The Real PocahontasA Project Work by Helen Mykhailenko, Group 34-E

Early life Pocahontas was a Native American woman who married an Englishman, John Rolfe, and became a celebrity in London in the last year of her life. She was a daughter of Wahunsunacock (also known as Chief or Emperor Powhatan), who ruled an area encompassing almost all of the neighboring tribes in the Tidewater region of Virginia (called Tenakomakah at the time). Her formal names were Matoaka and Amonute; 'Pocahontas' was a childhood nickname referring to her frolicsome nature (in the Powhatan language it meant "little wanton", according to William Strachey). After her baptism, she went by the name Rebecca, 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 by one of his many wives and was brought up in his household; her mother was sent away after giving

birth 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 building settlements, 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 by a group of Powhatan hunters and brought to Werowocomoco, one of the chief villages

of the Powhatan Empire. According to Smith, he was laid across a stone and was about to be executed, when Pocahontas threw herself across his body: "at the minute of my execution, she hazarded the beating out of her own brains to save mine; and not only that, but so prevailed with her father, that I was safely conducted to Jamestown". John Smith's version of events is the only source, and since the 1860s, skepticism has increasingly been expressed about its veracity. One reason for such doubt is that despite having published two earlier books about Virginia, Smith's earliest surviving account of his rescue by Pocahontas dates from 1616, nearly 10 years later, in a letter entreating Queen Anne to treat Pocahontas with dignity.

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The time gap in publishing his story raises the possibility that Smith may have exaggerated or invented the event to enhance Pocahontas' image; however, in a recent book, J.A.O. Lemay points out that Smith's earlier writing was primarily geographical and ethnographic in nature and did not dwell on his personal experience; hence there was no reason for him to write down the story until this point. Some experts have suggested that, although Smith believed he had been rescued, he had in fact been involved in a ritual intended to symbolize his death and rebirth as a member of the tribe. However, in Love and Hate in Jamestown, David A. Price notes that this is only guesswork, since little is known of Powhatan rituals, and there is no evidence for any similar rituals among other North American tribes.

Whatever really happened, this encounter initiated a friendly relationship with Smith and the Jamestown colony, and Pocahontas would often come to the settlement and play games with the boys there. During a time when the colonists were starving, "ever once in four or five days, Pocahontas with her attendants brought him [Smith] so much provision that saved many of their lives that else for all this had starved with hunger." As the colonists expanded further, however, some of the Native Americans felt that their lands were threatened, and conflicts 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, but Pocahontas came to the hut where the English were staying and warned them that Powhatan 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 captured by a French pirate, the pirate ship had been wrecked on the Brittany coast, and it had gone down with all hands. Pocahontas believed Smith dead until she arrived in England several years later, the wife of John Rolfe. According to William Strachey, Pocahontas married a Powhatan warrior called Kocoum at 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 were lovers. This romantic version of the story appears only in fictionalized versions of their relationship.

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Marriage to John Rolfe During her stay in Henricus, Pocahontas met John Rolfe, who fell in love with her. Rolfe, whose English-born wife had died, had successfully cultivated a new strain of tobacco in Virginia and spent much of his time there tending to his crop. He was a pious man who agonized over the potential moral repercussions of marrying a heathen. In a long letter to the governor requesting permission to wed her, he expressed both his love for her and his belief that he would be saving her soul. He claimed he was not motivated by the unbridled desire of carnal

affection, 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 thoughts are, and have been a long time so entangled, and enthralled in so intricate a labyrinth that 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, Varina Farms, 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 did create 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 had friendly commerce and trade not only with Powhatan but also with his subjects round about us".

Journey to England and deathThe arrival of Pocahontas in London was well publicized. She was presented 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 she believed was dead. According to Smith at their meeting, she was at first 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 not afraid to come into my father's Country, and caused fear in him and all of his people and fear you here I should call you father: I tell you I will, 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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After seven months Rolfe decided to return his family to Virginia, In March 1617 they set sail. It was soon apparent, however, that Pocahontas would not survive the voyage home. She was deathly ill from pneumonia or possibly tuberculosis. She was taken ashore, and, as she lay dying, she comforted her husband, saying, "all must die. 'Tis enough that the child lives." She was buried in a churchyard in Gravesend, England. She was 22 years old. Comprehension Questions

1. What does 'Pocahontas’ mean in the Powhatan language?2. When did the English colonists arrive in Virginia and begin building their

settlements?3. What happened to John Smith?4. What was the name of a Powhatan warrior whom Pocahontas married?5. When did Pocahontas meet John Rolfe?6. What did John Rolfe do for living?7. What name was Pocahontas Christened?8. How was Pocahontas received in England?9. When did she meet John Smith the second time? 10.Why and when did Pocahontas die?

Left: Pocahontas and her son, Thomas Rolfe (in approx. 1619 – 20)