Pocahontas; a controversy in early American history

Pocahontas; a controversy in early American history

The real story of Pocahontas as told by the Native Americans is a tale of heartbreak and Tragedy and not a good tale of love as described by inaccurate accounts in the history books and movies. The Native American’s version is a tragic story of a young native girl who was kidnapped by the English colonialists, sexually assaulted and consequently murdered by the same people were meant to protect her. Just like in many historical accounts, the Native American story describes that Pocahontas was born by her mother who was also named Pocahontas and her father was Wahusenaca. Her mother died during childbirth and her father, later on, became a paramount chief (Wineburg et al. 2014).

Pocahontas was named Matoaka at birth which loosely translates to “a flower in the middle of two streams” according to Mattaponi folktale, and she was given this name since she was born between two rivers. After the death of his wife, Wahusenaca was devastated and it was no surprise that little Matoaka became his favorite child since she reminded him of her mother. The little girl was raised by her aunts and other women from her tribe. She had many brothers and sisters since her father according to tradition had several wives and many children.  As a result of his never-ending grief and from her resemblance to her mother, her father fondly named her Pocahontas.

According to the oral history of the Mattaponi, Matoaka was only ten years old when John Smith and the colonialists arrived into her village. John Smith was around 27 years of age at that time and the two never married nor did they become involved. During the winter of 1607, Smith was captured by Powhatan warriors. Due to a mutual fear of the Spanish, the English and Powhatan joined forces which saw John Smith become promoted to a “werowance” or leader. Many years afterwards, Smith described that Pocahontas rescued him during his version to a converted to Werowance. As described by Mattaponi oral history, there was no account of that ever happening. According to the Mattaponi Pocahontas could not have defied her father by taking food to Jamestown or John Smith since it was impossible for a girl her age to make the treacherous journey which even grown-up men could not. She also could not have sneaked into Jamestown to worn Smith of an impending plan to kill him (Gray. 2015).

In the early 1600 young Mattaponi, women found themselves being sexually targeted by the English colonialists especially in summer when the natives shed most of their clothing. The natives were horrified by such acts, and they became frustrated that the colonial government did nothing to protect them. Matoaka came of age during the time such horrible acts were being committed by the colonialists. She chooses the name Pocahontas and married a young warrior who was about 14 years, and she immediately became pregnant. At this time rumors started to surface that the colonialists were planning to kidnap her (Boyd. 2015).

Pocahontas was later on kidnapped by the colonialists, and her young husband was murdered, and she had no option but to give up her firstborn son. While in captivity she was raped and as a result, she gave birth to her second son. In attempts to appease the Natives and form an alliance for the sake of Tobacco production, John Rolfe married Pocahontas. Shortly after that, she was taken to England to help raise money for Tobacco production, and it is likely that she was murdered while in London.  According to oral Mattaponi history, she was a mother of two children, Thomas Rolfe who remained in England and little Kocoum from her first marriage.

In summary I have learnt from the Mattaponi tribe that theirs is culture which values family and tradition. The Native Americans had a way of passing their history which was through oral history while the colonialists passed down their history through written records. Both the colonialists and Native Americans versions of Pocahontas try to portray their side of the story in a way that protects the image of their morals and culture. According to the Mattaponi John Smith and the colonialists were vicious and immoral people who defiled the Mattaponi way of life. On the other hand, the colonialists see themselves as decent people who changed the lives of the Natives through introduction of Christianity, formal education and tobacco farming. From the Native Americans I have learned that the best way to pass down history through the generations is through oral stories and folklore which are very effective ways of preserving culture and history.

Bibliography

Smith, E. Boyd. The Story of Pocahontas and Captain John Smith. E. Boyd Smith, 2015.

Gray, Edward G. “A MAN MOST DRIVEN Captain John Smith, Pocahontas and the founding of America.” (2015): 25-25.

Wineburg, Sam, Daisy Martin, and Chauncey Monte-Sano. Reading like a historian. Teachers College Press, 2014.