Books for adults about Pocahontas, Jamestown and the Powhatan Indians
Since 2016, I have read many books about Pocahontas and Jamestown, and I've posted commentary on them here. I don't suppose that my list is complete, but I continue to add to it when I can. And yes, I did read all* the titles on this page in roughly the order they're presented here. I hope other fans of the Pocahontas story will find what they're looking for and continue to enjoy her fascinating history. I also hope we can keep facts separated from fiction.
I am not linking these books to any particular book seller. Please support your local bookstore if you still have one! For children's books on this topic, check out my Books for Children page.
For those who don't care to read every review below, I will make a few recommendations. The following books are good general overviews of the Jamestown story (also in the order I read them):
- Love and Hate in Jamestown (2003) / Price - reads like a novel; puts a little too much faith in the words of John Smith
- Pocahontas, Powhatan, Opechancanough: Three Indian Lives Changed by Jamestown (2005) / Rountree - a quirky telling; Powhatan friendly; anthropology for dummies
- Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma (2004) / Townsend - Pocahontas centered; Powhatan friendly
- Savage Kingdom (2007) / Woolley - well-written with more focus on English back-story; a little longer than others
- A Land as God Made It (2005) / Horn - a balanced, readable account
- Pocahontas and the English Boys (2019) / Kupperman - focus on the boys used as intermediaries between English and Powhatans
- Lethal Encounters (2011) / Cave - inexplicably overlooked by the reading public; a more Indian-centered telling
*** Marooned (2018) / Joseph Kelly, - interesting but strangely organized; many tangents, but also many discoveries
* At the bottom of this page is a link to Fred Fausz's review of some of the books that appear on this page along with my commentary on his opinions.
* There is one reference book (Horn; 2007) on the list which I didn't read cover to cover.
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Pocahontas: Her Life & Legend by William M.S. Rasmussen / Robert S. Tilton (1994) Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, Virginia [about $8.00] ISBN 0945015097 This publication is more of a high quality pamphlet than a book and was published for a special exhibition by the Virginia Historical Society. It offers full color illustrations of the famous artwork that has been created over the years to depict the Pocahontas legend. About half the book (25 pages) is devoted to the history of Pocahontas, and the rest (20 pages) details her legend and art. Robert S. Tilton was co-author, and you sense that this is an abridged version of Pocahontas: The Evolution of an American Narrative listed below. If you only need a brief introduction to Pocahontas, this may be it. The illustrations are fantastic! However, don't look to this book for in-depth information about the Powhatan Indians, as they only appear in passing (2 pages). |
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Pocahontas: The Evolution of an American Narrative
by Robert S. Tilton (1994) Cambridge University Press ISBN-10: 0521469597 ISBN-13: 978-0521469593 This book, an overlooked gem, is not so much about Pocahontas, but about her legend, and how it has evolved over time. We know little about Pocahontas in actuality, but thanks to this book, we know a lot about why she has been a symbol for numerous agendas and why her story will likely continue to be told in ever-changing ways. This is a history of the literature, artwork and public policy issues that have been created to exploit her controversial but compelling story. The book also helps us understand why the story of John Smith has evolved over the years, from hero, to self-promoting rogue, to complex but arguable person of merit. Although this book is not new, it suggests many pathways for research into post-colonial American history, and it's really an eye-opener into how complex the story has become. |
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Love & Hate in Jamestown; John Smith, Pocahontas and the Start of a New Nation
by David A. Price (2003) Vintage Books, a division of Random House, Inc. New York ISBN-9781400031726 Price is a journalist, which shows in his skillful writing. This book is engrossing and offers a complete and highly readable summary of the Jamestown story. It is heavily centered on John Smith, and for the most part accepts Smith's writings as essentially true. However, the book is well-researched and while he may have taken Smith's side a little too casually, he seems to have considered the alternatives. The Powhatan Indians come off a bit short-changed in this account, rather like collateral damage in a war-time news article, but Price doesn't shy from detailing the atrocities of the English. An account of the shipwreck in Bermuda that befell a supply ship heading to Jamestown, and which bore John Rolfe as a passenger, is quite fascinating. This book is highly recommended if you're OK with a Eurocentric account. Making this book a pair with Rountree's Pocahontas, Powhatan & Opechancanough or Townsend's Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma (see below) will provide a more balanced understanding. _____ Just finished this one a second time (March 21, 2018), and I really admire its readability. I took notes on many small issues, and I have questions for Price, but I admire how well he presents the story without too much speculation. I'll present my issues on a separate page. Fred Fausz (see below) calls this book a 'soap opera,' but I really reject that description. I guess Price is being punished for writing a book that we might actually want to read. |
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Pocahontas, Powhatan, Opechancanough: Three Indian Lives Changed by Jamestown
by Helen C. Rountree (2005) University of Virginia Press ISBN-9780813925967 I like this book and recommend it as a companion to the Price book above. It's by Helen Rountree, an anthropologist and specialist in the Powhatan Indians. It tries to tell the Jamestown story from the Powhatan point of view, tapping into what Rountree knows of their culture and history, Most of the characters, stories and dates are known only through English settlers' writing, and this book takes those people and incidents and wraps them in a Powhatan sensibility. As such, we have to consider this account a possible version of the story written through the lens of an anthropologist. Nevertheless, by looking at both sides of events, we can come away with a good (but slightly ambiguous) understanding of the major players at Jamestown in the early 1600s. Some parts of this book run a little slow, especially when Rountree gets into the details of Powhatan culture and traditions, However, it's fascinating to consider the likely Powhatan motivations, which no doubt differed from the those of the English. I especially like Rountree's explanation of how the Indians" and settlers' views on land and resource use led to conflict. While this book is certainly a quirky account, the viewpoints expressed here add to our understanding. Speculation is involved, but there are no absurd declarations of fantasy like we'll see in some other books further down on this list.. |
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Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma
by Camilla Townsend (2004) Hill and Wang, New York ISBN-9780809077380 I met Rutgers history professor Camilla Townsend at the "Pocahontas and After" conference in London in March of 2017. She's a delightful person and a great presenter. Most of all, she was very generous with her time and talked to me about my research interest, for which I am grateful. I was extremely nervous prior to my presentation, and consulting with her beforehand was a huge help. Like Rountree's P, P & O, this book attempts to present more of the Powhatan side of the story, though I would say Townsend offers a quicker and livelier read. The book has a somewhat feminist stance, and as such, English heroes are pretty much absent. That makes it a nice pairing with either the Price or Woolley books for a balanced understanding. There's a lot to be said about this book, and I need to do it justice, so I will devote a page to it sometime soon. For now, I'll quote Michelle LeMaster's review from The William and Mary Quarterly, Oct. 2005: "Overall Townsend has written an engaging and highly credible biography. ... It explodes the myths of America's founding and offers an interesting overview of the first year's of Jamestown's existence." LeMaster, p. 776 Some reviews of Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma:
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Pocahontas: Medicine Woman Spy Entrepreneur Diplomat
by Paula Gunn Allen (2003)
HarperOne, an Imprint of Harper Collins Publishers
ISBN-9780060730604
A blurb on the front cover by mystery author Tony Hillerman states, "A gripping account ...". Oh, my. Whatever you can say about this book, it's certainly not that. The organization of this book is creatively unapparent, bouncing from topic to topic, myth to history, theory to fact, and tribe to tribe (Gunn Allen has some Pueblo heritage). Nevertheless, I did learn some things. I only wish it was a little more 'gripping,' as I found it to be a slog in many places. Also, I'm not a very 'spiritual' person, which makes me a bad fit for this one.
The book (wisely) begins with a disclaimer;
"Pocahontas, like her people, can never be known in terms of "facts," bereft of the spiritual tradition that defined her and her people, or understood outside the spirit-centered world they inhabited. A biography of Pocahontas must tell her life in terms of the myths, the spirits, the supernaturals, and the worldview that informed her actions and character. ... In this mode, the sacred narratives, ceremonial occasions, daily concepts and assumptions, and interactions with the other world are included as a matter of course." p. 2
Of course, we must take it as a given that the (not-Powhatan) Gunn Allen is privy to the the "daily concepts and assumptions" of the Powhatan Indians from 400 years ago. If you're game to do that, and you're OK with the mixing of facts, myths and random shower thoughts, than this book will take you on a unique, new, spiritual journey and add to the evolving narrative of Pocahontas.
I could comment on this book forever (and maybe someday I'll devote a webpage to it), but for now, I'll just list a few things I liked, and a few theories/ideas/facts from this book that are highly questionable.
Liked/interesting:
Questionable:
Simply wrong:
by Paula Gunn Allen (2003)
HarperOne, an Imprint of Harper Collins Publishers
ISBN-9780060730604
A blurb on the front cover by mystery author Tony Hillerman states, "A gripping account ...". Oh, my. Whatever you can say about this book, it's certainly not that. The organization of this book is creatively unapparent, bouncing from topic to topic, myth to history, theory to fact, and tribe to tribe (Gunn Allen has some Pueblo heritage). Nevertheless, I did learn some things. I only wish it was a little more 'gripping,' as I found it to be a slog in many places. Also, I'm not a very 'spiritual' person, which makes me a bad fit for this one.
The book (wisely) begins with a disclaimer;
"Pocahontas, like her people, can never be known in terms of "facts," bereft of the spiritual tradition that defined her and her people, or understood outside the spirit-centered world they inhabited. A biography of Pocahontas must tell her life in terms of the myths, the spirits, the supernaturals, and the worldview that informed her actions and character. ... In this mode, the sacred narratives, ceremonial occasions, daily concepts and assumptions, and interactions with the other world are included as a matter of course." p. 2
Of course, we must take it as a given that the (not-Powhatan) Gunn Allen is privy to the the "daily concepts and assumptions" of the Powhatan Indians from 400 years ago. If you're game to do that, and you're OK with the mixing of facts, myths and random shower thoughts, than this book will take you on a unique, new, spiritual journey and add to the evolving narrative of Pocahontas.
I could comment on this book forever (and maybe someday I'll devote a webpage to it), but for now, I'll just list a few things I liked, and a few theories/ideas/facts from this book that are highly questionable.
Liked/interesting:
- account of Malinalli (La Malinche), the Native Mexican woman who assisted Cortes in his conquest of the Aztec Empire
- discussion of abduction narratives in the Oral Tradition
- theories/speculation about Pocahontas's motivation for cooperating with the English
- story about Samuel Collier, a contemporary of Pocahontas, who was a boy at Jamestown when she was a child and who survived her by 5 years, only to die in a shooting accident in England in 1622.
- speculation on Pocahontas's state of mind as she viewed the starving time settlers in Jamestown.
- description of Thomas Dale, portraying him as exceedingly harsh.
- speculation on Rolfe's motivations for marrying Pocahontas
- discussion of the role of tobacco in history and in Rolfe's life
- discussion of Pocahontas's conversation with John Smith in England
Questionable:
- We can guess Pocahontas's 'Dream Vision' retroactively, because we know how her life story transpired. We can then marvel at how accurate her 'Dream Vision' turned out to be!
- Pocahontas orchestrated her own abduction by Argall.
- Rolfe's possession of sacred tobacco seeds may have been the cause of his shipwreck in Bermuda and the loss of his wife and child
- Powhatan incantations may have led to the success of Rolfe's tobacco plants and changed the course of history
- Because Pocahontas had 4 names, we can be assured of her high status as a Medicine Woman.
- Pocahontas may have participated in a kind of seance to know English spirits, so she could view them like we watch TV
- The interpretation of the feather fan in the portraits of Pocahontas. Gunn Allen thinks it was highly significant and a reference to Pocahontas's Powhatan culture, when, in fact, many 16th & 17th Century European women were portrayed holding such a fan.
- Pocahontas may have been poisoned. This may be the first ever reference to this theory, though in the book, it is attributed to Jack D. Forbes, the Native American writer and political activist.
Simply wrong:
- Gunn Allen's facts on the Pocahontas portraits. Gunn Allen seems to think the oil painting (on the cover of this book?) was the original, and Simon van de Passe made an engraving of it, while in fact, it was the engraving that came first, and painters later copied it. She also says Pocahontas and Thomas sat for a portrait together while visiting Brentford shortly before her death. She is apparently referring to the Sedgeford Hall Portrait, which was confirmed in 2010 to not be of Pocahontas at all.
- See the Fausz comment below re. her characterization of the English deaths during the 1622 massacre.
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Powhatan's World and Colonial Virginia: A Conflict of Cultures
by Frederic W. Gleach (1997) University of Nebraska Press ISBN-9780803270916 This is one of the really essential books on Powhatan history. Though more streamlined than Rountree's volumes, it covers much of the same ground as Rountree's The Powhatan Indians of Virginia (1989) and Pocahontas's People (1996). Gleach may have wanted to provide a corrective to Rountree, as they differ on a few points. For example, he believes Rountree undervalues Powhatan's power to rule the Powhatan Indians (p.29), and he-somewhat surprisingly-is more apt to accept John Smith's story of his rescue by Pocahontas.(p. 109, p. 117). Pocahontas, by the way, is hardly mentioned in this book, and the early years of the Jamestown colony, along with Smith's activities, only take up a couple of chapters. Gleach spends more time setting up the *conflict of cultures* by summarizing the opposing cultural backgrounds of the Powhatans and the English in detail. He also devotes a lot of space to the attacks on the English of 1622 and 1644 and the aftermath. By doing so, Gleach is able to cover the whole 17th Century, showing the fall of Powhatan power in the region during that time. I really like this book for being a general overview of the era while providing essential details on how the two sides likely saw each other. Gleach pretty much stuck to the facts as we know them and doesn't spend a lot of time speculating on issues that are unknowable. I don't feel qualified to give this book substantial criticism, but as always, I will nitpick. First, I think he did us no favors by assigning a special meaning to 'coup' when indicating the synchronized Powhatan attacks on the colonists in 1622 and 1644. Yes, 'massacre' and 'uprising' are both problematic, but it's hard to separate the normal meaning of coup from Gleach's special coinage. Next, I'm sort of surprised at his defense of Smith's rescue story, which puts him more or less in the Lemay camp (see below). By way of explanation, he cites Clara Sue Kidwell (1992) for her reference to Pocahontas as a cultural mediator. Finally, and this is really a nitpick, he writes of the 1622 attack that "... it seems clear that the Powhatans' goal was not to remove the English but rather to confine them in a small territory ... and demonstrate [their] superiority over the English." p. 158. I don't have enough expertise to disagree, but to say that something "seems clear" does not inspire confidence in this claim. Of course, if he had said "it is clear", then he would have been overstating the facts. Writing is tough! |
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Did Pocahontas Save Captain John Smith?
by J. A. Leo Lemay University of Georgia Press (2010) ISBN-9780820336282 Lemay claims that there is "overwhelming evidence" in John Smith's own writings that he was, in fact, saved by Pocahontas. Sorry, Mr. Lemay, but we're not quite with you on that point. However, after reading this book, one might feel somewhat more inclined to give Smith some benefit of the doubt, at least enough to say that his rescue by Pocahontas can't be ruled out. This book offers some reasonably good arguments in support of John Smith, but be forewarned that this book is for diehard fans of the John Smith/Pocahontas story, and not for the casual reader. It's not exactly scintillating, and it appears not to have swayed many of the avowed John Smith doubters. The book's strong point is its summary of previous writings impacting the debate on the rescue. There's also a decent explanation of details surrounding the Queen Anne letter of 1616. (More about this book on the Controversies / Rescue page.) ___________ Summary of Lemay's argument by Stan Birchfield, March 3, 1998 |
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The True Story of Pocahontas
by Dr. Linwood Custalow and Angela L. Daniel Fulcrum Publishing (2007) ISBN-9781555916329 A book to avoid if you're trying to learn factual information about Pocahontas. However, if you'd like to know what a Native American (Custalow) and his non-Powhatan protégé think happened 400 years ago, this book provides a different and startling point of view. One of my pet peeves is that some recent researchers, who (reasonably enough) want a Native American perspective on Pocahontas, cite this book as if it were an actual reference source of 1600s era information. In fact, it's mainly fiction and speculation conjured up by two authors unhappy with how Pocahontas has been portrayed in books and movies. That's not only my opinion, but essentially what I've been told by both Mattaponi and Pamunkey elders. Consider Custalow a Native American asserting his equal right to muddy the waters surrounding Pocahontas. Much more on this topic here. |
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First People: The Early Indians of Virginia
by Keith Egloff & Deborah Woodward University of Virginia Press (1992, 2006) ISBN-9780813925486 This book is likely aimed at junior high and high school students who are assigned reports on the Virginia Indians, but I'll include it both here and on the Books for Children page. It's a reference book and not exactly a page-turner, but it contains adequate, simply written information on the indigenous populations of Virginia from 15,000 years ago to the present day. The chapter on European Contact has a 9-page summary of the Jamestown/Powhatan story. The chapter on Virginia Indians Today records semi-current information about each of the 8 tribes that remain. At 96 pages, including the lists and resources at the end, it's a fast read. |
Savage Kingdom: The True Story of Jamestown, 1607, and the Settlement of America
by Benjamin Woolley (2007)
Harper Perennial
ISBN-9780060090579
This book covers much of the same ground as Love & Hate in Jamestown (see above), though it's much longer (468 pages vs 305 pages for Love & Hate). Woolley spends more time on the intrigues and machinations of the Europeans, i.e., the Virginia Company members, King James and his advisors, and the people with access to King Phillip in Spain. The book is absorbing and reads most like a novel when describing the actions of the Jamestown settlers and the Powhatan Indians, and it slows down somewhat when focused on the behind the scenes stuff. However, the background information on the Virginia Company is relevant to a complete understanding of the Jamestown story, and is what makes this book stand out among the numerous books on Jamestown. The casual reader should go with Love & Hate, as it's a quicker, more engrossing read, while people interested in the events in England may want to choose Savage Kingdom. To note a specific difference from the Price book, Woolley chooses to show a vague skepticism of John Smith's account of his captivity at Werowocomoco by allowing Smith to tell the story himself and setting the type in gray print, as if to depict Smith's story as being a bit murky. (I may have misunderstood this device in my first reading; now on my second in March 2019). Price, on the other hand, stands fully behind Smith's account.
