Chief Powhatan
Chief Powhatan was a the chief of the Powhatan tribe (located near the York River), you may be able to tell from his name. Since he was the major chief in that area, he had many wives and daughters. Out of all his daughters, his daughter, Pocahontas was his favorite. Thus, she had to do a lot less work than her other sisters. Instead of a sitting on a throne, Powhatan sat on around 11 mats to show that he was the head of the tribe. When the English came, Powhatan had wanted to execute the Englishmen John Smith. Before the execution, though, Pocahontas ran out and saved John Smith. After this, there was a ritual and John was then dubbed a low-rank chief in the tribe. He was also now Powhatan’s “son” and Pocahontas’s “brother.” Powhatan had never seen a gun before in his life, so when first saw an Englishmen use one, he was amazed. He wanted some for himself. He tried to trade corn with the English for guns, but they always refused the trade. They thought it would be very stupid to give guns to someone they may go to war with someday. They also had plenty of food at the time. A couple months after Powhatan’s offer, the English started to run low on food. Suddenly the trade did not seem so bad. They willingly traded two muskets for only three bushels of corn. Through this type of trading, after about three to four months, Powhatan had seven muskets, and some English prisoners. He had what he wanted: guns and the upper hand with the English. Until the English kidnapped Pocahontas and he did not see her for over a year. Powhatan finally made peace with the English in 1614. Powhatan died in 1618/1619, the exact date is unknown.
English Arrival
The English arrived on Powhatan’s land in 1607. The captain of the ship that was first to come in was Christopher Newport. His men admired his name, Christopher, because it made him like Christopher Columbus. Pocahontas’s people spread many rumors about the English before they met them. One of the rumors was that they were magical people, with unheard of weapons. When one of the Englishmen, John Smith, arrived in Pocahontas’s hometown of Werowocomoco she was impressed with him. He was very confident with the intimidating Indians. He was also very bold with his actions. Powhatan was suspicious of the English people. He wonder why they came, and if they wanted his land or his people John Smith and Pocahontas’s Relationship
When John Smith first saw Pocahontas he was interested. She had such a lively spirit among some of the serious-faced Indians. John had become Pocahontas’s brother when she saved him from being executed by her father. Pocahontas served as a messenger between Powhatan, John Smith, and all the Englishmen overall. Whenever Pocahontas would deliver a message John would give her a present. Usually, the present was some type of colorful, articulate glass bead that John had gotten in England. Only did he know that these were very cheap to buy and were common in England. To Pocahontas they were very amazing and looked expensive. Sometimes, as a special present John would give Pocahontas copper kettles. Which were extremely rare to where she lived and they also served a purpose, you could cook with them. When Pocahontas heard that her people were planning a surprise attack on the English, she saved John Smith once again. Hours before the attack came, Pocahontas sneaked through the woods and told the English of the planned attack. The English then, got their weapons ready for battle. The Indians, though, must have heard the English were ready for them, because the attack never came. John soon got annoyed with the way things were going in Jamestown (their settlement), so he left for England. The Indians never saw him leave, so they thought he had been killed. The English never told them any different. When Pocahontas heard this news she was very sad, John was her “brother,” and she had loved him.
Pocahontas’s Kidnap
The English knew the best way to get Powhatan to give up everything he had was to take what was closest to him, Pocahontas. They thought Powhatan would willingly pay the ransom they had in mind to get Pocahontas back. The ransom and/or what Powhatan had to give back to the English was: their seven muskets that Powhatan had gotten from a trade, all Powhatan’s English prisoners, and food/crops, like corn. The English’s first step in kidnapping Pocahontas was to hire (bribe) the Indian man Japizaws. Japizaws was known for making deals with the English so he could get “precious items,” of theirs. Japizaws was to trick Pocahontas into getting on an English ship. With the help of his wife, Japizaws got Pocahontas to get on the boat by saying it was deserted. At first, Pocahontas refused to join them on the ship. Then Japizaws wife cried, yelled, and screamed that she really wanted to go on an English ship, to make her stop Pocahontas went on. Once Pocahontas was on the boat she ate a nice breakfast with the captain, who she found out was actually on the boat. The captain, Japizaws, and his wife convinced her to take a rest after her meal on the ship. Pocahontas quickly fell asleep. That was Japizaws and his wife’s cue to sneak off the boat with their reward of a copper kettle and a few other things. The boat then took off, with Pocahontas in it. And when Pocahontas woke up, she was in Jamestown. All by herself, the only Indian there.
