Pocahontas
- For the towns in the United States, see Pocahontas, Arkansas, Pocahontas, Illinois or Pocahontas,
Iowa.
A 1616 engraving of Pocahontas by Simon van de Passe, the only portrait of Pocahontas made within her lifetime.
Pocahontas (c.1595-1617) was an
Algonquian Indian 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. She
was the daughter of Powhatan, an Indian chief who controlled almost all of Virginia. Because Pocahontas never learned to write (which means that everything known
about her was transmitted to later generations by others), the thoughts, feelings, and motives of the historical Pocahontas
remained unknown and her story thus became a perfect breeding ground for romantic hyperbole in the centuries following her
death.
Life of Pocahontas
Pocahontas is said to have prevented her father from executing colonist John Smith in the year 1607. Whether or not she actually
saved Smith's life is debatable, given that she was only ten years old at the time. Smith did not even speak the Powhatan
language at that time and may have misunderstood what was actually going on (although Smith's account was long considered to be a
fabrication, recent research has shown that there is little reason to doubt his veracity; however, the veracity of several highly
romanticized popular versions is doubtful). Whatever really happened, a friendly relationship with Smith and the rest of the
colony of Jamestown, Virginia had been initiated and
Pocahontas would often come to the settlement and play with the children there. During hard times, Pocahontas also helped 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's tribe. During this time,
she learned English and was baptized by Alexander Whitaker. It
is believed that she was already married to someone of her own tribe by the name of Kocoum before she was kidnapped. After her
baptism, however, she married John Rolfe, the founder of English tobacco-growing in Virginia, on April 5, 1614 (her name was changed to Rebecca Rolfe). The marriage was unsuccessful in winning the
captives back but it did created a climate of peace between the Jamestown colonists and Powhatan's tribes for several years.
The Virginia colony's sponsors found it difficult to both lure new colonists to Jamestown and to find investors for such
ventures and so caught on to Pocahontas as a marketing ploy to convince people back in Europe that the New World was tamable and
safe. So, in 1616 she was brought to England to
meet with King James I and his court and ended up touring as an
"Indian princess" which created a sensation in England, becoming America's first international celebrity. 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 before leaving, Pocahontas became ill and died in Gravesend of smallpox. Her only child was Thomas Rolfe, through whom she has living descendants.
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 "portrait"; the myth-making is complete.
While in England, Simon
Van de Passe engraved Pocahontas's 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 submission to European culture, her Native American
features remain robust 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-Anglo features are watered
down, giving her skin a lighter cast, her hair a more European shade of brown, and her face a more Caucasian appearance. The stern look in her eyes from the earlier engraving was also relaxed, giving her a
more gentle and tame 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.
With the Indian Removal Act underway and the preparation for
colonists to move westward, taking the land and assimilating the Indians, the story of Pocahontas converting to Christianity and
accepting European culture struck a chord among 19th century Americans as they battled with Natives who were defiantly resisting
assimilation. To them, the success of Pocahontas's 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 to just "exterminate the ancient proprietors of the soil, and usurp
their possessions".
Around this time, romantic stories about Pocahontas would often twist the already vague history of her to fit their own
fairy-tale mold. Her marriage to Rolfe when it was Smith whom she rescued didn't seem right, and so at least one author, John R. Musick, molded Rolfe into a
back-stabbing liar who sees the opportunity to marry royalty and tells Pocahontas that her true love, Smith, is dead. She
reluctantly agrees to marry Rolfe. After the two head off to England, Pocahontas runs into Smith and finds that he is 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
distorted 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.
Genealogical trivia
A number of genealogists have attempted to link Presidents George H. W. Bush and
George W. Bush with Pocahontas, but this link has been
proved to be based on the mistaken assumption 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
reputable genealogists, who point out that Rolfe died in 1676, six years before the birth
of the younger Bolling, who therefore could not have been her son. He 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.
Bibliography
External links
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