One strange thing about the Woolley book is the chapter entitled 'The Astrologer.' This short chapter (6 pages) is barely relevant to the Jamestown story and could easily have been omitted. One gets the impression that Woolley, while researching, stumbled on this tangential story of how some Londoners became aware that the 'Sea Venture' (the ship carrying Sir Thomas Gates, Christopher Newport, John Rolfe and William Strachey) had gone missing. Woolley must have concluded that if he didn't publish these details in Savage Kingdom, they would never have seen the light of day.
A point stated near the end of the book struck me as significant. Writing of the consequences of the massacre of 1622, Woolley wrote, "The defining moment of the colonists' act of possession was the 'Indian massacre'. Through their response to it, they crafted and honed their American identity." What he means is that up until the massacre of 1622, the settlers had been inconsistent in their dealings with the Indians, alternately negotiating and committing acts of violence, but somehow mindful that they shared the land. After the massacre, however, the settlers abandoned all thought of coexistence and devoted themselves to Indian removal. This is obviously not a good thing, but it seems to accurately describe what occurred.
by Benjamin Woolley (2007)
Harper Perennial
ISBN-9780060090579
This book covers much of the same ground as Love & Hate in Jamestown (see above), though it's much longer (468 pages vs 305 pages for Love & Hate). Woolley spends more time on the intrigues and machinations of the Europeans, i.e., the Virginia Company members, King James and his advisors, and the people with access to King Phillip in Spain. The book is absorbing and reads most like a novel when describing the actions of the Jamestown settlers and the Powhatan Indians, and it slows down somewhat when focused on the behind the scenes stuff. However, the background information on the Virginia Company is relevant to a complete understanding of the Jamestown story, and is what makes this book stand out among the numerous books on Jamestown. The casual reader should go with Love & Hate, as it's a quicker, more engrossing read, while people interested in the events in England may want to choose Savage Kingdom. To note a specific difference from the Price book, Woolley chooses to show a vague skepticism of John Smith's account of his captivity at Werowocomoco by allowing Smith to tell the story himself and setting the type in gray print, as if to depict Smith's story as being a bit murky. (I may have misunderstood this device in my first reading; now on my second in March 2019). Price, on the other hand, stands fully behind Smith's account.
One strange thing about the Woolley book is the chapter entitled 'The Astrologer.' This short chapter (6 pages) is barely relevant to the Jamestown story and could easily have been omitted. One gets the impression that Woolley, while researching, stumbled on this tangential story of how some Londoners became aware that the 'Sea Venture' (the ship carrying Sir Thomas Gates, Christopher Newport, John Rolfe and William Strachey) had gone missing. Woolley must have concluded that if he didn't publish these details in Savage Kingdom, they would never have seen the light of day.
A point stated near the end of the book struck me as significant. Writing of the consequences of the massacre of 1622, Woolley wrote, "The defining moment of the colonists' act of possession was the 'Indian massacre'. Through their response to it, they crafted and honed their American identity." What he means is that up until the massacre of 1622, the settlers had been inconsistent in their dealings with the Indians, alternately negotiating and committing acts of violence, but somehow mindful that they shared the land. After the massacre, however, the settlers abandoned all thought of coexistence and devoted themselves to Indian removal. This is obviously not a good thing, but it seems to accurately describe what occurred.
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The First Seventeen Years: Virginia 1607-1621
Charles E. Hatch, Jr. (1957) University of Virginia Press I bought this book on impulse at the Virginia Historical Society / Pusey Museum Shop and later realized it was available for free at Project Gutenberg (see below). It's of interest only to serous students of Jamestown with one major caveat: it's possibly the worst sourced book available on the topic of Jamestown. There's a bibliography that lists 22 titles of "Selected Readings." However, none of the book's content is footnoted and no explanation of sources is given. Scattered references are made to the musters of 1924 and 1925, which are presumably the sources of a lot of information in this book. But it's clear that no one can cite this book as a source, since it's own sources are so unclear. For example, the book says John Rolfe "appears to have lost his life in the Indian massacre" (p. 103), a detail not currently accepted as fact, but no source for this is given. To accept anything in this book would require massive double checking. On the other hand, there may be some threads of inquiry that could originate here. The book gives a very short summary of the Jamestown settlement, then devotes a few paragraphs to each of the plantations and settlements that sprang up around Jamestown in its early years. For me, the eye opening information here was to realize how many settlers were killed in Indian attacks at each settlement. That the settlers continued to persevere is kind of miraculous, but presumably the conditions in England were bad enough, or the propaganda good enough, to keep the flow of settlers coming. The Indians, on the other hand, are mainly mentioned as perpetrators of violence, as though the many settlements were benign. One can only imagine how many Indians were killed in revenge for each settler. And of course, we'll never know. Project Gutenberg download; The First Seventeen Years: Virginia 1607-1624 by Charles E. Hatch |
The Jamestown Project
Karen Ordahl Kupperman (2007)
The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press
ISBN-9780674030565
This book has a kind of "odds and ends related to Jamestown" feel to it. It differs from Love & Hate in Jamestown and Savage Kingdom (see above) by reducing the general content of those two books to three chapters, and then taking all the peripheral information that didn't make it into the Price, Woolley or Horn books and making a volume of leftovers. I don't actually mean this as a criticism, as what we don't need is just another version of the Price, Woolley, Horn model. Whereas those books read like novels, this one takes up a completely different topic in each chapter and deals with it in depth..
This book has a niche, but it's certainly not for the casual reader. I particularly liked Chapter 3 on The Indian Experience of the Atlantic, which summarizes almost every explorer/Indian contact prior to Jamestown as well as the stories of Indians being brought to Europe.
Topics dealt with in this book are:
Karen Ordahl Kupperman (2007)
The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press
ISBN-9780674030565
This book has a kind of "odds and ends related to Jamestown" feel to it. It differs from Love & Hate in Jamestown and Savage Kingdom (see above) by reducing the general content of those two books to three chapters, and then taking all the peripheral information that didn't make it into the Price, Woolley or Horn books and making a volume of leftovers. I don't actually mean this as a criticism, as what we don't need is just another version of the Price, Woolley, Horn model. Whereas those books read like novels, this one takes up a completely different topic in each chapter and deals with it in depth..
This book has a niche, but it's certainly not for the casual reader. I particularly liked Chapter 3 on The Indian Experience of the Atlantic, which summarizes almost every explorer/Indian contact prior to Jamestown as well as the stories of Indians being brought to Europe.
Topics dealt with in this book are:
- Chap 1 - Elizabethan England engages the world - the geopolitics of the 1500-1600s
- Chap 2 - Adventurers, Opportunities and Improvisation - how ventures in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, Africa and the Middle East informed the Jamestown project
- Chap 3 - The Indian experience of the Atlantic - European/Indian encounters prior to Jamestown
- Chap 4 - English hunger for the new - how world exploration sparked interest in new products and ideas from around the world
- Chap 5 - Grasping America's contours - Mapping and understanding the geography of the New World
- Chap 6 - A Welter of Colonial Projects - Ireland and other colonies
- Chap 7 - Jamestown's Uncertain Beginnings - the Jamestown colony's early years
- Chap 8 - The Project Revised - problems in Jamestown and how the Virginia Company attempted to deal with them
- Chap 9 - James Cittie in Virginia - how the tobacco industry rose and the end of the Virginia Company
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Jesus and Pocahontas: Gospel, Mission & National Myth
Howard A. Snyder (2015) Cascade Books ISBN-9781498202886 As one would expect from the title, this is a book for Christians who want to read the Pocahontas story with a Christian slant. The first half of the book provides a pretty good summary of her life, if you don't mind that Snyder's account is basically an aggregation of information from other, more in-depth books. The author takes bits and pieces from Townsend, Price and Rountree, sometimes quoting whole passages, and adds a few thoughts of his own (not unlike this website, though note that mine is free!). The book is pretty sympathetic to the Indians, so it's got that in its favor. However, there is a strong assumption that Pocahontas happily and voluntarily converted to Christianity and found Jesus. Unless you're an evangelical Christian, there's no particular reason why you would choose this book over Price, Woolley, Horn, Rountree or Townsend, all of which are far better. There's no new information, except for a chapter on what catechism she might have used. But if you're a Christian and a Pocahontas fan, and you want to be told that you share the love of Jesus, this book was written for you. (TBH, there's more to this book than my summary here suggests, but I need to re-read it to give it an adequate appraisal. Check back for more detailed positives and negatives.... someday.) _________________ An example observation by Snyder re. the connection he sees between John Rolfe and Jesus:
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A Land as God Made It
by James Horn (2005) Basic Books ISBN-9780465030958 This book covers the same ground as Love & Hate in Jamestown and Savage Kingdom, but it's my recent favorite, probably because it's the freshest in my mind. It's very readable and tells all the necessary details in a balanced way. I'd say Love & Hate has a slightly jazzier writing style, but A Land as God Made It has a more even-handed approach to John Smith. Right now, I would recommend a newcomer to the Pocahontas story to read A Land as God Made It and Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma (Townsend) as a pair for the most balanced understanding. Previously, I had recommended Love & Hate (Price) and P,,P & O by Rountree.(see above). They're all good though. At some point, I will have to look at Love & Hate, Savage Kingdom and A Land as God Made It carefully together and evaluate their pluses and minuses side by side.. _____ [3/29/18] I just reread David Price's Love & Hate in Jamestown (2003) and James Horn's A Land as God Made It (2005) back to back (apologies to Woolley for not yet getting to his similar book at this time). Both of these books are great summaries of the Jamestown story. The Price book has a more accessible writing style and is probably better for the casual reader, though the Horn book seems to become more engrossing as it progresses. The Horn book has a more balanced view of John Smith and doesn't make him the central character of the Jamestown story. It also provides more information overall. Roanoke is featured more in A Land as God Made It, as Horn has extensive background on that subject (see A Kingdom Strange (2010) below). Anyway, both books are great. |
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A Man Most Driven
by Peter Firstbrook (2014) A Oneworld Book ISBN-9781851689507 This is a biography of John Smith that includes much of the information from the Jamestown years, but also what happened before and after that part of his history. Smith's life was pretty incredible, and I mean that literally. There are many stories that are difficult to believe, and over 90% of them are known to us only because Smith wrote his own memoirs. On the other hand, his achievements were substantial, and he must be remembered for his significant influence on American history. Firstbrook makes much of the influence Machiavelli's writings had on Smith, and I had never heard that before (Edit: Actually, David Price mentions this as well in Love & Hate; 3/21/2018). The possible influence of Juan Ortiz's similar rescue story is not mentioned in this book, which rather surprises me. Firstbrook references some Powhatan information from Custalow and Daniel, which is generally a negative for me, as I regard those authors as hoaxers. This is a good book, but we are left wondering how much of John Smith's exploits really happened. Much is made by historians over the incredible stories that Smith told of being rescued by women at various critical moments in his life, the most famous being the Pocahontas rescue of 1607. For the first time I learned the details of the other rescues, and I find them at least plausible. I suppose it's a little odd that the only contact Smith had with women resulted in his being bailed out of trouble by them, but then, his life was a constellation of strange occurrences. (More here.) |
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Pocahontas's People: the Powhatan Indians of Virginia Through Four Centuries
by Helen C. Rountree (1990, hardcover; 1996, paperback)
University of Oklahoma Press; Norman Publishing
ISBN-9780806128498
This book is out of order on my reading list, as I actually tackled it much earlier, say around the time of the Townsend & Gunn-Allen books. However, at that time, I kind of raced through it, skipping some sections. It's really heavy with data, as Rountree did the tedious work of going through volumes of court documents, searching for any mention of Indians in the public records. This is more of a reference book, and only real students of the Powhatans will find it a worthwhile read. (Rountree even says in her preface that she wasn't aiming for an exciting read.) I'm reading it again (Feb. 2017) and am finding some interesting sections that I must have missed on my first try. I would say it's highly recommended for serious students of the Powhatan Indians, while everyone else should feel free to give it a miss.
As a minor digression, this is the book cited by a Powhatan Indian I spoke with at the Pamunkey Indian Museum who said that she was not a fan of Rountree. The reason is apparently what Rountree wrote regarding racial policies of the Powhatans as they applied to Blacks during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Powhatans were put in the sad position, by the white Virginia government, of having to repudiate any intermarriage (or contact) with Blacks or risk losing their Indian status. What Rountree reported on this era doesn't sit well with some Pamunkey Indians, even today.
Topics dealt with in this book:
Edit: Aug. 12, 2019
I had often wondered if Rountree's account was up to date, as it was published in 1996, some 23 years ago. I recently found on the Academia website a report by Buck Woodard and Danielle Moretti-Langholtz that contains more information, photos and up-to-date details on Powhatan tribes, but with a focus on the Mattaponi tribe. The report has a somewhat unwieldy title; "Mattaponi Indian Reservation, King William County, Virginia - Heritage Properties of Indian Town: The Mattaponi Indian Baptist Church, School, and Homes of Chiefly Lineages" (2017). I would regard this as the most complete and detailed history of the Mattaponi Indians. The report file says 'for distribution', so I will post it here unless I am asked to remove. it.
Authors are listed as: Buck Woodard, Ph.D., Co-Principal Investigator, Danielle Moretti-Langholtz, Ph.D., Co-Principal Investigator Contributors: Martha McCartney, Megan Victor, MA, Nicholas Belluzzo, MA
by Helen C. Rountree (1990, hardcover; 1996, paperback)
University of Oklahoma Press; Norman Publishing
ISBN-9780806128498
This book is out of order on my reading list, as I actually tackled it much earlier, say around the time of the Townsend & Gunn-Allen books. However, at that time, I kind of raced through it, skipping some sections. It's really heavy with data, as Rountree did the tedious work of going through volumes of court documents, searching for any mention of Indians in the public records. This is more of a reference book, and only real students of the Powhatans will find it a worthwhile read. (Rountree even says in her preface that she wasn't aiming for an exciting read.) I'm reading it again (Feb. 2017) and am finding some interesting sections that I must have missed on my first try. I would say it's highly recommended for serious students of the Powhatan Indians, while everyone else should feel free to give it a miss.
