Pocahontas

For other uses, see Pocahontas (disambiguation).

A 1616 engraving of Pocahontas by Simon van de Passe, the only portrait of Pocahontas made within her lifetime.

Pocahontas (c.1595 – March 21, 1617) was a princess of the Powhatan Indians (an Algonquian tribe) whose life has formed the basis of highly romanticized legends. Her real name was Matoaka: 'Pocahontas' was actually a childhood nickname referring to her frolicsome nature (her name means "little wanton" or "playful frolicsome girl" in Powhatan language). She was the daughter of Emperor Powhatan, a Native American chief who controlled almost all of the Tidewater region of Virginia (called Tenakomakah at the time). Because Pocahontas never learned to write, everything now known about her was transmitted to later generations by others and the thoughts, feelings, and motives of the historical Pocahontas remain largely unknown. Her story has become the source of much romantic myth-making in the centuries following her death, the Disney movie Pocahontas being one example.

Life

Pocahontas is said to have stopped her father from executing colonialist John Smith in the year 1607. The truth of this story cannot be verified; Pocahontas was only thirteen years old at the time and could not have known Smith for long, as he had arrived from England that year. Smith did not speak the Powhatan language at that time, and may have misunderstood what was actually happening. Smith's account was long considered to be a fabrication, in part because he never mentioned the event in any of the sundry monographs about the colony that he published in the twenty years following his return. Some recent researchers assert that there is little reason to doubt his veracity, but the more romanticized popular versions of the story are unquestionably dubious.

Whatever really happened, a friendly relationship with Smith and the rest of the colony of Jamestown, Virginia was initiated, and Pocahontas would often come to the settlement and play with the children there. During hard times, Pocahontas also helped to save the Jamestown colony from extinction by supplying it with food.

In 1612, Pocahontas was captured and held hostage by the Jamestown colonists, in the hope that they could ransom her for the release of some of their own people held in captivity by Pocahontas' tribe. During this time, she learned English and was baptized by Alexander Whitaker. There is evidence that she was already married to someone of her own tribe by the name of Kocoum two years before she was kidnapped.[1] After her baptism, however, she married John Rolfe, who had established the growing of tobacco in Virginia, on April 5, 1614, and her name was changed to Rebecca Rolfe. They lived together at Rolfe's plantation, Varina Farms, which was located across the James River from Henricus. Their marriage was unsuccessful in winning the captives back, but it did create a climate of peace between the Jamestown colonists and Powhatan's tribes for several years.

The Virginia colony's sponsors found it difficult to lure new colonists to Jamestown, and to find investors for such ventures and so used Pocahontas as a marketing ploy to convince people back in Europe that the New World's natives could be tamed, and the colony made safe. In 1616, she was brought to England, living in Brentford between 1616 and 1617, to meet King James I and his court. There she was promoted as an "Indian princess", causing a sensation in England, and becoming America's first international celebrity from the New World. The plan to win more backing for the Virginia colony and to gain royal favor was a great success.

Rolfe was eager to return to Virginia to raise tobacco but Pocahontas became ill, and died in Gravesend of smallpox, pneumonia, or tuberculosis (accounts differ), during the journey. Her only child was Thomas Rolfe, born at Varina Farms, through whom she has living descendants; one was Edith Wilson; another was George Wythe Randolph.

After her death

An 18th century portrait by an unknown artist; based on the engraved image (see above) but 'Europeanizing' Pocahontas's features; the myth-making begins.

A fanciful 19th century depiction; the myth-making is complete.

While in England, Simon Van de Passe engraved Pocahontas' portrait on a copper plate. This engraving is the only portrait of Pocahontas made during her lifetime. Despite being dressed in European clothing to signify her acculturation, her Native American features remain unmistakable, and the engraving suggests a strong personality. More than a century later, an unknown artist made an oil painting of Pocahontas based on the earlier engraving. Though she is dressed exactly the same, her non-white features are de-emphasized, giving her skin a paler cast; her hair a lighter shade of brown, and her face a more European appearance. Notice also the angular shape of her once oval-like chin. The stern look in her eyes from the earlier engraving is also relaxed, giving her a more gentle appearance.

After the death of Pocahontas, the story of Smith's rescue by Pocahontas went public in his books New England Trials (1622) and The Generall Historie (1624), providing the ingredients for romantic inflation. By the 19th century, Pocahontas had become one of the most important icons of America, and the romantic literature surrounding her at the time depicted her as a "Noble Savage", who was "Christian in behavior" even before being baptized.

During the era of Indian Removal, Manifest Destiny, and the westward expansion of the United States, the story of Pocahontas converting to Christianity and accepting European culture struck a chord among 19th century Americans as they battled Natives who were defiantly resisting assimilation. To them, the success of Pocahontas' transformation validated the mission of the colonists. This can be seen in an 1840 painting by John Chapman called The Baptism of Pocahontas, which was hung in the Rotunda of the United States Capitol. A government pamphlet went into circulation entitled The Picture of the Baptism of Pocahontas, explaining the characters in the painting and congratulating the Jamestown settlers for introducing Christianity to the "heathen savages", thus doing more than just to "exterminate the ancient proprietors of the soil, and usurp their possessions".

