The Tribal Warrior: Pocahontas Inc.

Pocahontas’ story has been changed throughout history. Her story has been subverted because people wanted to make it more interesting so that they could make more money and fame of off it. Townsend explains the choices that Pocahontas and her father made as well as the trajectory of her life by using other people’s accounts of her and how they perceived her. There were no documents recorded from Pocahontas.

It is said that there are many different versions to a story. There is one persons story, then there is an other person’s story, and then, there is the truth. “Our memories change each time they are recalled. What we recall is only a facsimile of things gone by.” Dobrin, Arthur. "Your Memory Isn't What You Think It Is." (online magazine). Psychology Today. July 16, 2013. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/am-i-right/201307/your-memory-isnt-what-you-think-it-is. Every time a story is told, it changes. From Disney movies to books, to what we tell our friends and colleagues. Sometimes the different sides to the story challenge the

The movie Pocahontas setting was when the British were trying to explore the new world and king James granted settlers exclusive rights to settle in Virginia.

As young children we are often misled to believe that the stories and movies we are exposed to are presumably based on factual history, but are in reality myths, keeping the truthful, important, and fair facts hidden. Amonute is an accurate example of learning the real events that occurred in a person’s life while the typical myth of Pocahontas saved an Englishmen from being killed by her father. In the beginning of the book we are briefly introduced to Pocahontas, the Powhatan people and the English colonists. As the book continues we follow Pocahontas when she is kidnapped, her married life, and her trip to London where she got sick because of foreign illnesses and died. Camilla Townsends “Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma” wants Pocahontas’ true story to unfold because she is worthy of respect for her bravery and sacrifice and because “everyone subverted her life to satisfy their own needs to believe that the Indians loved and admired them” (Townsend, pg. xi). I also believe that the author was trying to argue that even though the Englishmen believed that the Native Americans were uncivilized and lived like savages, that instead they were wise people.

Pocahontas was born in 1595, with the given name of Matoaka and later got the nickname Pocahontas. She has been known as the favorite daughter of the powerful Powhatan Chief but she is also famous in history for contributing greatly toward the survival of the Jamestown colony. When the English colonists settled in Jamestown in 1607, there became tension between the Colonists and the Powhatan Indians. During the 1600s, the leader of the Colonists, Captain John Smith was caught by the Powhatan’s men. It has been said that Pocahontas saved Smith’s life and has had great influence on early relationships between the colonists and Indians. During Pocahontas’s life, she has faced many tragedies but triumphs have also played a role in her time.

The Indian attackers took many colonists while the war was raging on, including Rowlandson and her loved ones. Being a Puritan woman, Rowlandson stated that the unfamiliar environment stripped her from her culture and femininity. The role of motherhood and femininity occurs several times throughout her account as she focuses on her beloved children. When her young child dies, Rowlandson felt a great amount of motherly distress. The death of her child is only one factor that makes Rowlandson loathe Native Americans and their culture. They were not Christian, which made them of little worth to

In Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma, Camilla Townsend depicts the events that happened during the seventeenth century time period. The central focus point is veered around Pocahontas. The book is shown as a biography of her life and the horrific times she experienced. The author, Camilla Townsend, was born in New York City and currently a history professor at Rutgers University. She is the recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship for Humanities Award.

Pocahontas was mainly known for saving the life of John Smith. John Smith and his men arrived in Virginia and ran into the Tsenacommacah Indians many times. In 1607, a Native American hunting party captured Smith and took him back to Powhatan’s home. In Smith’s journal, he stated that Pocahontas was doing everything in her power to stop the execution and even almost sacrificed her own life to save Smith. By committing such a brave and

The colony had many problems, one of them were the Powhatan Tribe, who were not quite friendly with the colony. Another problem was the supply of food. They were running out of food. John Smith took action. He went to the Powhatan Tribe with caution, hoping to be able to trade for food. This was when Pocahontas played a big role in the colony’s survival. If it weren’t for her, the trade might’ve not been successful. She didn’t just help with the trade, but because of her curiosity of the

In “The True Story of Pocahontas,” the authors, Dr. Linwood “Little Bear” Custalow and Angela L. Daniel “Silver Star,” accurately describe the true story of Pocahontas. Many people to this day do not know her true life, only the stories broadcasted on television. Throughout chapter four, the authors describe the rocky relationship between John Smith and his Englishmen and the Powhatan people.

Townsend also argues for the unfathomability of John Smith and Pocahontas’ relationship by referencing the customs of Powhatan culture. Not only is Pocahontas a prepubescent ten-year-old girl, but the “head-bashing” ceremony John Smith writes about is reserved for serious criminal offenses within the Powhatan community; “It was impossible to believe that Powhatan ever intended to ‘brain’ John Smith. That was a punishment reserved for criminals; it was never meted out to captured warriors of enemy peoples. Captured warriors were ceremonially tortured, allowing them an opportunity to prove themselves before dying; it would later happen to other Englishmen.” (55). Townsend uses Helen Rountree’s analysis of surrounding Algonkian tribes’ manners

Pocahontas was a Native American woman. She as a big part in American’s history. Pocahontas assisted helping the English colony thrive through the hard time. Pocahontas is most known for saving John smith life and falling in love with him. It didn’t work out due to John smith getting hurt and had to be taken back to is him land. During Pocahontas younger years as a kid she was daughter of the Powhatan which means the leader of alliance. Her mother is unknown. She Also had Four brother and two sister. After her and John smith love life got done. But her life did do good because she was held captivity for quite some time. During her captivity she learned so English word and begin her new life as a christian. She then changed her named to

John Smith and Pocahontas did, in fact, meet and they did develop a kindly relationship. It is said that his love for her is what helped her negotiate the release of two Indian prisoners that John Smith had caught and he stated that “not only for feature, countenance, and proportion,” she “much exceeded any of the rest of Powhatan's people.” [4] It

The “Pocahontas Myth” this story I believe is was seem to have some sort of accuracy. It takes up some of the details that were not said in the “Generall History of Virginia”. For example in the Pocahontas myth they stated how Pocahontas was a nickname that stood for “ meaning "the naughty one" or "spoiled child".” Throughout the stories that have been told she was portrayed as the free spirited one or curious about life. Not only does the myth tells us about who pocahontas was it told her us more about her life and what went on after the “capture” of John smith.

The Native Americans capture John Smith after their village discovers warrior Kocoum is killed by Smith, and Pocahontas’ father sentences him to death. This is where the traditional “damsel in distress” role is reversed in this movie. Pocahontas never needs anything from John, and she ends up the “hero” in the film. This portrayal of women challenges the stereotypes that are usually