As a minor digression, this is the book cited by a Powhatan Indian I spoke with at the Pamunkey Indian Museum who said that she was not a fan of Rountree. The reason is apparently what Rountree wrote regarding racial policies of the Powhatans as they applied to Blacks during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Powhatans were put in the sad position, by the white Virginia government, of having to repudiate any intermarriage (or contact) with Blacks or risk losing their Indian status. What Rountree reported on this era doesn't sit well with some Pamunkey Indians, even today.
Topics dealt with in this book:
- Chap. 1 - Before the English came - pre-contact history of the Powhatans
- Chap 2 - Watching a struggling colony - the Jamestown colony story, from a more or less Powhatan point of view
- Chap 3 - Powhatan's last ineffectual years - a short chapter on the Peace of Pocahontas
- Chap 4 - Opechancanough's regime - events surrounding the attacks on the English of 1622 and 1644
- Chap 5 - A declining minority - what happened to each tribe, according to available records, in the late 1600s as the English expanded relentlessly
- Chap 6 - The Powhatans as minority persons - the culture of the Virginia Indians in the late 1600s; how they made their livings and interacted with the English as their numbers decreased
- Chap 7 - A century of culture change - the 1700s saw the Indians taking on more of the characteristics of the dominant culture; how they fit in (or didn't) as slavery expanded.
- Chap 8 - People who refused to vanish - in the 1800s, whites saw the Indians as "colored", while the Indians fought to maintain an Indian identity; the Civil War and reconstruction impact on Powhatans; the appearance of Frank Speck, who made records of Indians, which proved useful to them in subsequent years as they needed to prove their ancestry.
- Chap 9 - The racial integrity fight - In the early 1900s, Virginia law attempted to legislate the Indians out of existence by declaring them "colored" if they were suspected of having one drop of Negro blood. Virginia Indians in this era refused to be subject to the Jim Crow laws and found themselves in opposition to both whites and blacks.
- Chap 10 - The further rise of Powhatan activism - the last chapter deals with the 1970s and 80s when things seemed to get better for the tribes as they asserted their political and civil rights
Edit: Aug. 12, 2019
I had often wondered if Rountree's account was up to date, as it was published in 1996, some 23 years ago. I recently found on the Academia website a report by Buck Woodard and Danielle Moretti-Langholtz that contains more information, photos and up-to-date details on Powhatan tribes, but with a focus on the Mattaponi tribe. The report has a somewhat unwieldy title; "Mattaponi Indian Reservation, King William County, Virginia - Heritage Properties of Indian Town: The Mattaponi Indian Baptist Church, School, and Homes of Chiefly Lineages" (2017). I would regard this as the most complete and detailed history of the Mattaponi Indians. The report file says 'for distribution', so I will post it here unless I am asked to remove. it.
Authors are listed as: Buck Woodard, Ph.D., Co-Principal Investigator, Danielle Moretti-Langholtz, Ph.D., Co-Principal Investigator Contributors: Martha McCartney, Megan Victor, MA, Nicholas Belluzzo, MA
| mattaponi_research_report_for_distribution.pdf |
Malinche, Pocahontas, and Sacagawea: Indian Women as Cultural Intermediaries and National Symbols
by Rebecca K. Jager (2015)
University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN-9780806155944
This is one of three recent books that combine the stories of Pocahontas and Sacagawea, but it ups the ante by adding La Malinche to the mix. One wonders if this association is not a little forced, as the three women were separated by centuries and thousands of miles, and they came from very different tribes and interacted with different cultures under very different circumstances. However, Jager felt justified in bringing the three together for their similar roles as "cultural intermediaries." From a more cynical point of view, one might also consider the three to be a trio of "colonization enablers."
As I am mainly interested in Pocahontas, I found the sections devoted to her to be somewhat skimpy compared to other books, and the main point this book adds is the discussion of her as a "cultural intermediary" in keeping with the stated theme. There's also a section that summarizes the various written accounts of Pocahontas through the years, contrasting the various takes on her and her status as a historical symbol. This section includes Jager's thoughts on Price, Rountree, LeMay, Gunn Allen and Townsend, all writers I've included on this page. She apparently didn't see the need to review Woolley and Horn, but I imagine that's because they cover similar ground as Price. I'm appreciative (but also curious) that she didn't review the Custalow/Daniel book here, as she included it in her bibliography. I'm thinking she may have (like me) viewed that book as a hoax and a distraction. On the other hand, she missed a chance to debunk the book.
I'm a little surprised that Jager is fairly accepting of both the original Jamestown chroniclers' accounts and Gunn Allen's very imaginative assertion that Pocahontas was cultivated as a "Beloved Woman." It was kind of refreshing to see that the main male characters who appeared in the various accounts (Cortes, Smith, Lewis & Clark) were not automatically portrayed as villains. The book aims to elevate the women's role and significance without overly disparaging the men, so in that way, I think the book strikes a reasonable balance.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I reread this book recently (1/2/2018) and feel I should add some points to my summary above. It appears that Jager is trying to establish herself as being different from the established Pocahontas scholars. She feels that Rountree, a specialist in Powhatan anthropology, does not give enough attention to the spiritual side of Powhatan culture and treats Pocahontas as being largely insignificant. Jager especially dislikes Townsend's take on Pocahontas for "dismissing" the historical records of the original English chroniclers, for treating Pocahontas as a helpless victim of European villainy, and for not giving Native American explanations of events their due. Jager chooses to position herself somewhere between Paula Gunn Allen and David Price, providing a view of Pocahontas that reconciles colonizer and Native American viewpoints. To Jager, the colonizer accounts may have been flawed by cultural bias, but they were essentially correct on the historical facts. By giving the story Gunn Allen's sensibility, we can view Pocahontas as being a highly competent, well-trained, cultural intermediary who was performing admirably to ease the clash of opposing cultures until her life was tragically cut short by disease.
I suppose this treatment of Pocahontas should please some people for bringing Indian and colonizer viewpoints together and elevating Pocahontas's role in both. As I've said in my review of Gunn Allen, though, I am not very spiritual, and I am unconvinced that Pocahontas was a "Beloved Woman" whose "honed talents also endowed her with the ability to interpret the currents of spiritual forces and human interaction." (p. 102). I don't say that's categorically wrong, but I regard it as pure speculation and another example of someone fitting Pocahontas into their world view.
I could write about many statements from Jager, as I did with Gunn Allen, but I'll just go with one. In her chapter titled "Intimate Frontiers," Jager wrote;
Although I believe Jager is trying to represent the colonizer view here, it's not 100% clear that the view is not also her own. If I were to paraphrase this section from my own point of view, I'd say, "Colonizer records, which are massively incomplete, and which for historical reasons include none of the thoughts or words of the women themselves, or of their Native American contemporaries, are silent on how these three women would have wanted to live their lives if left completely to their own devices. However, we have no specific evidence they were physically harmed by the colonizers."
by Rebecca K. Jager (2015)
University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN-9780806155944
This is one of three recent books that combine the stories of Pocahontas and Sacagawea, but it ups the ante by adding La Malinche to the mix. One wonders if this association is not a little forced, as the three women were separated by centuries and thousands of miles, and they came from very different tribes and interacted with different cultures under very different circumstances. However, Jager felt justified in bringing the three together for their similar roles as "cultural intermediaries." From a more cynical point of view, one might also consider the three to be a trio of "colonization enablers."
As I am mainly interested in Pocahontas, I found the sections devoted to her to be somewhat skimpy compared to other books, and the main point this book adds is the discussion of her as a "cultural intermediary" in keeping with the stated theme. There's also a section that summarizes the various written accounts of Pocahontas through the years, contrasting the various takes on her and her status as a historical symbol. This section includes Jager's thoughts on Price, Rountree, LeMay, Gunn Allen and Townsend, all writers I've included on this page. She apparently didn't see the need to review Woolley and Horn, but I imagine that's because they cover similar ground as Price. I'm appreciative (but also curious) that she didn't review the Custalow/Daniel book here, as she included it in her bibliography. I'm thinking she may have (like me) viewed that book as a hoax and a distraction. On the other hand, she missed a chance to debunk the book.
I'm a little surprised that Jager is fairly accepting of both the original Jamestown chroniclers' accounts and Gunn Allen's very imaginative assertion that Pocahontas was cultivated as a "Beloved Woman." It was kind of refreshing to see that the main male characters who appeared in the various accounts (Cortes, Smith, Lewis & Clark) were not automatically portrayed as villains. The book aims to elevate the women's role and significance without overly disparaging the men, so in that way, I think the book strikes a reasonable balance.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I reread this book recently (1/2/2018) and feel I should add some points to my summary above. It appears that Jager is trying to establish herself as being different from the established Pocahontas scholars. She feels that Rountree, a specialist in Powhatan anthropology, does not give enough attention to the spiritual side of Powhatan culture and treats Pocahontas as being largely insignificant. Jager especially dislikes Townsend's take on Pocahontas for "dismissing" the historical records of the original English chroniclers, for treating Pocahontas as a helpless victim of European villainy, and for not giving Native American explanations of events their due. Jager chooses to position herself somewhere between Paula Gunn Allen and David Price, providing a view of Pocahontas that reconciles colonizer and Native American viewpoints. To Jager, the colonizer accounts may have been flawed by cultural bias, but they were essentially correct on the historical facts. By giving the story Gunn Allen's sensibility, we can view Pocahontas as being a highly competent, well-trained, cultural intermediary who was performing admirably to ease the clash of opposing cultures until her life was tragically cut short by disease.
I suppose this treatment of Pocahontas should please some people for bringing Indian and colonizer viewpoints together and elevating Pocahontas's role in both. As I've said in my review of Gunn Allen, though, I am not very spiritual, and I am unconvinced that Pocahontas was a "Beloved Woman" whose "honed talents also endowed her with the ability to interpret the currents of spiritual forces and human interaction." (p. 102). I don't say that's categorically wrong, but I regard it as pure speculation and another example of someone fitting Pocahontas into their world view.
I could write about many statements from Jager, as I did with Gunn Allen, but I'll just go with one. In her chapter titled "Intimate Frontiers," Jager wrote;
- "Historical records indicate that none of the women ever displayed resentment or a desire to escape. Each of them had opportunities to abandon the foreigners (Malinche in Cholula, Pocahontas when she warned Smith of danger in 1609, and Sacagawea among the Lemhis in the Rocky Mountains), but instead intervened and protected the newcomers during their most vulnerable moments. This was proof to the colonizing men that Malinche, Pocahontas, and Sacagawea preferred a life among them. The men valued the women's commitment and reciprocated with respect, protection, and kindness." p. 123
Although I believe Jager is trying to represent the colonizer view here, it's not 100% clear that the view is not also her own. If I were to paraphrase this section from my own point of view, I'd say, "Colonizer records, which are massively incomplete, and which for historical reasons include none of the thoughts or words of the women themselves, or of their Native American contemporaries, are silent on how these three women would have wanted to live their lives if left completely to their own devices. However, we have no specific evidence they were physically harmed by the colonizers."
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A Kingdom Strange: The Brief and Tragic History of the Lost Colony of Roanoke
by James Horn (2010) Basic Books ISBN-9780465024902 This book is an essential companion to A Land as God Made It, also by James Horn, though of the two, A Land as GMI is the more compelling read. A Kingdom Strange tells us about the Roanoke venture, which directly preceded Jamestown and informed the English on how to proceed. The main characters in this book are Sir Walter Raleigh and John White, artist and tragic colonial leader. There is no mention of Pocahontas in this book, though the Powhatans figure strongly in later chapters. Several Native Americans have prominent roles in this book, among them Manteo, Wanchese, and Machumps. all of whom experienced England firsthand. Manteo and Wanchese would have provided much valuable information to Native Americans on their return to America. Machumps, who appeared near the end of this book, is said to have told William Strachey what ultimately happened to the lost colony. Link to Washington Post book review by Greg Schneider (2010) |
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The Jamestown Adventure: Accounts of the Virginia Colony, 1605-1614
Edited by Ed Southern
John F. Blair, Publisher (2004)
ISBN-0895873028
[The Virtual Jamestown links were down temporarily in June 2018, but they seem to be working now. Apologies if they go down again.]
A compilation of some of the relevant colonization era writings on Jamestown, including some by Smith, Percy and Rolfe. Most of these writings are available for free online (see links below). This volume provides a short introduction to each writing by the author/editor. The presumed value of this book is that the writings are gathered in one place with comments by the author/editor. I imagine this is of value to a university teacher and students as assigned reading for a course on colonial era history.
Part I: "Come, boys, Virginia longs" 1605-1606
1. A Colonial Con Job, from Eastward Hoe, by George Chapman, Ben Johnson, and John Marston
[Eastward Hoe is available in its entirety at: archive.org.]
2. Instructions for the First Colonists, from "Instructions given by way of advice by us ..."
[Instructions available online at Virtual Jamestown]
Part II; "This new discovered Virginia" 1607-1608
3. The Arrival, from "Letter of the Council in Virginia to the Council in England, June 22, 1607."
[Letter of the Council available online at Encyclopedia Virginia]
4. "Never were Englishmen ... in more misery"
["Observations gathered out of a Discourse of the Plantation of the Southern Colony in Virginia by the English, 1608. Written by that Honorable Gentleman, Master George Percy" available online at Virtual Jamestown]
5. Politics on the Edge of the World
["A Discourse of Virginia" by Edward Maria Wingfield available online in its entirely at archive.org]
6. Captain Smith Saves the Day
["A True Relation of Such Occurrences and Accidents of Note as Hath Happened in Virginia ..". by John Smith, written to a friend in England; available online at Virtual Jamestown
7. Pocahontas Saves Captain Smith
["The General History of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles" short excerpt by John Smith; available in its entirety as the PDF download online linked here
8. Captain Smith's Voyage to Pamunkey
[Another short excerpt by John Smith from The General History, linked above.]
Part III. "The Starving Time" 1609-1610
9. "Unnecessary Inmates"
["A letter from the council and company of the honorable plantation in Virginia to the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Companies of London"' I haven't found this exact excerpt yet, though the Virginia Company records are available online.]
10. Nova Britannia
["Nova Britannia: Offering Most Excellent Fruits by Planting in Virginia ..." available in its entirely at archive.org]
11. A Spy in the Palace
[Copy of a deciphered letter of Don Pedro de Zuñiga to the King of Spain, dated Higuet [Highgate?], March 5, 1609 - she-philospher.com]
[Letters between King Philip III and Don Pedro de Zúñiga (1607–1608); Excerpts from letters by de Zuniga at Encyclopedia Virginia]
12. "He sold me to him for a town"
[Henry Spelman's Relation of Virginia] - available online at Virtual Jamestown
13. "That sharp prick of hunger"
[A Trewe Relacyon of the Pcedeinges and Ocurrentes of Momente wch have hapned in Virginia ...] by George Percy, available online at Virtual Jamestown
Also, excerpts of True Relation (Percy) on PDF with modernized spelling; from the National Humanities Center
Part IV. Beyond the Palisades, 1610-1613
14. Tempest and Redemption
[A true reportory of the wrack] by William Strachey, July 15, 1610; available online at the British Library
15. Laws Divine, Moral and Martial
[Articles, Laws, and Orders, Divine, Politic, and Martial for the Colony in Virginia, 1610] by Sir Thomas Dale; available online at TeachingAmericanHistory.org
16. Sir Thomas Dale and the First Four Towns
[A true discourse of the present estate of Virginia ...] June 18, 1614; by Ralph Hamor; available at Virtual Jamestown
17. A spy in Virginia
[Letter of Don Diego de Molina, 1613] available at Virtual Jamestown
Part V. The Peace of Pocahontas
18. The Capture of Pocahontas
[A true discourse of the present estate of Virginia ...] June 18, 1614; by Ralph Hamor; available at Virtual Jamestown
First line (for document search); [The general letters upon my knowledge]
19. The Love Letter of John Rolfe
[A true discourse of the present estate of Virginia ...] June 18, 1614; by Ralph Hamor; available at Virtual Jamestown
First line (for document search); [Honourable Sir, and most worthy Governour: when your leasure]
20. The Last Mission to Powhatan
[A true discourse of the present estate of Virginia ...] June 18, 1614; by Ralph Hamor; available at Virtual Jamestown
First line (for document search); [I purposely omitted one thing in the Treatise of our concluded peace]
Edited by Ed Southern
John F. Blair, Publisher (2004)
ISBN-0895873028
[The Virtual Jamestown links were down temporarily in June 2018, but they seem to be working now. Apologies if they go down again.]