Around this time, romantic stories about Pocahontas would often adapt her vague story to fit their own beliefs. Her marriage to Rolfe when it was Smith whom she rescued, did not seem right to some, and so at least one author, John R. Musick, retold the story to "clarify" the relationship between the three. In Musick's account, Rolfe is a back-stabbing liar who, seeing the opportunity to marry "royalty," tells Pocahontas that her true love, Smith, is dead. She then reluctantly agrees to marry Rolfe. After the two begin preparations to leave for England, Pocahontas encounters Smith, still alive. Overcome by emotion and recollections, she dies of a broken heart three days later.

Like much of the 19th-century poetry and novels surrounding Pocahontas, The Walt Disney Company's 1995 animated feature Pocahontas presents a highly-romanticized and fictional view of the events surrounding Pocahontas' meeting with John Smith. The sequel, Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World, loosely depicts her journey to England. See Pocahontas (movie) for a list of films surrounding this story.

The New World, a film by writer/director Terrence Malick, starring Colin Farrell, is a live-action film version of the story, released in December, 2005.

Mistaken assumption about a Bush family relation

Although both Presidents Bush are descended from Native Americans, genealogists who have attempted to link Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush with Pocahontas have been in error. Their mistaken assumption was that Robert Bolling Jr. (a 10th generation ancestor of George W. Bush) was the son of Robert Bolling and Jane Rolfe (granddaughter of Pocahontas). This connection has been disproved by many other genealogists, who point out that Rolfe died in 1676, six years before the birth of the younger Bolling. Robert Bolling Jr. was evidently the son of Anne Stith, whom his father married after Jane Rolfe's death. The Bush family, therefore, is not descended from Pocahontas (but is descended from the Wampanoag tribe of Cape Cod, Mass).

Pocahontas legacy and disambiguation

Through their son, Thomas Rolfe, the marriage between John Rolfe and Pocahontas helped bring peace between the tribes and the British settlers of Virginia for a generation. Many of the prominent First Families of Virginia trace their lineage to descendants of Thomas Rolfe.

There are several notable places and landmarks that take their name from Pocahontas.

File:VDOT ad ferry Pocahontas.jpg

Pocahontas is one of four ferryboats operating the Jamestown-Scotland Ferry Virginia Dept. of Transportation (VDOT) promotional photo

• Pocahontas was the namesake for one of the richest seams of bituminous coal ever found in Virginia and West Virginia, and the Pocahontas Land Company, a subsidiary of the Norfolk and Western Railway.
• The town of Pocahontas, Virginia is named after her.
• The newest of four car-carrying ferryboats, the Pocahontas operates for the Virginia Department of Transportation's Jamestown Ferry service which carries Virginia State Highway 31 (John Rolfe Highway) across the James River between Scotland in Surry County and Jamestown.
• The Pocahontas Parkway (Virginia State Highway 895) near Richmond is named after Pocahontas, and the nearby Powhite Parkway is named after a branch of the Powhatan Indian tribe. Powhatan County, Virginia, although actually lying outside of the tribal lands, was also named by settlers after her tribe.
• Matoaca, Virginia is located in Chesterfield County. Matoaca High School is also named after Pocahontas.
• Matoaka, West Virginia named after her, is located in Mercer County.
• Pocahontas, Arkansas named after her is located in Randolph County.
• Pocahontas, Illinois named after her is located in Bond County.
• Po-ca-hon-tas, or The Gentle Savage is a 19th-century burlesque about the woman by John Brougham

In Henrico County, Virginia, where Pocahontas and John Rolfe lived together at the Varina Farms Plantation, a middle school has been named after each of them. Pocahontas Middle School and John Rolfe Middle School thus reunite the historic couple in the local educational system -- Henrico being one of 5 remaining original shires that date to the early 17th century of the Virginia Colony.

Further reading

• David A. Price, Love and Hate in Jamestown, Alfred A. Knopf, 2003
• Sandall, Roger 2001 The Culture Cult: Designer Tribalism and Other Essays ISBN 0813338638

External links

• Pocahontas
• Virginia Historical Society page on Pocahontas (With a copy of the only known authentic portrait of her. Compare to the Victorian version.)
• The Real Pocahontas compares the historical Pocahontas to the Disney version. Pictures and extensive links.
• Did Pocahontas Save Captain John Smith? a critical review of the historical evidence against Smith
• A Smithsonian article on Pocahontas
• Pocahontas: Icon At The Crossroads Of Race And Sex
• The Pocahontas Myth - Powhatan Renape Nation The modern tribe dispels myths upheld by the Disney movie.
• Pocahontas Descendants family tree and genealogy of her descendants.
• The Culture Cult: A web site that discusses romantic primitivism