Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - Pocahontas

Starting point is 00:00:00 One of the most notable figures in early American history is Pocahontas. Best known as the main character in Disney's animated film Pocahontas, she was not a fictional character. She was in fact quite real. However, her real life was radically different from that depicted in popular culture. In fact, there are enormous discrepancies between the story and the real person. Learn more about the real story of Pocahontas and how it differs from legend on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

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Starting point is 00:01:10 Pocahontas's exact birth year is unknown, but the best estimate places it in the year 1596. She was born a member of the Powhatan tribe, where she was also known as Amanute and Matawaka. These two names were what she was more commonly referred to by her own people. The Powhatan people lived in the Tidewater region of modern-day Virginia. Her father was Wassenseneca, the paramount chief of Senecomaca, the Powhatan name of their homeland. The Paramount Chief was the highest-ranking leader, meaning that Pocahontas's father controlled roughly 8,000 square miles of land, and 15,000 people covering 30 different communities. Historians know very little of Pocahontas' mother, but some theories explain why.

Starting point is 00:02:05 One theory is that she was Wausen Seneca's first wife and died in childbirth. This theory comes from the oral traditions of the Mataponi tribe, who are descendants of the Powhatan. Another thing, theory comes from the reports of Henry Spellman, an English adventurer who lived among the Powhatan as an interpreter. He reported that the Paramount Chief had many wives, and that after a wife gave birth, she returned to her home, where she was supported by the chief until she found a new husband. Pocahontas was actually the childhood nickname of the young Matawaka. The etymology of the name is believed to mean playful one. As a young girl, she was described by colonists as playing with the young kids from the Jamestown settlement. Some historians believe the English

Starting point is 00:02:46 deliberately concealed Pocahontas' real name, possibly thinking that revealing her real name would give her more power. In modern times, Pocahontas is often referred to as a princess because of her position as the chief's daughter. And the title is technically not accurate, as she and her siblings were not next in line to be chief. Instead, that title was often held by the Paramount Chief's siblings and his sister's children. One of the first reports of Pocahontas comes from Englishman John Smith. He describes meeting the young girl in his book, a true relation of Virginia. In this report, he states that he met a 10-year-old girl in the spring of 1608. Later, Smith described her in 1616, saying that the young girl was 12 or 13. As mentioned, Disney produced

Starting point is 00:03:33 an animated film based on Pocahontas' life, and while it was popular, the movie highly exaggerates or outright fabricates much of her story. In reality, Pocahontas led a short and tragic life. Let's first start with her connection to the film's love interest, John Smith. Smith represents Pocahontas's best-known connection, but the film takes great liberties with their relationship. For starters, as I mentioned, Pocahontas met Smith at a much younger age, likely just 10 years old.

Starting point is 00:04:05 Smith landed in Jamestown in April of 1607 with 100 other settlers. They built a fort along the James River where they had numerous encounters with nearby Native Americans. Some of these interactions were positive, whereas others were extremely hostile. Smith was captured by a hunting party and brought to a Powhatan village. When accounting for his kidnapping, he does not mention meeting Pocahontas at this time, but instead states that he met her months later. The Powhatan reportedly offered Smith and the colonists a chance to join their tribe. If Smith accepted, he would control a small village in the territory, a strategy seemingly designed to keep the colonists under control. In 1616, Smith wrote about Pocahontas again, this time regarding

Starting point is 00:04:49 her visit to England. In the letter he claims that Pocahontas had saved his life a few years prior. In this account, he describes how she protected him from an execution by wrapping her arms around his head, preventing him from getting a skull beaten in by clubs. When historians have looked back on Smith's retelling of events, some believe that Smith was not about to be executed, but instead accepted into the tribe. This thought comes from the tribe referring to Smith as a member following a ritual. Despite the highly fictionalized relationship between Smith and Pocahontas in the film, historians agree that they were just friends. Pocahontas was often seen delivering messages from her father and gifts such as food to Smith and other colonists. She also visited Smith in England in her later years.

Starting point is 00:05:36 In this visit, she reportedly referred to him as father. Eventually, Pocahontas stopped visiting Jamestown as tensions rose between colonists and the native tribes. Colonists demanded more food than the tribes could supply due to drought, sparking the first Anglo-Poitan War in 1609. The Anglo-Poitan War changed Pocahontas's life as she was kidnapped by the colonists during the conflict. Early in the war, colonists controlled the James River, holding both its mouth and its falls. They attempted to make inroads into the chieftain by establishing connections with different tribes. One of the groups the colonists made contact with was the Padawamax, who though part of the Powhatan Confederacy were not particularly loyal. While in contact with the Padawamax, the colonists learned that Pocontas had visited one of their villages.