A compilation of some of the relevant colonization era writings on Jamestown, including some by Smith, Percy and Rolfe. Most of these writings are available for free online (see links below). This volume provides a short introduction to each writing by the author/editor. The presumed value of this book is that the writings are gathered in one place with comments by the author/editor. I imagine this is of value to a university teacher and students as assigned reading for a course on colonial era history.
Part I: "Come, boys, Virginia longs" 1605-1606
1. A Colonial Con Job, from Eastward Hoe, by George Chapman, Ben Johnson, and John Marston
[Eastward Hoe is available in its entirety at: archive.org.]
2. Instructions for the First Colonists, from "Instructions given by way of advice by us ..."
[Instructions available online at Virtual Jamestown]
Part II; "This new discovered Virginia" 1607-1608
3. The Arrival, from "Letter of the Council in Virginia to the Council in England, June 22, 1607."
[Letter of the Council available online at Encyclopedia Virginia]
4. "Never were Englishmen ... in more misery"
["Observations gathered out of a Discourse of the Plantation of the Southern Colony in Virginia by the English, 1608. Written by that Honorable Gentleman, Master George Percy" available online at Virtual Jamestown]
5. Politics on the Edge of the World
["A Discourse of Virginia" by Edward Maria Wingfield available online in its entirely at archive.org]
6. Captain Smith Saves the Day
["A True Relation of Such Occurrences and Accidents of Note as Hath Happened in Virginia ..". by John Smith, written to a friend in England; available online at Virtual Jamestown
7. Pocahontas Saves Captain Smith
["The General History of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles" short excerpt by John Smith; available in its entirety as the PDF download online linked here
8. Captain Smith's Voyage to Pamunkey
[Another short excerpt by John Smith from The General History, linked above.]
Part III. "The Starving Time" 1609-1610
9. "Unnecessary Inmates"
["A letter from the council and company of the honorable plantation in Virginia to the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Companies of London"' I haven't found this exact excerpt yet, though the Virginia Company records are available online.]
10. Nova Britannia
["Nova Britannia: Offering Most Excellent Fruits by Planting in Virginia ..." available in its entirely at archive.org]
11. A Spy in the Palace
[Copy of a deciphered letter of Don Pedro de Zuñiga to the King of Spain, dated Higuet [Highgate?], March 5, 1609 - she-philospher.com]
[Letters between King Philip III and Don Pedro de Zúñiga (1607–1608); Excerpts from letters by de Zuniga at Encyclopedia Virginia]
12. "He sold me to him for a town"
[Henry Spelman's Relation of Virginia] - available online at Virtual Jamestown
13. "That sharp prick of hunger"
[A Trewe Relacyon of the Pcedeinges and Ocurrentes of Momente wch have hapned in Virginia ...] by George Percy, available online at Virtual Jamestown
Also, excerpts of True Relation (Percy) on PDF with modernized spelling; from the National Humanities Center
Part IV. Beyond the Palisades, 1610-1613
14. Tempest and Redemption
[A true reportory of the wrack] by William Strachey, July 15, 1610; available online at the British Library
15. Laws Divine, Moral and Martial
[Articles, Laws, and Orders, Divine, Politic, and Martial for the Colony in Virginia, 1610] by Sir Thomas Dale; available online at TeachingAmericanHistory.org
16. Sir Thomas Dale and the First Four Towns
[A true discourse of the present estate of Virginia ...] June 18, 1614; by Ralph Hamor; available at Virtual Jamestown
17. A spy in Virginia
[Letter of Don Diego de Molina, 1613] available at Virtual Jamestown
Part V. The Peace of Pocahontas
18. The Capture of Pocahontas
[A true discourse of the present estate of Virginia ...] June 18, 1614; by Ralph Hamor; available at Virtual Jamestown
First line (for document search); [The general letters upon my knowledge]
19. The Love Letter of John Rolfe
[A true discourse of the present estate of Virginia ...] June 18, 1614; by Ralph Hamor; available at Virtual Jamestown
First line (for document search); [Honourable Sir, and most worthy Governour: when your leasure]
20. The Last Mission to Powhatan
[A true discourse of the present estate of Virginia ...] June 18, 1614; by Ralph Hamor; available at Virtual Jamestown
First line (for document search); [I purposely omitted one thing in the Treatise of our concluded peace]
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The Powhatan Indians of Virginia: Their Traditional Culture
By Helen C. Rountree (1989) University of Oklahoma Press ISBN-9780806124551 Another reference book by Helen Rountree, this book is not exactly a page turner, but it's interesting enough, and very detailed. Pocahontas is barely mentioned, as the lifestyle, customs and traditions of the Powhatan Indians are the primary focus. The listing of Powhatan tribes present during the founding of Jamestown is useful. The account of the huskanaw (adolescent boy initiation rituals) is pretty fascinating, as are the descriptions of the pressures on men to be tough and stoic in the face of battle and when being tortured. As this book is now almost 30 years old, I wonder how much else has been learned about the Powhatans in the intervening years, and if any of the details herein have been debunked. In any case, this book is a pretty essential reference book for any serious student of the Powhatan Indians. |
The Journals of Captain John Smith
Edited by John M. Thompson (2007)
National Geographic Adventure Classics
ISBN-9781426200557
This book came out in 2007, which is the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, so it was likely published to capitalize on that. Thompson, the editor, is listed on the back cover as having written 9 National Geographic books, some of them related to American history. As he explains in the introduction, what he's done here is excerpted the writings of John Smith, mostly Books 3 and 4 of The General History from Philip L. Barbour's The Complete Works of Captain John Smith (1580-1631). He's standardized the spellings and inserted some explanatory comments in various places, as well as added the odd word here and there that clarifies Smith's meaning. The result is an account of the Jamestown expedition in Smith's own words (mostly), from the time they set sail, to Smith's departure from Jamestown, as well as two chapters of Jamestown's history that Smith wrote based on the writings of others that cover what happened in the colony after Smith had returned to England.. Thompson also summarizes each chapter in his own words. These summaries are mostly helpful (Smith's writings often being rather disorganized and obscure), but occasionally they reveal Thompson's personal feelings about John Smith. For example, in his summary of the first chapter, "Into the Land of Pocahontas," he writes, "Right away Smith established a pattern of fair but firm dealings that he was to maintain with the Indians for his whole stint in America." p. 2. When you read the entire book, you may wonder if "fair but firm" is not a little too generous, as there were a number of times when Smith was the opposite of fair and more terroristic than firm. Still, this book has value for presenting Smith's writing in an easily understandable form, and it doesn't offer too much in the way of speculation. For obvious reasons, this book will not provide much insight into the Powhatan Indians, but if you want to know Smith's viewpoint as told by Smith himself in his later years, this book may work for you.
Edited by John M. Thompson (2007)
National Geographic Adventure Classics
ISBN-9781426200557
This book came out in 2007, which is the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, so it was likely published to capitalize on that. Thompson, the editor, is listed on the back cover as having written 9 National Geographic books, some of them related to American history. As he explains in the introduction, what he's done here is excerpted the writings of John Smith, mostly Books 3 and 4 of The General History from Philip L. Barbour's The Complete Works of Captain John Smith (1580-1631). He's standardized the spellings and inserted some explanatory comments in various places, as well as added the odd word here and there that clarifies Smith's meaning. The result is an account of the Jamestown expedition in Smith's own words (mostly), from the time they set sail, to Smith's departure from Jamestown, as well as two chapters of Jamestown's history that Smith wrote based on the writings of others that cover what happened in the colony after Smith had returned to England.. Thompson also summarizes each chapter in his own words. These summaries are mostly helpful (Smith's writings often being rather disorganized and obscure), but occasionally they reveal Thompson's personal feelings about John Smith. For example, in his summary of the first chapter, "Into the Land of Pocahontas," he writes, "Right away Smith established a pattern of fair but firm dealings that he was to maintain with the Indians for his whole stint in America." p. 2. When you read the entire book, you may wonder if "fair but firm" is not a little too generous, as there were a number of times when Smith was the opposite of fair and more terroristic than firm. Still, this book has value for presenting Smith's writing in an easily understandable form, and it doesn't offer too much in the way of speculation. For obvious reasons, this book will not provide much insight into the Powhatan Indians, but if you want to know Smith's viewpoint as told by Smith himself in his later years, this book may work for you.
Pocahontas (The Civilization of the American Indian Series)
By Grace Steele Woodward (1969)
University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN-9780806116426
I'm really going back into the archives now, and this book has definitely passed its sell-by date. Anyone who wonders how much could have changed in the telling of Pocahontas's history in 50 years should compare this one, to say, Camilla Townsend's more recent and Indian friendly, Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma (2004). We learn from Woodward, for example, that "{Pocahontas] rose, surely and dramatically, above the ignorance and savagery of her people" p. 6. We are told that "[The Powhatan Indians] were a people without a sense of origin or a sense of history" p. 9. John Smith is described as a "dashing young bachelor" p. 55. Woodward assumes that "most of the Powhatans were uninterested in communicating with the English" p. 55, Some basic events are out of place, such as having Pocahontas become friends with Smith long before the famous 'rescue' event. Naturally, there's a color plate of the misidentified Sedgeford Hall Portrait. Nevertheless, I find this book intriguing for what it shows about how our perception of the Pocahontas story has changed in 50 years. Woodward was a product of her time, and this, apparently, is how people were taught the story back in the 1960s. It's important to understand this, as it helps explain why people like Linwood Custalow felt compelled to write their own versions of the Pocahontas story. In fact, I have a hunch that Custalow might have tried to counter misinformation from this book, or perhaps books that relied on this one for information. To say something nice about this book, it's an easy read, and some of the actual Pocahontas story survives intact. However, no one looking for an introduction to the Jamestown/Pocahontas story should choose this one over say, A Land as God Made It (2005), by James Horn. I wonder, though, if we'll look back on the Horn book the same way in another 50 years. History may not change, but our views of it always seem to evolve. Anyway, give Woodard's outdated book a miss, unless you're looking for evidence on how attitudes have changed.
Interesting side points from a Grace Steele Woodward bio. Her profession is listed as "historian" and she also wrote about the Cherokees. Quaintly, "She did all of her writing in longhand on a biscuit board while cooking 'or whatever' and carried her manuscript and notes in a green laundry basket." (from Oklahoma Hall of Fame - Gaylord Pickens Museum).
By Grace Steele Woodward (1969)
University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN-9780806116426
I'm really going back into the archives now, and this book has definitely passed its sell-by date. Anyone who wonders how much could have changed in the telling of Pocahontas's history in 50 years should compare this one, to say, Camilla Townsend's more recent and Indian friendly, Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma (2004). We learn from Woodward, for example, that "{Pocahontas] rose, surely and dramatically, above the ignorance and savagery of her people" p. 6. We are told that "[The Powhatan Indians] were a people without a sense of origin or a sense of history" p. 9. John Smith is described as a "dashing young bachelor" p. 55. Woodward assumes that "most of the Powhatans were uninterested in communicating with the English" p. 55, Some basic events are out of place, such as having Pocahontas become friends with Smith long before the famous 'rescue' event. Naturally, there's a color plate of the misidentified Sedgeford Hall Portrait. Nevertheless, I find this book intriguing for what it shows about how our perception of the Pocahontas story has changed in 50 years. Woodward was a product of her time, and this, apparently, is how people were taught the story back in the 1960s. It's important to understand this, as it helps explain why people like Linwood Custalow felt compelled to write their own versions of the Pocahontas story. In fact, I have a hunch that Custalow might have tried to counter misinformation from this book, or perhaps books that relied on this one for information. To say something nice about this book, it's an easy read, and some of the actual Pocahontas story survives intact. However, no one looking for an introduction to the Jamestown/Pocahontas story should choose this one over say, A Land as God Made It (2005), by James Horn. I wonder, though, if we'll look back on the Horn book the same way in another 50 years. History may not change, but our views of it always seem to evolve. Anyway, give Woodard's outdated book a miss, unless you're looking for evidence on how attitudes have changed.
Interesting side points from a Grace Steele Woodward bio. Her profession is listed as "historian" and she also wrote about the Cherokees. Quaintly, "She did all of her writing in longhand on a biscuit board while cooking 'or whatever' and carried her manuscript and notes in a green laundry basket." (from Oklahoma Hall of Fame - Gaylord Pickens Museum).
As old and out-of-date as the Woodward book may be, it's still available at the Historic Jamestown bookstore! (Aug. 2016)
Pocahontas and Sacagawea: Interwoven Legacies in American History
By Cyndi Spindell Berck (2015)
Commonwealth Books of Virginia
ISBN-9780990959250
2015 was a popular year for combining accounts of Pocahontas and Sacagawea (see Jager above). As with Jager, the story of Pocahontas here is somewhat brief, taking up less than 1/5 of the 250-page book. That said, it offers up a reasonable summary of her life and attempts to be as balanced as possible, including Native American perspectives along with the standard European history. I wish Berck had been a little more inquisitive about the reliability of "Mattaponi oral tradition" which I regard as a single individual's speculation and basically a hoax, Berck clearly wanted to be as inclusive as possible, and she does quote Custalow with caveats and disclaimers ("... but this is inconsistent with all other accounts" p. 45; "... scant evidence" p. 50). Other than trying to bring Native American and standard historical perspectives together, there is not much new to be found in this telling of the Pocahontas story, although I am intrigued by one point I hadn't read before, which is that the Rolfe letter to Sir Thomas Dale may have been written after the fact to deflect charges of treason against Rolfe (p. 43). Read this book not so much for new information about Pocahontas, but for a general overview of colonizer/Indian relations over three centuries.
Book review of Pocahontas and Sacagawea by Kristina Downs, Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 130, Fall 2017
Edit 2/11/2022
Author Cyndi Berck made contact with me and I was able to ask her about the Rolfe letter issue mentioned above. She said she got that bit about the letter possibly being written after the fact from Arica L. Coleman, author of That the Blood Stay Pure. I have since read that book, but unfortunately, it doesn't mention this factoid. I suspect that it was merely Coleman's speculation, and I further suspect that Coleman was not aware of the unredacted version of the John Rolfe letter. It seems unlikely to me that one would create a fictitious letter after the fact that needs to be redacted later for issues that should have been obvious at the time of the original writing. I think it's more likely that the original, unredacted John Rolfe letter was written spontaneously and before the marriage and then was redacted before publication due to its problematic wording.
By Cyndi Spindell Berck (2015)
Commonwealth Books of Virginia
ISBN-9780990959250
2015 was a popular year for combining accounts of Pocahontas and Sacagawea (see Jager above). As with Jager, the story of Pocahontas here is somewhat brief, taking up less than 1/5 of the 250-page book. That said, it offers up a reasonable summary of her life and attempts to be as balanced as possible, including Native American perspectives along with the standard European history. I wish Berck had been a little more inquisitive about the reliability of "Mattaponi oral tradition" which I regard as a single individual's speculation and basically a hoax, Berck clearly wanted to be as inclusive as possible, and she does quote Custalow with caveats and disclaimers ("... but this is inconsistent with all other accounts" p. 45; "... scant evidence" p. 50). Other than trying to bring Native American and standard historical perspectives together, there is not much new to be found in this telling of the Pocahontas story, although I am intrigued by one point I hadn't read before, which is that the Rolfe letter to Sir Thomas Dale may have been written after the fact to deflect charges of treason against Rolfe (p. 43). Read this book not so much for new information about Pocahontas, but for a general overview of colonizer/Indian relations over three centuries.
Book review of Pocahontas and Sacagawea by Kristina Downs, Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 130, Fall 2017
Edit 2/11/2022
Author Cyndi Berck made contact with me and I was able to ask her about the Rolfe letter issue mentioned above. She said she got that bit about the letter possibly being written after the fact from Arica L. Coleman, author of That the Blood Stay Pure. I have since read that book, but unfortunately, it doesn't mention this factoid. I suspect that it was merely Coleman's speculation, and I further suspect that Coleman was not aware of the unredacted version of the John Rolfe letter. It seems unlikely to me that one would create a fictitious letter after the fact that needs to be redacted later for issues that should have been obvious at the time of the original writing. I think it's more likely that the original, unredacted John Rolfe letter was written spontaneously and before the marriage and then was redacted before publication due to its problematic wording.
