The Real Pocahontas

A 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 death

The 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)