Captivity
Once Pocahontas was in Jamestown, messengers were quickly sent out to Powhatan to tell him of the kidnapping and ransom. Powhatan was very unhappy about the ransom, he wanted to keep his guns! He refused to pay the ransom and planned to secretly take Pocahontas back from the English. Pocahontas herself was sure that she would not be captive for long. For her father cared for her very much. The English hoped to convert Pocahontas to a Christian during her captivity, because converting heathens was very important to them. Shortly after Pocahontas arrived in Jamestown, she was transferred to Rock Hall, a one-acre parsonage, because it was more protected. There was also better religious teachers there. At Rock Hall Pocahontas had many religious teachings with Alexander Whitaker, a teacher/priest. Pocahontas had at least three teachings a day, with many other small talks. The teachings were not really changing Pocahontas though, because she never really listened to them. She was still just waiting for Powhatan to come save her. After around five to seven months in captivity, Pocahontas got lonely. Suddenly, to her, the Christian words were comforting, and she started to listen and comprehend them. She also met someone at church that made her feel less lonely, and his name was John Rolfe.
John Rolfe’s Interest
John Rolfe was a 28 year-old widower who was a survivor of the Bermuda Shipwreck. He was also very interested in making money off of tobacco fields, that he hoped to plant near where Pocahontas was captive. It turns out he made a tobacco plantation in Henrico, which is another English settlement near the York River. He met Pocahontas at church. Since he was so lonely, due to the loss of his wife and daughter in the same year, he started to check in on her frequently. He thought she was very “strange” because she was foreign and not completely Christian, but he had fallen in love with her anyways. Pocahontas studied religion very hard to impress John, because she knew converted to Christianity he would marry her. Soon, Pocahontas could answer every religious question the reverend asked. There was then a ceremony where she denounced Okee, the Indian “God,” and officially was converted to Christianity. After this, John convinced himself to marry Pocahontas. He thought the English would like that he encouraged the conversion. John proposed in 1613. The wedding was on April 5, 1614, in a Jamestown church. Pocahontas wore a long flowing dress. Powhatan, at this time, was ready to make peace, and brought gifts of freshwater pearls and land. In a way, people said, Pocahontas had brought peace to Virginia. About one year after the marriage, Pocahontas gave birth to her first, and only, son, Thomas.
England
Pocahontas arrived in England in 1616, with Matachama, Tomococo, and Thomas Dale’s English party. People in England had heard about Pocahontas. They were very happy about John and her marriage. The English were also amazed at the conversion and thought she brought peace to Virginia. England really surprised Pocahontas, though, it was very loud and full of carriages and large buildings. It was very different from where she had grown up. Pocahontas found out that John Smith was alive in England, which made her very happy, and had just returned from exploring. Soon after Pocahontas arrived in England, Lady de La Warre took charge of her. She made sure she had proper clothes and good manners. She also took Pocahontas around to see the many kings and queens that admired her. After a while, though, England started to get old. The streets smelled, the air was dirty, the rivers were polluted and there were crazy people everywhere. Pocahontas just wanted to go home. Pocahontas also started to feel very sick all the time. During the trip to Virginia that the family went on in 1617/1618 (Pocahontas, John R., and Thomas), Pocahontas felt so sick she made them pull the boat onto the shores of Gravesend. She died there.
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