1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created
By Charles C. Mann (2011)
Vintage Books
ISBN-9780307278241
This book is unlike the others on this list because it's not specifically about Pocahontas or Jamestown. However, there is a chapter in the book that covers the Jamestown story (Chap. 2 'The Tobacco Coast'). While that chapter doesn't offer anything in the way of new information about Pocahontas, the book helps to put the Jamestown story in the context of the huge changes in the world that took place as a result of the 'Columbian Exchange,' which is a term used to describe all of the movement of plants, animals, people and diseases that took place after Columbus opened up the Americas to European exploration and immigration. This book, by the way, makes a pair with 1491, Mann's 2006 book about the Americas prior to the arrival of Columbus.
Although this book is a great read and essential to the Jamestown story in several ways, Mann has a tendency to allow his writing flair to interfere with the actual history. He writes, for example, in his opening line of Chapter 2 (p. 51, 52), that John Rolfe may have been responsible for the importation of earthworms from Europe to America. His evidence for that fairly stunning claim is that when ships took in tobacco from Jamestown to be shipped back to England, they also dropped ballast into the James River, which included rocks, gravel and soil, and quite possibly the earthworms that were somehow transported to the Americas. Now, I'm no expert on this topic, but how would earthworms dropped into the brackish water of the James survive long enough to populate the entire continent? Earthworms are weak when in contact with salt, so let's say I'm doubtful, but I admit it's a quibble.
I really like Mann's discussion of how Powhatan farming methods were misinterpreted by the English.
Mann also discusses the Indians use of fire to clear underbrush, leaving open forests with only large trees (the English commented on these open forests that you could drive a carriage through). The new growth that emerged after fires attracted deer for hunting. There were also many beaver that kept areas near streams marshy. These beaver were, of course, wiped out in the fur trade that followed, forever changing the local environment.
On a somewhat unrelated note, the discussion of how malaria encouraged the African slave trade is fascinating.
By Charles C. Mann (2011)
Vintage Books
ISBN-9780307278241
This book is unlike the others on this list because it's not specifically about Pocahontas or Jamestown. However, there is a chapter in the book that covers the Jamestown story (Chap. 2 'The Tobacco Coast'). While that chapter doesn't offer anything in the way of new information about Pocahontas, the book helps to put the Jamestown story in the context of the huge changes in the world that took place as a result of the 'Columbian Exchange,' which is a term used to describe all of the movement of plants, animals, people and diseases that took place after Columbus opened up the Americas to European exploration and immigration. This book, by the way, makes a pair with 1491, Mann's 2006 book about the Americas prior to the arrival of Columbus.
Although this book is a great read and essential to the Jamestown story in several ways, Mann has a tendency to allow his writing flair to interfere with the actual history. He writes, for example, in his opening line of Chapter 2 (p. 51, 52), that John Rolfe may have been responsible for the importation of earthworms from Europe to America. His evidence for that fairly stunning claim is that when ships took in tobacco from Jamestown to be shipped back to England, they also dropped ballast into the James River, which included rocks, gravel and soil, and quite possibly the earthworms that were somehow transported to the Americas. Now, I'm no expert on this topic, but how would earthworms dropped into the brackish water of the James survive long enough to populate the entire continent? Earthworms are weak when in contact with salt, so let's say I'm doubtful, but I admit it's a quibble.
I really like Mann's discussion of how Powhatan farming methods were misinterpreted by the English.
- "Except for defensive palisades, Powhatan farmers had no fences around their fields. Why screen off land if no cattle or sheep had to be kept inside? The English, by contrast, regarded well-tended fences as hallmarks of civilization, according to Virginia D. Anderson, a historian at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Fenced fields kept animals in, fenced woodlots kept poachers out. The lack of physical property demarcation signified to the English that Indians didn't really occupy the land--it was, so to speak, unimproved. Equally unfamiliar was the Powhatan practice of scattering their farm plots within larger cleared areas. To the Indians, fallow lands were a kind of communal larder, a place for naturally occurring useful plants, including grains (little barley, sumpweed, goosefoot), edible greens (wild lettuce, wild plantains), and medicinals (sassafras, dogbane, smartweed). Because none of these species existed in Europe, the English didn't know the groundcover was useful. Instead they say 'unused' land, something that bewildered them. How could Indians go to the trouble of clearing the land but then not use it?" p. 61, 62
Mann also discusses the Indians use of fire to clear underbrush, leaving open forests with only large trees (the English commented on these open forests that you could drive a carriage through). The new growth that emerged after fires attracted deer for hunting. There were also many beaver that kept areas near streams marshy. These beaver were, of course, wiped out in the fur trade that followed, forever changing the local environment.
On a somewhat unrelated note, the discussion of how malaria encouraged the African slave trade is fascinating.
Pocahontas: the Life and the Legend
Frances Mossiker (1976)
Da Capo Press
ISBN-9780306806995
I finally managed to get to this one, the book which must have served as THE Pocahontas book in the period from 1976 to the big wave of Pocahontas publications that came out in the years just prior to the Jamestown Quadricentennial (2007). Initially, I expected something in the vein of the 1969 Woodward book above, but actually found it to be more progressive and far better researched than that one. This book is mainly worthwhile for the parts that stick to the original chronicler accounts, which Mossiker seems to have an excellent grasp of. Her lumping together of various Native American tribal traditions is obviously suspect, as is her continuous use of the word "redskin.". My main issue is that as the book progresses, Mossiker seems to become more and more comfortable speculating about the motivations and feelings of Pocahontas and others to the point where my initial appreciation for what Mossiker had achieved gave way to continuous eye rolls. Still, I'm inclined to be more accepting of this book than some others because of the many times I found something new (to me) and the questions it raised in my mind. I don't exactly recommend it for those looking for just one book on Pocahontas (try Horn, Price, Townsend, Rountree or Woolley instead), but it's still worth having in the library of the serious student on Pocahontas, with the caveat that Mossiker's speculation and shower thoughts be subject to critical investigation.
Interesting (to me):
A few eye roll instigators (out of many!):
I hope I'm clear that I don't support these latter bullet points. They're just examples from Mossiker's sometimes outrageous speculation, and they make for good exercises for arguments or rebuttal. There are many more such examples.
Frances Mossiker (1976)
Da Capo Press
ISBN-9780306806995
I finally managed to get to this one, the book which must have served as THE Pocahontas book in the period from 1976 to the big wave of Pocahontas publications that came out in the years just prior to the Jamestown Quadricentennial (2007). Initially, I expected something in the vein of the 1969 Woodward book above, but actually found it to be more progressive and far better researched than that one. This book is mainly worthwhile for the parts that stick to the original chronicler accounts, which Mossiker seems to have an excellent grasp of. Her lumping together of various Native American tribal traditions is obviously suspect, as is her continuous use of the word "redskin.". My main issue is that as the book progresses, Mossiker seems to become more and more comfortable speculating about the motivations and feelings of Pocahontas and others to the point where my initial appreciation for what Mossiker had achieved gave way to continuous eye rolls. Still, I'm inclined to be more accepting of this book than some others because of the many times I found something new (to me) and the questions it raised in my mind. I don't exactly recommend it for those looking for just one book on Pocahontas (try Horn, Price, Townsend, Rountree or Woolley instead), but it's still worth having in the library of the serious student on Pocahontas, with the caveat that Mossiker's speculation and shower thoughts be subject to critical investigation.
Interesting (to me):
- Mossiker devotes a paragraph (in 1976!) to the Juan Ortiz rescue story (p.82), a possible precursor to Smith's controversial story, and one which Mossiker shows was available to Smith in his time. Juan Ortiz is mainly ignored by the recent Jamestown/Pocahontas writers, which I find to be unfortunate. Mossiker also lists possible literary forerunners of the rescue story (also p. 82).
- Mossiker does not take up the now discredited idea that son Thomas Rolfe was portrayed in the Sedgeford Hall Portrait. Many of Mossiker's contemporaries made that mistake, but Mossiker wisely remained cautious about it and never mentions the portrait. However, she does misunderstand where the Booton Hall Portrait stands in Pocahontas art history (p. 227, 228). This book may be why Firstbrook and Woolley persist in the error.
- The idea that Pocahontas had to have reached puberty (i.e, be 13 or 14) at the time of Smith's encounter with the Powhatan women who performed their naked fertility dance (p. 109-113). It's an interesting idea and makes sense, though I'll have to review the source material and what others have written. Most current historians favor a younger age.
A few eye roll instigators (out of many!):
- Pocahontas may have been trying to defect (!) when she made the controversial night run to warn Smith of a Powhatan attempt on his life. (p. 123)
- Mossiker's mention that Malinche (of Cortez fame), and Pocahontas by extension, were perhaps enamored of whites, dazzled by white skin, maybe subject to overpowering physical attraction. (p. 126). However, Mossiker may have been trying to include the speculation of others whose commentary preceded hers..
- Pocahontas's marriage to Kocoum may have been a rebound relationship after the departure of her true love, Smith (!) p. 152
- Pocahontas may have been complicit in her own abduction as a means to escape to English society (!) p. 159 (See Gunn Allen above for a variation on this idea.)
- Pocahontas might never have married Rolfe had she known John Smith was still alive (!) p. 274
I hope I'm clear that I don't support these latter bullet points. They're just examples from Mossiker's sometimes outrageous speculation, and they make for good exercises for arguments or rebuttal. There are many more such examples.
Facing East from Indian Country: A Native History of Early America
Daniel K. Richter (2001)
Harvard University Press
ISBN-9780674011175
Like 1493 above, this book is not specifically about Jamestown or Pocahontas. It attempts to reveal Native American interactions with Europeans on the east coast of America, showing less about European behavior and motivations and more about how Indians performed there. However, there is a short summary of the Pocahontas story (p. 69-78), which is why I'm including it in this list. The 10 pages reveal nothing new about Pocahontas, but I have no quibbles with the account. Richter does introduce the idea that there may have been more than one Pocahontas (p. 70), though the concept is just teased and not developed further. Richter also introduces another historical person, the Iroquois woman, Tekakwitha (p. 79), who joins the pantheon of Native American women (like Pocahontas, Malinche and Sacagawea) who appear to be examples of Native women who crossed over and were often presumed (by the colonizers) to welcome Europeans in the interest of racial harmony.
I liked the book well enough, but I found it rather uneven. The section on how large-scale beaver hunting plus the introduction of pigs into the ecosystem (p. 53, 54) effectively destroyed the traditional Indian way of life on the east coast was particularly revelatory. I also like the account of colonial Pequot Indian preacher and provocateur, William Apess, near the end of the book. There were some sections in the final third of the book that were a slog for me, as they were less than scintillating to read (no doubt my own deficiency here). It's a decent book, though, and I give it 3 and 1/2 stars out of 5.
{See my Beaver Page re. a discussion of how the extermination of beavers may have impacted Indian life.]
Daniel K. Richter (2001)
Harvard University Press
ISBN-9780674011175
Like 1493 above, this book is not specifically about Jamestown or Pocahontas. It attempts to reveal Native American interactions with Europeans on the east coast of America, showing less about European behavior and motivations and more about how Indians performed there. However, there is a short summary of the Pocahontas story (p. 69-78), which is why I'm including it in this list. The 10 pages reveal nothing new about Pocahontas, but I have no quibbles with the account. Richter does introduce the idea that there may have been more than one Pocahontas (p. 70), though the concept is just teased and not developed further. Richter also introduces another historical person, the Iroquois woman, Tekakwitha (p. 79), who joins the pantheon of Native American women (like Pocahontas, Malinche and Sacagawea) who appear to be examples of Native women who crossed over and were often presumed (by the colonizers) to welcome Europeans in the interest of racial harmony.
I liked the book well enough, but I found it rather uneven. The section on how large-scale beaver hunting plus the introduction of pigs into the ecosystem (p. 53, 54) effectively destroyed the traditional Indian way of life on the east coast was particularly revelatory. I also like the account of colonial Pequot Indian preacher and provocateur, William Apess, near the end of the book. There were some sections in the final third of the book that were a slog for me, as they were less than scintillating to read (no doubt my own deficiency here). It's a decent book, though, and I give it 3 and 1/2 stars out of 5.
{See my Beaver Page re. a discussion of how the extermination of beavers may have impacted Indian life.]
1619 Jamestown and the Forging of American Democracy
James Horn (2018)
Basic Books, New York
ISBN-9780465064694
This book, by James Horn, whose name appears frequently on this page, is one of the more recent publications on Jamestown and seems to be trying to tie in with the late recognition of Jamestown colonization as a founding event in the history of American democracy. An event was held at Jamestown in July 2019 to commemorate the first representative legislative assembly, and this book is designed to provide context and details about that assembly and colony governance in general. I should note, too, that James Horn is a consultant on the Jamestown TV series, and several of the topics covered in this book are referenced in the TV series, such as the arrival of the first slaves to Virginia and their acquisition by colony governor, George Yeardley. While I generally like Horn's books on Jamestown and Roanoke (see above), I am less enthusiastic about this one. It's really about the history and philosophy that informed Edwin Sandys as he worked to create a functioning government in Jamestown. As such, it's pretty dry reading, and there are few historical "stories" to liven it up. Academics researching the history of government and democracy will find it useful, but I would only recommend this book if you are interested in the philosophical beginnings of American government. The sections dealing with the introduction of slaves to Jamestown and the relations between colonists and Powhatan Indians are interesting enough, and for me personally, those sections make this book worth having. I suppose I consider this book as more of a 'reference book' than a casual read. If you're looking for a basic introduction to the Jamestown story, this is not the one, and Pocahontas is barely mentioned, reasonably enough, considering the book's focus.
James Horn (2018)
Basic Books, New York
ISBN-9780465064694
This book, by James Horn, whose name appears frequently on this page, is one of the more recent publications on Jamestown and seems to be trying to tie in with the late recognition of Jamestown colonization as a founding event in the history of American democracy. An event was held at Jamestown in July 2019 to commemorate the first representative legislative assembly, and this book is designed to provide context and details about that assembly and colony governance in general. I should note, too, that James Horn is a consultant on the Jamestown TV series, and several of the topics covered in this book are referenced in the TV series, such as the arrival of the first slaves to Virginia and their acquisition by colony governor, George Yeardley. While I generally like Horn's books on Jamestown and Roanoke (see above), I am less enthusiastic about this one. It's really about the history and philosophy that informed Edwin Sandys as he worked to create a functioning government in Jamestown. As such, it's pretty dry reading, and there are few historical "stories" to liven it up. Academics researching the history of government and democracy will find it useful, but I would only recommend this book if you are interested in the philosophical beginnings of American government. The sections dealing with the introduction of slaves to Jamestown and the relations between colonists and Powhatan Indians are interesting enough, and for me personally, those sections make this book worth having. I suppose I consider this book as more of a 'reference book' than a casual read. If you're looking for a basic introduction to the Jamestown story, this is not the one, and Pocahontas is barely mentioned, reasonably enough, considering the book's focus.
Chesapeake
James A. Michener (1978)
Fawcett Crest
This work of fiction probably shouldn't even be on my list, but it seems like people should be warned about it. I know Michener has fans, and most book review sites give this one high marks, but I would just like to emphasize that this book is not actually history. It seems to want to straddle a place that is halfway between a historical novel and history in a way that some people might confuse for history. Blurbs on the opening pages further muddy the waters, with sentences like, "A magic history lesson disguised as a brilliant novel" (Gannet Westchester Newspapers) and "Superbly humanized history" (Library Journal). The problem for me is that Michener is never clear as to when he is reporting historical facts (all sentences read as though they actually happened) and when he is just making stuff up. I suppose it's clear enough that dialog is all fictional, but when he has John Smith being quoted in what looks to be a journal entry, how is anyone supposed to know that Smith didn't actually write that? Anyway, I only read the first three chapters of this book, which deal with a highly imaginative version of the pre-Jamestown Powhatan Indians, followed by a strange and brief account of John Smith in Jamestown. Pocahontas does not appear anywhere on these pages, which is probably a good thing, considering what nonsense the author would likely have imagined about her. Based only on the first 15% of the book, I chose not to continue reading, as I feel I can't trust Michener to tell anything like a true story, and it's not interesting enough to read as pure fiction. Anyway, buyer beware.