Starting point is 00:06:27 Using this information, the English pressured the Padawamec into an alliance against the Powhatan. With this alliance, they used the wives of the Padawamec chief to lure Pocontas onto a ship. Once on the ship, Pocahontas was held hostage and used for Iran. ransom. They offered her father her release in exchange for the release of colonial prisoners and the return of stolen weapons and supplies. Pocahontas was held in Henriqueus, an English settlement from 1613 to 1614. We really don't know much about what happened there except the colonists later claim that she was treated well. In some Native American oral traditions, there are claims that Pocahontas was raped during her time in captivity, although this is heavily

Starting point is 00:07:08 disputed by historians. It also wasn't really in the interest of the colonists for any harm to come to Pocahontas. The colonists were heavily outnumbered and were trying to make a deal with the Powhatan, meaning that if Pocahontas faced any real harm, it would have hurt their negotiations. One of the main details about Pocahontas's kidnapping that we do know is that she was introduced to Christianity during this time. She was also baptized and took the English name, Rebecca. and we also know that during this period her English improved dramatically. It's believed that Pocahontas was married prior to her kidnapping. Her husband's name was Kokawum, and he was a son of a chief.

Starting point is 00:07:49 He is said to have been killed when Pocahontas was abducted in 1613. However, historical evidence of the marriage is hard to find. The only English documentation of his existence comes from a single excerpt stating that she had been living with a man named Kokawum for two years. Furthermore, some evidence suggests that the couple had a child, Kaoki, whom the Potawatomax raised after her father's death and her mother's kidnapping. Following Pocahontas's marriage to John Rolfe in 1614, there's no mention of Coquam, leading some to argue that the passage is being misunderstood and that it simply refers to a Powhatan officer.

Starting point is 00:08:26 Pocahontas and John Rolfe met while she was being held captive in Henriquez. Rolfe had planned to move to Virginia with his wife and child, but both died. in a shipwreck. Despite their deaths, Rolf built a successful life for himself in Virginia, cultivating and developing new tobacco strains on his plantation. Reportedly, Rolf was very pious and religious and struggled with the idea of marrying someone who was not Christian. He supposedly agonized over the idea of marrying Pocohantus, despite her having already converted to Christianity. The colonists eventually took Pocontas, along with 150 men, back to the Powhatan, to demand ransom. A conflict of reference,

Starting point is 00:09:05 leading the Englishmen to burn some villages and kill some of the members of the tribe. Reportedly, Pocahontas told her father that she wanted to marry Rolf to end the conflict, and her father agreed. The marriage became a peacemaking event known as the Peace of Pocahontas. The couple married on April 5, 1614, most likely at the Jamestown settlement. After the wedding, the colonists and the Powhatan improved relations for eight years. During this period, both groups engaged in friendly trade. The marriage between Rolf and Pocahontas stirred controversy in England, but not for the reason you might think. Many considered it audacious for a commoner like Rolf to marry a princess like Pocahontas.

Starting point is 00:09:49 Pocahontas and Rolf had a son together in 1616 named Thomas, bringing the family to three. Pocahontas lived in Virginia until 1616 when Rolf decided to bring his family back to Britain. The trio arrived in Gravesend, where the young Pocahontas was preyed at. around, showing the rest of England what a successful colonization looked like. In many ways, Rolf and the British turned Pocahontas into a walking piece of propaganda. She was perceived as sweet, young, beautiful, and willing to do what the colonizers wanted. It painted the image that the colonization process was going well, and that there was little to no violence in the new world.

Starting point is 00:10:29 Pocahontas was dressed in Elizabethan attire, and was perceived by the British as an Indian princess. That status allowed her to be granted an audience with King James I and the rest of the royal family. Unfortunately, Pocahontas never returned to her home in Virginia. She was set to sail back home in 1617, but she was unable to make the journey after contracting either smallpox, the flu, tuberculosis, or cholera while aboard another ship. She died shortly thereafter, estimated to be just 22 years old. As with many other events in her life, historians question events surrounding her death. Some believe that Pocahontas may have been murdered rather than the official story of dying of disease. These accounts come from the Powhatan representatives who were aboard the ship with Pocahontas.

Starting point is 00:11:19 According to them, they were on the ship for such a short time that there was no time for her to get sick, leading them to conclude that she had been poisoned. Pocahontas was survived by her son Thomas, who remained in England for about 20 years before returning to Virginia. Once back in Virginia, he grew tobacco and met his wife. It's believed that Thomas did make some effort to contact his Powhatan relatives, despite there being laws against it and the ridicule it drew from the colonists. Her son Thomas had two children, and they had many descendants. There are estimated to be over a hundred thousand people today who are direct descendants of Pocahontas. Her descendants include several notable people, including First Ladies, Edith Wilson, Nancy Reagan,

Starting point is 00:12:04 and Letitia Tyler. Singer Wayne Newton, actor Edward Norton, and astronomer Percival lovel are also direct descendants. The mythical Pocahontas is largely a creation of later American storytelling, shaped by a healthy dose of romanticism, nationalism, and commercialism. In real life, she was perceived as a political bargaining chip, a tool, and a piece of propaganda, often more so than as an actual person. That reality has been ignored in exchange for an entertaining, yet highly, inaccurate story. The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel.

Starting point is 00:12:47 The associate producers are Austin Otkin and Cameron Kiefer. Research and writing for this episode was provided by Olivia Ash. My big thanks go to everyone who supports a show over on Patreon. Your support helps make this podcast possible. And I also want to remind everyone about the community groups on Facebook and Discord. This is where everything happens that's outside of the show. As always, if you leave a review on any major podcast app or in the above community groups, you too can have it read on the show.

Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - Pocahontas

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