Post by Hailey Suits on Jul 16, 2010 23:59:58 GMT -5
For those of you taking U.S. History, AP or otherwise, I hope your book is better than the ones at Decatur Central High School.
The Pocahontas story was stretched beyond recognition. First by the Europeans and then by Mr. Walt Disney.
As a follower of my ancestral native American Beliefs I take it as my responsibility to at least try and help spread the truth of Matoaka, whom is the only child of Powhatan that is well known, and she only is so due to this Euro-American Lie.
Matoaka was given the nickname Pocahontas by her father, it meant "the naughty one" or spoiled child. At the age of 17, in 1612, she was taken captive by the English colonists while she was at the settlement for a social visit. She was raped by Thomas Dale and held captive for over a year before she was released under the condition that she marry John Rolfe, a 28-year-old widower Englishman whom had taken an "interest" in the attractive, young, female captive. His wife had perished in the February of 1610 giving birth to his daughter Bermuda whom also died.
Thus in the April of 1614 Matoaka became Rebecca Rolfe without real choice. Mere months later she gave birth to Thomas Rolfe, however it cannot be confirmed if it was actually the result of her rape. Although, Powhatans named their children after family members, this would've made the sons name John as opposed to Thomas. During the rest of her time in Virginia Makoata was kept from her people completely, she was not allowed to or see any of her family and was kept mostly in isolation except from her husband and a few other English people.
This went on until Rolfe ushered her, her sister, and her brother-in-law away from her home all the way to Europe. There he merely showed her off and used her as propaganda for the colonies and his tobacco industry. On the return trip however Matoaka became ill. Rolfe dropped her and her family, except for their son, off at Gravesend where each of them spent their last days.
Matoaka died and was buried on March 21st, 1617. She was only 21 years old.
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It was only after Matoaka became famous that John Smith claimed she had saved him, 17 years after the supposed incident occurred. However, during the time he claimed it to have happened, 1607, Matoaka would have been only around 10 to 11 and he described a woman.
It is also one of three accounts Smith made about being rescued by prominent women in society. In fact, his own colonists and crew mates described him as an abrasive, ambitious, self-promoting mercenary with a thirst for fame and recognition.
Historical documents confirm that the Spring after Smith's Winter with the Powhatans he had described no such incident. Instead he had stated he had been kept comfortable and had been treated as the honoured guest of Powhatan and his brothers.
After the promotion of his story and others in justification to wage war upon the Powhatan Nation, Matoaka had bumped into John Smith many a time while she was in England. Every time she called him a liar, once she left in a huff and wasn't seen for hours. Another, she ran him out of her place of residence.
Thanks to his story, after the death of Powhatan in 1618, Matoaka's people were slaughtered and scattered off their land by the English colonists. This set a pattern for what would soon happen to the rest of the Native American people.
The Pocahontas story was stretched beyond recognition. First by the Europeans and then by Mr. Walt Disney.
As a follower of my ancestral native American Beliefs I take it as my responsibility to at least try and help spread the truth of Matoaka, whom is the only child of Powhatan that is well known, and she only is so due to this Euro-American Lie.
Matoaka was given the nickname Pocahontas by her father, it meant "the naughty one" or spoiled child. At the age of 17, in 1612, she was taken captive by the English colonists while she was at the settlement for a social visit. She was raped by Thomas Dale and held captive for over a year before she was released under the condition that she marry John Rolfe, a 28-year-old widower Englishman whom had taken an "interest" in the attractive, young, female captive. His wife had perished in the February of 1610 giving birth to his daughter Bermuda whom also died.
Thus in the April of 1614 Matoaka became Rebecca Rolfe without real choice. Mere months later she gave birth to Thomas Rolfe, however it cannot be confirmed if it was actually the result of her rape. Although, Powhatans named their children after family members, this would've made the sons name John as opposed to Thomas. During the rest of her time in Virginia Makoata was kept from her people completely, she was not allowed to or see any of her family and was kept mostly in isolation except from her husband and a few other English people.
This went on until Rolfe ushered her, her sister, and her brother-in-law away from her home all the way to Europe. There he merely showed her off and used her as propaganda for the colonies and his tobacco industry. On the return trip however Matoaka became ill. Rolfe dropped her and her family, except for their son, off at Gravesend where each of them spent their last days.
Matoaka died and was buried on March 21st, 1617. She was only 21 years old.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was only after Matoaka became famous that John Smith claimed she had saved him, 17 years after the supposed incident occurred. However, during the time he claimed it to have happened, 1607, Matoaka would have been only around 10 to 11 and he described a woman.
It is also one of three accounts Smith made about being rescued by prominent women in society. In fact, his own colonists and crew mates described him as an abrasive, ambitious, self-promoting mercenary with a thirst for fame and recognition.
Historical documents confirm that the Spring after Smith's Winter with the Powhatans he had described no such incident. Instead he had stated he had been kept comfortable and had been treated as the honoured guest of Powhatan and his brothers.
After the promotion of his story and others in justification to wage war upon the Powhatan Nation, Matoaka had bumped into John Smith many a time while she was in England. Every time she called him a liar, once she left in a huff and wasn't seen for hours. Another, she ran him out of her place of residence.
Thanks to his story, after the death of Powhatan in 1618, Matoaka's people were slaughtered and scattered off their land by the English colonists. This set a pattern for what would soon happen to the rest of the Native American people.