James A. Michener (1978)
Fawcett Crest
This work of fiction probably shouldn't even be on my list, but it seems like people should be warned about it. I know Michener has fans, and most book review sites give this one high marks, but I would just like to emphasize that this book is not actually history. It seems to want to straddle a place that is halfway between a historical novel and history in a way that some people might confuse for history. Blurbs on the opening pages further muddy the waters, with sentences like, "A magic history lesson disguised as a brilliant novel" (Gannet Westchester Newspapers) and "Superbly humanized history" (Library Journal). The problem for me is that Michener is never clear as to when he is reporting historical facts (all sentences read as though they actually happened) and when he is just making stuff up. I suppose it's clear enough that dialog is all fictional, but when he has John Smith being quoted in what looks to be a journal entry, how is anyone supposed to know that Smith didn't actually write that? Anyway, I only read the first three chapters of this book, which deal with a highly imaginative version of the pre-Jamestown Powhatan Indians, followed by a strange and brief account of John Smith in Jamestown. Pocahontas does not appear anywhere on these pages, which is probably a good thing, considering what nonsense the author would likely have imagined about her. Based only on the first 15% of the book, I chose not to continue reading, as I feel I can't trust Michener to tell anything like a true story, and it's not interesting enough to read as pure fiction. Anyway, buyer beware.
Pocahontas and the English Boys: Caught Between Cultures in Early Virginia
Karen Ordahl Kupperman (2019)
New York University Press
ISBN-9781479825820
A few years back (2015), Pocahontas authors were pairing Pocahontas with La Malinche and Sacagawea (see Jager and Berck above), noting their similarities as cultural intermediaries. Kupperman, on the other hand, noticed that in Pocahontas's own time and culture, English boys approximately Pocahontas's age were being used as translators and intermediaries, and their story had mostly gone untold. Kupperman does a great job in gathering all the details of these mostly overlooked boys and their experience, as far as we know it, among the Powhatans and colonists. To me, this is a really fresh look at the Pocahontas/Jamestown story, and we have to marvel at what it must have been like for boys like the English Thomas Savage and the Powhatan Namontack to be traded to their potential enemies to encourage a tenuous peace. Savage (young, but age unknown) had only just arrived in Jamestown when he was handed over to the Powhatans, and Namontack (likewise age unknown) was soon shipped off on an English ship to cross the ocean. It's unfortunate we'll never know the details of what they thought or experienced, but it certainly seems like a movie or TV series about them is in order. Henry Spelman, another of the English boys left with the Powhatans, thankfully, recorded some of his experiences and provided important details about life among the Powhatans. Robert Poole, a third English boy, makes his appearance in this book,a and I must admit, I knew little about him before reading about him here. This book is a must-read for a more nuanced understanding of how the two cultures interacted in the early years of American colonization.
As much as I like this book and its focus on the English boys, I have to note that Kupperman rarely seems to doubt the English chroniclers' version of events. She makes some mildly qualifying statements in her 'note on sources,' but basically, she seems to feel that the accounts of Smith, Strachey, Spelman, Hamor and the rest are what we have, and without their words, we wouldn't even be talking about this stuff. To cast doubt or speculate on their motives just muddies the waters, so their story is the story, take it or leave it. She did, at least, write that Smith may have been trying to fit his rescue into a genre of rescue stories that was a popular English genre at the time of Smith's writing (p. 24), though we are generally left with the impression that Smith's version of what happened is what we should go with, and that he just didn't recognize the rescue as an adoption ceremony. She also accepts Smith's account of his final meeting with Pocahontas in Brentwood without reservation, even to the point that she can state with apparent certainty that "she [Pocahontas] was angry at him [Smith] for staying away while she was in London" (p. 136) and "she wanted to restore the close relationship they had had in America" (p. 136). These are not exactly radical opinions, but see my own doubts about Smith here re. this encounter.
Of note only to me is that I had a pre-publication preview of this book in 2017 in London when I attended the "Pocahontas and After" conference where Kupperman was a featured speaker and talked about "the English boys." She didn't attend my presentation on Custalow's True Story, but I am relieved that she didn't choose to include that hoax book in her bibliography, which I regard as a flaw in many books that have been published on Pocahontas in recent years. Good work, Kupperman, for not taking the Custalow bait.
____
A side note on something in this book that can be of interest only to serious Jamestown-story nerds is that Kupperman states that Wahunsenaca was Pamunkey (p. 3). While this is generally considered to be the case, mainly due to Wahunsenaca being the brother or half-brother of Opechancanough and Opitchapam, who were explicitly named as Pamunkey by original chroniclers, we should note that those chroniclers didn't actually state that Wahunsenaca was Pamunkey. I would note that there was a tribe named by Smith as 'Powhatan' (the Powhites) which could be considered an alternative tribe of origin, among others. The current Mattaponi tribe (or some of them, maybe the leadership?) are not on board with Wahunsenaca being described as Pamunkey and choose not to describe him as such in their own documents. [If anyone can show me that the information in this comment is incorrect, I'll be happy to edit it. I do have a reliable source, though.]
Karen Ordahl Kupperman (2019)
New York University Press
ISBN-9781479825820
A few years back (2015), Pocahontas authors were pairing Pocahontas with La Malinche and Sacagawea (see Jager and Berck above), noting their similarities as cultural intermediaries. Kupperman, on the other hand, noticed that in Pocahontas's own time and culture, English boys approximately Pocahontas's age were being used as translators and intermediaries, and their story had mostly gone untold. Kupperman does a great job in gathering all the details of these mostly overlooked boys and their experience, as far as we know it, among the Powhatans and colonists. To me, this is a really fresh look at the Pocahontas/Jamestown story, and we have to marvel at what it must have been like for boys like the English Thomas Savage and the Powhatan Namontack to be traded to their potential enemies to encourage a tenuous peace. Savage (young, but age unknown) had only just arrived in Jamestown when he was handed over to the Powhatans, and Namontack (likewise age unknown) was soon shipped off on an English ship to cross the ocean. It's unfortunate we'll never know the details of what they thought or experienced, but it certainly seems like a movie or TV series about them is in order. Henry Spelman, another of the English boys left with the Powhatans, thankfully, recorded some of his experiences and provided important details about life among the Powhatans. Robert Poole, a third English boy, makes his appearance in this book,a and I must admit, I knew little about him before reading about him here. This book is a must-read for a more nuanced understanding of how the two cultures interacted in the early years of American colonization.
As much as I like this book and its focus on the English boys, I have to note that Kupperman rarely seems to doubt the English chroniclers' version of events. She makes some mildly qualifying statements in her 'note on sources,' but basically, she seems to feel that the accounts of Smith, Strachey, Spelman, Hamor and the rest are what we have, and without their words, we wouldn't even be talking about this stuff. To cast doubt or speculate on their motives just muddies the waters, so their story is the story, take it or leave it. She did, at least, write that Smith may have been trying to fit his rescue into a genre of rescue stories that was a popular English genre at the time of Smith's writing (p. 24), though we are generally left with the impression that Smith's version of what happened is what we should go with, and that he just didn't recognize the rescue as an adoption ceremony. She also accepts Smith's account of his final meeting with Pocahontas in Brentwood without reservation, even to the point that she can state with apparent certainty that "she [Pocahontas] was angry at him [Smith] for staying away while she was in London" (p. 136) and "she wanted to restore the close relationship they had had in America" (p. 136). These are not exactly radical opinions, but see my own doubts about Smith here re. this encounter.
Of note only to me is that I had a pre-publication preview of this book in 2017 in London when I attended the "Pocahontas and After" conference where Kupperman was a featured speaker and talked about "the English boys." She didn't attend my presentation on Custalow's True Story, but I am relieved that she didn't choose to include that hoax book in her bibliography, which I regard as a flaw in many books that have been published on Pocahontas in recent years. Good work, Kupperman, for not taking the Custalow bait.
____
A side note on something in this book that can be of interest only to serious Jamestown-story nerds is that Kupperman states that Wahunsenaca was Pamunkey (p. 3). While this is generally considered to be the case, mainly due to Wahunsenaca being the brother or half-brother of Opechancanough and Opitchapam, who were explicitly named as Pamunkey by original chroniclers, we should note that those chroniclers didn't actually state that Wahunsenaca was Pamunkey. I would note that there was a tribe named by Smith as 'Powhatan' (the Powhites) which could be considered an alternative tribe of origin, among others. The current Mattaponi tribe (or some of them, maybe the leadership?) are not on board with Wahunsenaca being described as Pamunkey and choose not to describe him as such in their own documents. [If anyone can show me that the information in this comment is incorrect, I'll be happy to edit it. I do have a reliable source, though.]
Breaking the House of Pamunkey: The Final Powhatan War and the Fall of an American Indian Empire
Lars C. Adams (2017)
Backintyme Publishing;, Crofton, Kentucky
ISBN-9780939479016
As Adams points out, details about the 1644 final Powhatan offensive against the English are hard to come by. While we know a little about the 1622 uprising, the one that occurred 22 years later when Opechancanough was nearing the end of his life, is somehow brushed aside. This is despite the fact that, as Adams says, the attack, which killed as many as 500 settlers, was "in terms of sheer casualties ... the most effective assault carried out by any Indigenous American group (in North or South America) against any European target" (p. 3). I'm not going to fact check that and will assume Adams is correct (he also mentions the 1813 Fort Mims Massacre as a possible rival). In any case, Adams attempts to gather all the hidden archival information and mentions buried in letters from the era and tries to piece together an account of what happened in the years leading up to and during 1644 and the attack's aftermath.
One main point in the Adams book seems to be to oppose the conclusions of Fausz and Gleach about the goals of the attack. Adams cites those two researchers as believing Opechancanough's decision to attack stemmed from being in a hopeless and desperate situation. He also opposes Gleach's claim that the attack was meant to force the English to respect certain boundaries, but not necessarily to remove them from Powhatan land (p. 46). In Adams"s view, Opechancanough and his advisors "truly planned to eliminate the English and retake their entire original territory. They expected to win" (p. 46). Although I am not reassured by Linwood Custalow being cited in support of Adams's view, I'll try to keep an open mind (after all, I have quoted Custalow's opinions on this page as well.)
_____
Having finished the Adams book and reviewed Gleach's Powhatan's World and Colonial Virginia, I can now conclude my comments on Adams. As with the Gleach book, I don't feel I'm sufficiently expert on the time period and details to do it justice, but I will make what comments I can. The Adams book is 262 pages in total (with fairly large type) devoted to a time period that Gleach's book addresses in roughly 25 pages (of smaller type), as Gleach covers a much longer span of time. The opening chapters of the Adams book are good, but the middle section contains many quotations from colonial records, letters and rulings, which amounts to some fairly dull reading. That Helen Rountree describes the Adams book as "a vivid story" she greatly enjoyed strikes me as a little effusive., Anyway, for information on the 1644 attack, this book may have more details and colonial era writing excerpts than Gleach, but Gleach is a (slightly) more compelling read. Specific events that I learned about in Adams were details about the three forts the colonists under Kemp built in Pamunkey territory to enable continual harassment of the Indians. Gleach mentions that only in passing. Adams also offers an account of the Battle of Weyanoke Creek, which occurred in 1645 south of Jamestown and represented the colonists early attempts to extend their territory towards present day North Carolina. A good portion of the content is also devoted to the internal English conflict between Puritans and Anglicans.
One minor quibble I have with Adams is the numerous typos in the book. This book may be self-published, but considering how much time and effort Adams went to uncover letters and legal records on the time period, he could have spent a bit more time on the proofreading. On the question of whether or not Adams proved that Opechancanough was trying to eliminate the English as opposed to merely restrict their movements (as per Gleach), I would say 'no.' The answer to that is unknowable, and I'm not even sure it is a question worth addressing, since the goals of Opechancanough at the time would have been fluid and dependent on the degree of success achieved at various stages in the war. I think Adams went to a lot of effort to uncover colonial era writings and organize them into a worthwhile book connected to the Third Anglo-Powhatan War, but on a first reading, I wasn't enthralled. The inclusion of Linwood Custalow as an authority on the time period is obviously regrettable. I suspect that Adams, as a member of an East Coast Indian tribe, may have felt some social pressure to include him.
Lars C. Adams (2017)
Backintyme Publishing;, Crofton, Kentucky
ISBN-9780939479016
As Adams points out, details about the 1644 final Powhatan offensive against the English are hard to come by. While we know a little about the 1622 uprising, the one that occurred 22 years later when Opechancanough was nearing the end of his life, is somehow brushed aside. This is despite the fact that, as Adams says, the attack, which killed as many as 500 settlers, was "in terms of sheer casualties ... the most effective assault carried out by any Indigenous American group (in North or South America) against any European target" (p. 3). I'm not going to fact check that and will assume Adams is correct (he also mentions the 1813 Fort Mims Massacre as a possible rival). In any case, Adams attempts to gather all the hidden archival information and mentions buried in letters from the era and tries to piece together an account of what happened in the years leading up to and during 1644 and the attack's aftermath.
One main point in the Adams book seems to be to oppose the conclusions of Fausz and Gleach about the goals of the attack. Adams cites those two researchers as believing Opechancanough's decision to attack stemmed from being in a hopeless and desperate situation. He also opposes Gleach's claim that the attack was meant to force the English to respect certain boundaries, but not necessarily to remove them from Powhatan land (p. 46). In Adams"s view, Opechancanough and his advisors "truly planned to eliminate the English and retake their entire original territory. They expected to win" (p. 46). Although I am not reassured by Linwood Custalow being cited in support of Adams's view, I'll try to keep an open mind (after all, I have quoted Custalow's opinions on this page as well.)
_____
Having finished the Adams book and reviewed Gleach's Powhatan's World and Colonial Virginia, I can now conclude my comments on Adams. As with the Gleach book, I don't feel I'm sufficiently expert on the time period and details to do it justice, but I will make what comments I can. The Adams book is 262 pages in total (with fairly large type) devoted to a time period that Gleach's book addresses in roughly 25 pages (of smaller type), as Gleach covers a much longer span of time. The opening chapters of the Adams book are good, but the middle section contains many quotations from colonial records, letters and rulings, which amounts to some fairly dull reading. That Helen Rountree describes the Adams book as "a vivid story" she greatly enjoyed strikes me as a little effusive., Anyway, for information on the 1644 attack, this book may have more details and colonial era writing excerpts than Gleach, but Gleach is a (slightly) more compelling read. Specific events that I learned about in Adams were details about the three forts the colonists under Kemp built in Pamunkey territory to enable continual harassment of the Indians. Gleach mentions that only in passing. Adams also offers an account of the Battle of Weyanoke Creek, which occurred in 1645 south of Jamestown and represented the colonists early attempts to extend their territory towards present day North Carolina. A good portion of the content is also devoted to the internal English conflict between Puritans and Anglicans.
One minor quibble I have with Adams is the numerous typos in the book. This book may be self-published, but considering how much time and effort Adams went to uncover letters and legal records on the time period, he could have spent a bit more time on the proofreading. On the question of whether or not Adams proved that Opechancanough was trying to eliminate the English as opposed to merely restrict their movements (as per Gleach), I would say 'no.' The answer to that is unknowable, and I'm not even sure it is a question worth addressing, since the goals of Opechancanough at the time would have been fluid and dependent on the degree of success achieved at various stages in the war. I think Adams went to a lot of effort to uncover colonial era writings and organize them into a worthwhile book connected to the Third Anglo-Powhatan War, but on a first reading, I wasn't enthralled. The inclusion of Linwood Custalow as an authority on the time period is obviously regrettable. I suspect that Adams, as a member of an East Coast Indian tribe, may have felt some social pressure to include him.
