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The Real Pocahontas
A Project Work by Helen Mykhailenko, Group 34-E
Early life
Pocahontas was a Native American woman whomarried an Englishman, John Rolfe, and became acelebrity in London in the last year of her life. She wasa daughter of Wahunsunacock (also known as Chief or Emperor Powhatan), who ruled an areaencompassing almost all of the neighboring tribes inthe Tidewater region of Virginia (called Tenakomakahat the time). Her formal names were Matoaka andAmonute; 'Pocahontas' was a childhood nicknamereferring to her frolicsome nature (in the Powhatanlanguage it meant "little wanton", according to WilliamStrachey). After her baptism, she went by the nameRebecca, becoming Rebecca Rolfe on her marriage.Little is known about Pocahontas' early childhood.She was born in modern day Chesterfield County,Virginia. She was the daughter of Chief Powhatan byone of his many wives and was brought up in hishousehold; her mother was sent away after givingbirth to her, as was traditional with Powhatan's wives.
Relationship with John Smith
In April 1607, when the English colonists arrived in Virginia and began buildingsettlements, Pocahontas was about 10 or 12 years old and her father was the leader of the Powhatan Confederacy. One of the leading colonists, John Smith, was captured bya group of Powhatan hunters and brought to Werowocomoco, one of the chief villagesof the Powhatan Empire. According to Smith, he was laidacross a stone and was about to be executed, whenPocahontas threw herself across his body: "at the minute of my execution, she hazarded the beating out of her ownbrains to save mine; and not only that, but so prevailed withher father, that I was safely conducted to Jamestown". John Smith's version of events is the only source, and sincethe 1860s, skepticism has increasingly been expressed aboutits veracity. One reason for such doubt is that despite havingpublished two earlier books about Virginia, Smith's earliestsurviving account of his rescue by Pocahontas dates from1616, nearly 10 years later, in a letter entreating Queen Anneto treat Pocahontas with dignity.
 
Page 2.The time gap in publishing his story raises the possibility that Smith may haveexaggerated or invented the event to enhance Pocahontas' image; however, in a recentbook, J.A.O. Lemay points out that Smith's earlier writing was primarily geographicaland ethnographic in nature and did not dwell on his personal experience; hence therewas no reason for him to write down the story until this point. Some experts have suggested that, although Smith believed he had been rescued, hehad in fact been involved in a ritual intended to symbolize his death and rebirth as amember of the tribe. However, in Love and Hate in Jamestown, David A. Price notesthat this is only guesswork, since little is known of Powhatan rituals, and there is noevidence for any similar rituals among other North American tribes. Whatever really happened, this encounter initiated a friendlyrelationship with Smith and the Jamestown colony, andPocahontas would often come to the settlement and playgames with the boys there. During a time when the colonistswere starving, "ever once in four or five days, Pocahontas withher attendants brought him [Smith] so much provision thatsaved many of their lives that else for all this had starved withhunger." As the colonists expanded further, however, some of the Native Americans felt that their lands were threatened, andconflicts arose again. In 1608, Pocahontas is said to have saved Smith a second time. Smith and some other colonists were invited to Werowocomoco by Chief Powhatan on friendly terms, butPocahontas came to the hut where the English were staying and warned them thatPowhatan was planning to kill them. Due to this warning, the English stayed on their guard, and the attack never came. An injury from a gunpowder explosion forced Smith to return to England in 1609 for medical care. The English told the natives that Smith was dead; he had been capturedby a French pirate, the pirate ship had been wrecked on the Brittany coast, and it hadgone down with all hands. Pocahontas believed Smith dead until she arrived in Englandseveral years later, the wife of John Rolfe. According to William Strachey, Pocahontas married a Powhatan warrior called Kocoumat some point before 1612; nothing more is known about this marriage.There is no suggestion in any of the historical records that Smith and Pocahontas werelovers. This romantic version of the story appears only in fictionalized versions of their relationship.
 
Page 3.
Marriage to John Rolfe
 
During her stay in Henricus, Pocahontas met John Rolfe,who fell in love with her. Rolfe, whose English-born wifehad died, had successfully cultivated a new strain of tobacco in Virginia and spent much of his time theretending to his crop. He was a pious man who agonizedover the potential moral repercussions of marrying aheathen. In a long letter to the governor requestingpermission to wed her, he expressed both his love for her and his belief that he would be saving her soul. He claimedhe was not motivated by the unbridled desire of carnalaffection, but for the good of this plantation, for the honor of our country, for the Glory of God, for my own salvation… namely Pocahontas, to whom my hearty and best thoughtsare, and have been a long time so entangled, and enthralled in so intricate a labyrinththat I was even a-wearied to unwind myself there out."Pocahontas's feelings about Rolfe and the marriage are unknown.They were married on April 5, 1614. Pocahontas was Christened Lady Rebecca. For a few years after the marriage, the couple lived together at Rolfe's plantation, VarinaFarms, which was located across the James River from the new community of Henricus. They had a child, Thomas Rolfe, born on January 30, 1615.Their marriage was unsuccessful in winning the English captives back, but it didcreate a climate of peace between the Jamestown colonists and Powhatan's tribes for several years; in 1615, Ralph Hamor wrote that ever since the wedding "we have hadfriendly commerce and trade not only with Powhatan but also with his subjects roundabout us".
Journey to England and death
The arrival of Pocahontas in London was well publicized. She waspresented to King James I, the royal family, and the rest of the best of London society. Also in London at this time was Captain John Smith,the old friend she had not seen for eight years and whom shebelieved was dead. According to Smith at their meeting, she was atfirst too overcome with emotion to speak. After composing herself,Pocahontas talked of old times. At one point she addressed him as"father," and when he objected, she defiantly replied: "'Were you notafraid to come into my father's Country, and caused fear in him andall of his people and fear you here I should call you father: I tell you Iwill, and you shall call me childe, and so I will be for ever and ever your Countryman."' This was their last meeting. 
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minny19196306

the petres looks cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111111

reply10 / 04 / 2008
mirwinsd

Well Done! Very concise, yet detailed.

reply07 / 13 / 2008
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