him about her time with the Indians, he points out that she has witnessed to the Inner Light in the Lenape.  He says that she has been “Standing in the Light”.  Pope Osborne attended Richland Meeting and read widely about 18th century Friends to research the Quaker aspect of the story.

Standing in the Light is a very good movie.  Though it is a low budget production, the actors are excellent, and the story is surprisingly moving.

Gary Sandman

December 2024

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