Lethal Encounters
Alfred A. Cave (2011)
University of Nebraska Press
ISBN-9780803248342
This is a book that I wish I had encountered much earlier, and I will have to revise some sections of this website to better reflect points of view that come from it. That the book seems to fly under the radar may have something to do with Cave's use of the word "genocide", which seems to make it a deal breaker in the minds of many. Still, I find it surprising that there are no reviews of it on Amazon, Goodreads or LibraryThing. This is a really good book with a more Indian centered point of view that everyone interested in the Jamestown story should read. I find it to be very substantial and powerful among the Jamestown books I've read..
________
How many people are aware that the U. S. Declaration of Independence, adopted on July 4, 1776, contains the following clause:
(More to come)
Alfred A. Cave (2011)
University of Nebraska Press
ISBN-9780803248342
This is a book that I wish I had encountered much earlier, and I will have to revise some sections of this website to better reflect points of view that come from it. That the book seems to fly under the radar may have something to do with Cave's use of the word "genocide", which seems to make it a deal breaker in the minds of many. Still, I find it surprising that there are no reviews of it on Amazon, Goodreads or LibraryThing. This is a really good book with a more Indian centered point of view that everyone interested in the Jamestown story should read. I find it to be very substantial and powerful among the Jamestown books I've read..
________
How many people are aware that the U. S. Declaration of Independence, adopted on July 4, 1776, contains the following clause:
- "... the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions."
(More to come)
The Powhatans and the English in the Seventeenth-Century Chesapeake
David J. Voelker (2020! - in the future, since I purchased this book in mid-2019)
Oxford University Press
ISBN-9780190057053
This book in a series called 'Debating American History' seems to be specifically for university students taking a Voelker history/debate class, and I suspect it will not have a market much beyond his course and others like it. It's a fairly thin volume (102 pages), half of which is made up of original chronicler writing that is available online. The first section, authored by Voelker on how the Powhatans lost their homelands to the colonial English is worthwhile. There are also two good article reprints at the end of the book by J. Frederick Fausz (1981) and Frederic W. Gleach (1997) that cannot be found on the internet.
Unfortunately for students interested in colonial American history, a few authors will continue to cite Custalow and Daniel as a historical reference.. Admittedly, it's difficult for many people to know that the Custalow/Daniel writing team are not credible, but there are some hints out there, The most obvious hint is the content of their book, which most historians know to dismiss. We might also see some red flags when relevant Indian friendly books like Lethal Encounters (Cave; 2011) and An Indigenous People’s History of the United States (Dunbar-Ortiz; 2014), both of which were published well after Custalow, do not include Custalow & Daniel's controversial information. Neither does "Mattaponi Reservation, King William County* (2017),* written by Native American anthropologist, Buck Woodard (* To be clear, Custalow & Daniel appear in Woodard’s list of sources to show that he is aware of them, but none of the content from their book made it in to his very detailed history of the Mattaponi, a report,that was made with the full cooperation of the Mattaponi tribe. Pocahontas historian Jager (2015) had the same idea in listing Custalow & Daniel as a source, but not including any of their ideas in her writing. By doing so, she showed that she was aware of them, but dismissed their 'revelations.') Kupperman:s 2019 book about Jamestown doesn’t cite the Custalow/Daniel book at all. My paper on Custalow and Daniel has been online since early 2018, though I’m not surprised it was not found. Still, anyone doing a search of the terms ‘custalow’ and ‘hoax’ or ‘custalow’ and ‘fraud’ would have found it on this site. (For those wondering, this is a reasonable search one would make in the wake of fraudulent "oral histories" such as Roots and The Education of Little Tree.) Anyway, the inclusion of Custalow and Daniel as a “primary source” makes this book a huge disappointment.
There are a number of errors in the Voelker book, but I will confine my comments to the Custalow/Daniel issue. Voelker states that Angela Daniel is Mattaponi, which is not true, and she's not Powhatan either. He lists her name as “Little Star” when it should be written as “Silver Star.” Finally, Voelker arrives at the conclusion that Pocahontas was Mattaponi, an assertion that has no basis in fact. Pocahontas could have been Mattaponi or from any of the Powhatan tribes, but we’ll never know which. Powhatan Indians today don't agree on her tribe, so it would be nice if historians did not be offer up their conclusions about that without actual evidence. Ultimately, the Voelker book can be used to debate and question aspects of American history, but I hope Voelker:s students question his inclusion of the doubtful Custalow & Daniel source while they're at it.
[David Voelker was kind enough to reply to an email I sent him where I pointed out the issues I had with his book. I appreciate that he seems to be thinking about this, and that he took the time to reply. - Feb. 1, 2020]
On Custalow's True Story
Actual Mattaponi history can be found here:
Mattaponi Indian Reservation, King William County, Virginia Heritage Properties of Indian Town: The Mattaponi Indian Baptist Church, School, and Homes of Chiefly Lineages (2017) by Buck Woodard and Danielle Moretti-Langholtz (PDF at Academia - 150 pages)
mattaponi_research_report_for_distribution.pdf
Download File
David J. Voelker (2020! - in the future, since I purchased this book in mid-2019)
Oxford University Press
ISBN-9780190057053
This book in a series called 'Debating American History' seems to be specifically for university students taking a Voelker history/debate class, and I suspect it will not have a market much beyond his course and others like it. It's a fairly thin volume (102 pages), half of which is made up of original chronicler writing that is available online. The first section, authored by Voelker on how the Powhatans lost their homelands to the colonial English is worthwhile. There are also two good article reprints at the end of the book by J. Frederick Fausz (1981) and Frederic W. Gleach (1997) that cannot be found on the internet.
Unfortunately for students interested in colonial American history, a few authors will continue to cite Custalow and Daniel as a historical reference.. Admittedly, it's difficult for many people to know that the Custalow/Daniel writing team are not credible, but there are some hints out there, The most obvious hint is the content of their book, which most historians know to dismiss. We might also see some red flags when relevant Indian friendly books like Lethal Encounters (Cave; 2011) and An Indigenous People’s History of the United States (Dunbar-Ortiz; 2014), both of which were published well after Custalow, do not include Custalow & Daniel's controversial information. Neither does "Mattaponi Reservation, King William County* (2017),* written by Native American anthropologist, Buck Woodard (* To be clear, Custalow & Daniel appear in Woodard’s list of sources to show that he is aware of them, but none of the content from their book made it in to his very detailed history of the Mattaponi, a report,that was made with the full cooperation of the Mattaponi tribe. Pocahontas historian Jager (2015) had the same idea in listing Custalow & Daniel as a source, but not including any of their ideas in her writing. By doing so, she showed that she was aware of them, but dismissed their 'revelations.') Kupperman:s 2019 book about Jamestown doesn’t cite the Custalow/Daniel book at all. My paper on Custalow and Daniel has been online since early 2018, though I’m not surprised it was not found. Still, anyone doing a search of the terms ‘custalow’ and ‘hoax’ or ‘custalow’ and ‘fraud’ would have found it on this site. (For those wondering, this is a reasonable search one would make in the wake of fraudulent "oral histories" such as Roots and The Education of Little Tree.) Anyway, the inclusion of Custalow and Daniel as a “primary source” makes this book a huge disappointment.
There are a number of errors in the Voelker book, but I will confine my comments to the Custalow/Daniel issue. Voelker states that Angela Daniel is Mattaponi, which is not true, and she's not Powhatan either. He lists her name as “Little Star” when it should be written as “Silver Star.” Finally, Voelker arrives at the conclusion that Pocahontas was Mattaponi, an assertion that has no basis in fact. Pocahontas could have been Mattaponi or from any of the Powhatan tribes, but we’ll never know which. Powhatan Indians today don't agree on her tribe, so it would be nice if historians did not be offer up their conclusions about that without actual evidence. Ultimately, the Voelker book can be used to debate and question aspects of American history, but I hope Voelker:s students question his inclusion of the doubtful Custalow & Daniel source while they're at it.
[David Voelker was kind enough to reply to an email I sent him where I pointed out the issues I had with his book. I appreciate that he seems to be thinking about this, and that he took the time to reply. - Feb. 1, 2020]
On Custalow's True Story
Actual Mattaponi history can be found here:
Mattaponi Indian Reservation, King William County, Virginia Heritage Properties of Indian Town: The Mattaponi Indian Baptist Church, School, and Homes of Chiefly Lineages (2017) by Buck Woodard and Danielle Moretti-Langholtz (PDF at Academia - 150 pages)
mattaponi_research_report_for_distribution.pdf
Download File
Before and After Jamestown: Virginia's Powhatans and Their Predecessors
Helen C. Rountree and E. Randolph Turner III (2002)
University Press of Florida
ISBN-9780813028170
This collaboration by Rountree and Turner is a combination of their expertise on the Powhatan Indians, with summaries of the anthropology, archaeology, history and modern (to 2002) status of the Powhatans. It seems to be aimed at a segment of the reading population who would like an overview of Powhatan history and culture, but who don't feel the need to go into as much detail as previous Rountree works, such as The Powhatan Indians of Virginia (1989) or Pocahontas's People (1996). Those books can be a bit of a slog, so a more readable compilation of information is a good idea. This book also gives Rountree an opportunity to update some things, and with the expertise of Turner, it adds much information on the archaeological research going on in Virginia that really bolsters our understanding of what happened back in the day. The old colonizer records have been pretty much exhausted, but new artifacts continue to be unearthed that change how we view Powhatan and colonist life. Another way to look at this book is as a more in depth version of the Egloff/Woodward book, First People: the Early Indians of Virginia (2006), which covers many of the same topics aimed at a presumably younger audience.
Although I like this book well enough, it's not exactly a page turner, and despite it being more readable than other Rountree books (thanks to the influence of Turner, I assume), it's still a rather niche read. Also, since it's now 18 years old (in 2020 as I write this), the information on current Powhatan Indians is a little outdated. For example, you obviously won't see recent (2018) information about the Federal recognition of six Virginia tribes or how Powhatan tribes have fared in the 21st Century.. Still, this is a good book, and I found much that I hadn't read or noticed before.
Here are a few random things I learned from this book:
Helen C. Rountree and E. Randolph Turner III (2002)
University Press of Florida
ISBN-9780813028170
This collaboration by Rountree and Turner is a combination of their expertise on the Powhatan Indians, with summaries of the anthropology, archaeology, history and modern (to 2002) status of the Powhatans. It seems to be aimed at a segment of the reading population who would like an overview of Powhatan history and culture, but who don't feel the need to go into as much detail as previous Rountree works, such as The Powhatan Indians of Virginia (1989) or Pocahontas's People (1996). Those books can be a bit of a slog, so a more readable compilation of information is a good idea. This book also gives Rountree an opportunity to update some things, and with the expertise of Turner, it adds much information on the archaeological research going on in Virginia that really bolsters our understanding of what happened back in the day. The old colonizer records have been pretty much exhausted, but new artifacts continue to be unearthed that change how we view Powhatan and colonist life. Another way to look at this book is as a more in depth version of the Egloff/Woodward book, First People: the Early Indians of Virginia (2006), which covers many of the same topics aimed at a presumably younger audience.
Although I like this book well enough, it's not exactly a page turner, and despite it being more readable than other Rountree books (thanks to the influence of Turner, I assume), it's still a rather niche read. Also, since it's now 18 years old (in 2020 as I write this), the information on current Powhatan Indians is a little outdated. For example, you obviously won't see recent (2018) information about the Federal recognition of six Virginia tribes or how Powhatan tribes have fared in the 21st Century.. Still, this is a good book, and I found much that I hadn't read or noticed before.
Here are a few random things I learned from this book:
- Small to medium size dogs have been found buried with historical Native Powhatan remains, suggesting a pet or working relationship of some Powhatans with their dogs. p. 67
- The "Upper Mattaponi" tribal name was given to them by anthropologist Frank Speck (shortly after World War I) based on their location on the river, not necessarily indicating a historical relationship to the Mattaponi tribe of colonial times. p. 201
- There is an oral tradition that a mound on the Pamunkey reservation (which may have originated from railroad construction) is the burial site of Wahunsenaca. This is despite the fact that the same mound used to be described as the burial site of Opechancanough instead. This is interesting to me because it shows how easily oral tradition can change to meet new demands. p. 201
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Pocahontas
By Joseph Bruchac (2003) Harcourt, Inc. ISBN-9780152054656 I wish I had encountered this gem earlier, and I’d like to thank a visitor to my site for introducing me to it. (Thanks Sean!) It’s unlike many of the books on this page because it’s a historical novel, and it focuses on the roughly half year from John Smith’s arrival in the Chesapeake to the legendary “rescue” by Pocahontas, though the scope is expanded by flashbacks and narrator commentary. Narration of the story is shared by the fictionalized Pocahontas and John Smith in alternating chapters. The John Smith sections are based on Smith’s own journals, but imbued with the author’s slant on the prickly Smith personality. Pocahontas, whose words were scarcely recorded by the original chroniclers, is given the imagined character of a sincere, compassionate and curious Native American pre-teen observing extraordinary events. She struggles to fit the strange foreigners into her Powhatan worldview. |
The author, Joseph Bruchac, is Abenaki Indian, so the Pocahontas half of the book is respectful and informative regarding Algonquin lifestyle. Although I have read all of Rountree’s books on the Powhatans, I don’t consider myself an expert on the details of their culture, so I am taking this book more or less on faith that it represents 17th Century Powhatan ways accurately. I can say that it strikes me as plausibly correct.
An issue I had with the Pocahontas narration, and I suspect Bruchac must have struggled with it too, is who is Pocahontas directing her thoughts to? We know that John Smith recorded his thoughts to his contemporaries and to posterity to preserve his legacy and bolster his reputation.. Pocahontas, obviously, could not have been thinking along those lines, and she had no concept of "writing" at the time her thoughts are being made. I suppose we should just ignore any dissonance regarding what makes Pocahontas think like she does and accept her narration as a necessary parallel world to John Smith's. I suppose this point is kind of nitpick, but I mention it because there were a few occasions when I felt removed from the story by her explanation of her culture. I mean, why would anyone feel the necessity to explain their own culture in their own head? There was also a moment when Pocahontas referenced the Caribbean location of Kew-ba (Cuba) when recounting some oral history she’d heard about Don Luis, the Indian abducted and educated by the Spanish. I think it would have been better if Bruchac had her saying "a land far to the south" or something similarly vague, as it seems strange that she could know anything so specific about Cuba. But again, that's a nitpick.
All in all, I really like this book and feel it provides a more balanced view of events in Jamestown than many other accounts that purport to be non-fiction. The Indian assessment of the English as mostly cowardly, dishonest, smelly and stupid (except for John Smith) is interesting, and Bruchac’s Indian take on the John Smith astronomy lecture to Opechancanough is inspired (p. 136). I also love that Bruchac imagines that Pocahontas and her mother were from the Paspahegh tribe. There’s no proof that they were Paspahegh, but I look favorably on anything that helps counter the 2007 hoax that Pocahontas was Mattaponi. Anyway, this book comes highly recommended, and it would make great supplemental reading for high school students or university students studying colonial history, anthropology, or comparative cultures. The reading level information I've found says that this book could be read by junior high school students, but I'm skeptical that students of that age would find it compelling unless they are particularly advanced readers and have a special and focused interest in understanding the Jamestown story.
An issue I had with the Pocahontas narration, and I suspect Bruchac must have struggled with it too, is who is Pocahontas directing her thoughts to? We know that John Smith recorded his thoughts to his contemporaries and to posterity to preserve his legacy and bolster his reputation.. Pocahontas, obviously, could not have been thinking along those lines, and she had no concept of "writing" at the time her thoughts are being made. I suppose we should just ignore any dissonance regarding what makes Pocahontas think like she does and accept her narration as a necessary parallel world to John Smith's. I suppose this point is kind of nitpick, but I mention it because there were a few occasions when I felt removed from the story by her explanation of her culture. I mean, why would anyone feel the necessity to explain their own culture in their own head? There was also a moment when Pocahontas referenced the Caribbean location of Kew-ba (Cuba) when recounting some oral history she’d heard about Don Luis, the Indian abducted and educated by the Spanish. I think it would have been better if Bruchac had her saying "a land far to the south" or something similarly vague, as it seems strange that she could know anything so specific about Cuba. But again, that's a nitpick.
All in all, I really like this book and feel it provides a more balanced view of events in Jamestown than many other accounts that purport to be non-fiction. The Indian assessment of the English as mostly cowardly, dishonest, smelly and stupid (except for John Smith) is interesting, and Bruchac’s Indian take on the John Smith astronomy lecture to Opechancanough is inspired (p. 136). I also love that Bruchac imagines that Pocahontas and her mother were from the Paspahegh tribe. There’s no proof that they were Paspahegh, but I look favorably on anything that helps counter the 2007 hoax that Pocahontas was Mattaponi. Anyway, this book comes highly recommended, and it would make great supplemental reading for high school students or university students studying colonial history, anthropology, or comparative cultures. The reading level information I've found says that this book could be read by junior high school students, but I'm skeptical that students of that age would find it compelling unless they are particularly advanced readers and have a special and focused interest in understanding the Jamestown story.
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Marooned; Jamestown, Shipwreck, and a New History of America's Origin
By Joseph Kelly (2018) Bloomsbury Publishing ISBN-9781632867780 This book is something of a revelation. What's new about it is how Kelly chooses to shine light on minor players, the people who deserted Jamestown and became 'maroons.' Kelly points out that the prevailing view of the Jamestown story has come exclusively from the point of view of its leaders, who were all upper class and looked down on the commoners. The sailors and settlers who quickly became dissatisfied with their lot in Jamestown are generally portrayed as recalcitrant mutineers. Kelly, on the other hand, elevates them and casts them as freedom seekers. The people who ran away from Jamestown to join the Indians were the original pioneers in search of freedom,* and they did it by joining the Indians rather than building barriers against them. This is a point of view that has to be considered, and I regret taking so long to do it..Kelly also shines the light on Stephen Hopkins, a rebel in Bermuda during the time of the shipwreck, who may be considered the prototypical first American. |
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So many parts of Marooned touch on things I've written about on this website. I will need to revise my page on John Smith's gunpowder incident, as Kelly builds a pretty strong case for it being deliberate assassination attempt, (though I continue to have some doubts).The writer does choose to go off on some tangents, but I found that going with the flow when he did so was generally rewarded, as the discussions ultimately tied in. This book is a must read. I will say that the somewhat disconnected structure may make it a tough go for some readers. I would tackle it after reading Price or Horn, whose story-telling is more linear. But by all means, don't miss this one.
* I realize this characterization may sound like revisionist hyperbole, but you have to read the book to get the proper context.
* I realize this characterization may sound like revisionist hyperbole, but you have to read the book to get the proper context.
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The Jamestown Experiment
By Tony Williams (2011) Sourcebooks ISBN-9781402243530 This is a rather bare-bones telling of the Jamestown story that relies heavily on John Smith's account and which stands firmly with the colonists for their determination and bravery to defeat the Indians and fulfill England's mission of establishing a colony in North America. Powhatan Indians are mostly speed bumps in the way of European progress. The author's conclusion is that the colonists were most successful when they were freed from martial law and allowed to pursue individual wealth by acquiring land and planting tobacco. I'm guessing this book might be popular with parents of high school students being home-schooled, as it cannot be accused of revisionism. On the positive side, it's a quick read and hits most of the main Jamestown events. Famous moments in the life of Pocahontas are mentioned; if you put them all together, they'd probably amount to two pages out of 257. Williams seems a lot more interested in the story of the Sea Venture and its shipwreck in Bermuda, as that story takes up about a fifth of the book. |
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The author doesn't offer much in the way of analysis about Jamestown events and seems not to have covered any new ground. I can't complain about unfounded speculation as I often do on this site, as Williams pretty much sticks to the basic story. I will point out that his statement that Pocahontas died of tuberculosis is unsupported (p. 232). No one knows what caused her death. That Williams misspelled anthropologist Helen Rountree's name in the list of sources seems appropriate, as I doubt he spent much time reading her books (they are a bit of a slog). To end on a more positive note, the simplified narrative functions as a decent timeline of main events in the Jamestown story. Choose this book if you don't want to be too taxed while reading and manifest destiny, whether you understand it or not, sounds like a pretty good thing.
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1607: A New Look at Jamestown
by Karen E. Lange; photographs by Ira Block (2007) National Geographic ISBN-9781426300127 This is another Jamestown book that was published to coincide with the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Jamestown colony. It's a National Geographic book, so it features large, high-quality photos, mostly related to the archaeological sites at Jamestown and to the replicas of colonial era life found at the Jamestown Settlement park. This is a fairly slim volume (48 pages) and does not go into much depth on the Jamestown story, as it deals mostly with newly found (in 2007) archaeological evidence. This book seems to be a souvenir type book, i.e., one to be purchased at the area bookshops to commemorate a visit to Jamestown. It's written in lay person's language, and there is nothing terribly controversial in it, and it only mentions Pocahontas in the brief timeline at the back. |
I did learn a couple of things, which I will have to double check. For example, fairly soon after the colonists began trading with the Powhatans (by 1610), copper had lost much of its value due to oversupply. This is an important point because I write about the value of copper on my "How was Pocahontas captured?" page. The book also relates, based on a letter to the Spanish king, that 40 to 50 English men had married Indian women. I don't remember reading that elsewhere. Finally, the book says that 50 of 1,000 settlers in Jamestown by 1619 were African, and this doesn't include the 20 slaves who arrived in that year.
It's of minor interest to me that William Kelso writes in the foreword, "Understanding Jamestown is key to understanding how our nation came to be what it is today. Our language, our form of government, and our system of economics all have their roots in Jamestown." (p. 5). Meanwhile, in American Nations (by Colin Woodard), which I am also reading now, I read that the legacy of Jamestown is mainly how slavery took root there and throughout Tidewater to create the plantation lifestyle that led to the Civil War.
It's of minor interest to me that William Kelso writes in the foreword, "Understanding Jamestown is key to understanding how our nation came to be what it is today. Our language, our form of government, and our system of economics all have their roots in Jamestown." (p. 5). Meanwhile, in American Nations (by Colin Woodard), which I am also reading now, I read that the legacy of Jamestown is mainly how slavery took root there and throughout Tidewater to create the plantation lifestyle that led to the Civil War.
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That the Blood Stay Pure
by Arica L. Coleman (2013) Indiana University Press ISBN-9780253010438 That the Blood Stay Pure by Arica L. Coleman is a thought-provoking academic-style book that is only tangentially connected to Pocahontas. However, the book is useful for understanding the history of the Powhatan Indians, and it reveals African connections with the tribes going back centuries. Rountree’s books have touched on this topic, but it was somewhat glossed over, a stance which Coleman reacts strongly against. The way Coleman takes Rountree to task in this book is actually a little surprising. I had thought all along that Rountree had incurred Powhatan anger by mentioning a Black connection to Powhatan Indians in her detailed accounts of Powhatan anthropology and history, but to hear Coleman tell it, Rountree was more of a gate-keeper who prevented Blacks from assuming their rightful place in the Powhatan story. The issue is obviously complicated, and I don’t claim to have sorted it all out, so I have to be careful how I report this. In this synopsis, I will just describe the prologue of the book, which is the part most pertinent to my research. |
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The Prologue is called “Lingering at the Crossroads: African-Native American History and Kinship Lineage in Armstrong Archer’s A Compendium on Slavery”. This entire chapter has been available online as a PDF, and I had been fascinated by its contents long before I encountered the Coleman book. It relates the story of Armstrong Archer, of Norfolk, Virginia, who claimed to be the son of an African slave/freed man and a Powhatan (presumably Pamunkey) woman. The mother, Teecanopee, had claimed to be a descendant of Powcanoe, a purported younger sister of Pocahontas and daughter of Powhatan (Wahunsenaca). Archer had published his account in London in 1844 as a pamphlet and brought it back for distribution in the U.S. He spent his later years as a pastor in New York and Boston. The pamphlet has been of interest to historians for what it reveals about both Black slavery in Virginia and Native American oral tradition. Coleman’s interest lay in it being “the only surviving mid-nineteenth-century account written by a Powhatan Indian of African descent to provide clues about early contacts between African Americans and American Indians in Virginia.” (p. 23) My personal interest in Compendium is how it contrasts with the Custalow/Daniel hoax narrative while being closer in time to the events described..
Armstrong Archer's summary of the Pocahontas/John Smith rescue story is interesting because despite Archer's Powhatan mother being only recently descended from the generation that produced Pocahontas, Archer had to rely on John Smith's and William Stith's accounts of Jamestown history in order to summarize the Pocahontas rescue story. He was privy to other Powhatan oral histories, but apparently none of them shed light on what transpired with Pocahontas. On the other hand, the oral history story he did share, about Powhatan warriors outwitting the English colonists, reveals that Archer was comfortable telling a story that put the English in an embarrassing light, so had he been privy to information about Pocahontas's treatment that deviated from the established narrative, he likely would have revealed it in his self-published pamphlet. That he did not suggests that there was nothing to tell.
Different topic, but Coleman has committed one of my pet peeves re. inaccurate reporting about explorer John Smith, so I feel compelled to mention it here.
Links relevant to That the Blood Stay Pure
A compendium of slavery, as it exists in the present day in the United States of America, by Archer, Armstrong; (1844) Internet Archive
Article by Frederic W. Gleach, University of Chicago, 1992; archives of the Algonquian Conference
A Traditional Story of the Powhatan Indians Recorded in the Early 19th Century with PDF download
Armstrong Archer's summary of the Pocahontas/John Smith rescue story is interesting because despite Archer's Powhatan mother being only recently descended from the generation that produced Pocahontas, Archer had to rely on John Smith's and William Stith's accounts of Jamestown history in order to summarize the Pocahontas rescue story. He was privy to other Powhatan oral histories, but apparently none of them shed light on what transpired with Pocahontas. On the other hand, the oral history story he did share, about Powhatan warriors outwitting the English colonists, reveals that Archer was comfortable telling a story that put the English in an embarrassing light, so had he been privy to information about Pocahontas's treatment that deviated from the established narrative, he likely would have revealed it in his self-published pamphlet. That he did not suggests that there was nothing to tell.
Different topic, but Coleman has committed one of my pet peeves re. inaccurate reporting about explorer John Smith, so I feel compelled to mention it here.
- "In addition, [Smith] had made several prior claims of being rescued by a 'native' princess while on earlier expeditions." p. 249
Links relevant to That the Blood Stay Pure
A compendium of slavery, as it exists in the present day in the United States of America, by Archer, Armstrong; (1844) Internet Archive
Article by Frederic W. Gleach, University of Chicago, 1992; archives of the Algonquian Conference
A Traditional Story of the Powhatan Indians Recorded in the Early 19th Century with PDF download
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Tales from a Revolution: Bacon's Rebellion and the Transformation of Early America
James D. Rice (2012) Oxford University Press ISBN-9780195386943 This is a great, narrative-style account of what happened during and after Bacon's Rebellion of 1676. It mostly reads like a novel, and the final chapter explains some of what happened to Virginia Indian tribes in the aftermath of the incident. Bacon is kind of a polarizing figure; some have described him as one of the early patriots who opposed English rule. To others, he is more of a hot-headed, anti-Indian, anti-Berkeley, anti-Catholic fanatic. However, this book offers clues on how attitudes against co-existing with Indians became entrenched and accelerated the ethnic cleansing that took place at the end of the 17th Century on the East Coast of America. |
A Cold Welcome - The Little Ice Age and Europe's Encounter with North America
Sam White (2017)
Harvard University Press
ISBN-9780674244900
Sam White (2017)
Harvard University Press
ISBN-9780674244900
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White re-summarizes the colonization of North America by the Spanish, English and French, but adds the latest information on climate studies to show how the "Little Ice Age" caused both droughts and longer, colder winters that impacted European efforts. Europeans at the time knew little about how ocean currents affected climate and assumed that latitude was the main indicator of temperature and growing seasons, leading them to be unprepared for. the cold winters they encountered. Worse, they often failed to make adjustments in subsequent attempts, though the French appeared to be the quickest learners. It seems to me that there is more of a written historical record on issues of climate in the case of the Spanish and French compared to the English, so I am unable to draw a clear line between adverse climate and English failures in Jamestown. However, the information presented here does make me wonder how the cold winters may have affected Powhatan survival at a time when they were being pressured to leave their traditional hunting grounds by land hungry English colonists. The English were continually taking Powhatan corn, so if there was both drought and shorter growing seasons, the Powhatans must have been on the edge of survival at the same time as they were being introduced to European diseases. White does not really talk about this, but it's a conclusion that seems apparent.
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Although I like this book well enough, I have to mention an author failure that is rampant among historians who mention John Smith. Like so many others, White uses the mythic "too many rescues by beautiful women" trope to cast doubt on Smith's reliability:
- "... miraculous rescues by beautiful ladies ..." p. 117
- "... the number of last-minute rescues by women in Smith's autobiography already beggars belief. [47]" p. 118
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Voyages in Print: English Travel to America 1570-1624
Mary C. Fuller (1995) Cambridge University Press ISBN-9780521036504 A useful and insightful book on English colonization. In particular, Chap. 3 deals with John Smith and his writings on his contacts with the Indians and his mentions of Pocahontas. I expect to write more on this book, but for now, I'm just trying to give it some visibility. More to come. |
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Two of the books below, Jane and Walter Ralegh Architect of Empire, are out of order on my list because they don't mention Pocahontas and are somewhat tangental to the Jamestown story.
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Jane: Starvation, Cannibalism and Endurance at Jamestown
James Horn, William Kelso, Douglas Owsley, Beverly Straube (2013) The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and Preservation ISBN-9780917565151 This 50 page pamphlet style book, written by experts on the history and archaeology of Jamestown, boasts high quality photos and commentary on a very specific aspect of the Jamestown story, the cannibalism that occurred during the 'starving time' as evidenced by the remains of a single individual dubbed 'Jane.' The woman is believed to have been a 14-year old English servant girl who died like many others, but who was carved up after her death to feed the few remaining colonists at Jamestown in the winter of 1610, Specialists in forensic facial reconstruction have sculpted the woman's face to give us an idea of what she may have looked like in life (see image at left). The book contains no references to Pocahontas, but we may note that 'Jane' was likely born around the same time as Pocahontas--1596 is the estimated birth year for both of them. The Powhatan Indians are mentioned only for how they contributed to the 'starving time.'; i.e., they picked off colonists scavenging for food outside the fort walls. This is a good book for anyone interested in this specific topic who already has a decent grasp of the Jamestown story. Anyone who has doubts about cannibalism occurring at Jamestown would likely have a hard time refuting the evidence presented here. A quick read on an interesting and unexpected topic. |
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Walter Ralegh Architect of Empire
by Alan Gallay (2019) Basic Books, New York ISBN-9781541645790 This is another book that makes no mention of Pocahontas, but is still relevant for its discussion of English colonization efforts in the late 16th, early 17th centuries. There is also a chapter devoted to the artwork of John White and Theodore de Bry, who documented Secotan Indian life during a 1585-86 voyage to Roanoke, so the book will fill in some gaps I have in my page on Historical Images. As I had an association in my mind between Ralegh (also spelled Raleigh) and tobacco, I was somewhat surprised at how little tobacco figured into this Walter Ralegh biography. The book only mentions that Ralegh smoked it in court (p. 174), which helped to spread its use in England and across Europe. Considering the effect the tobacco trade had on English desire for Powhatan land, this apparently minor aspect of Ralegh's life had an outsized influence on the course of English/Powhatan relations and history. |
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Parts of this book were a slog to get through, namely the historical records relating to land ownership and land use in Ireland, where Ralegh administered the Munster plantation. On the other hand, as I expected, English colonization of Ireland created a template for English colonization of Virginia. Military conquest is an obvious aspect of both places, but I learned that the English used starvation tactics against the Irish, just as they later did against the Powhatans. I read here also that the taking of natural resources, such as timber, fish, iron and more was ongoing in Ireland in the century preceding the entry to Virginia. We know that the English in Virginia hoped to duplicate Spanish procurement of gold and silver in the hopes of quick riches, but ultimately that fantasy served mainly in attracting settlers to America, while the real riches turned out to be more mundane products of the land, just as they were in Ireland. John Smith is sometimes portrayed as being prescient for advocating English focus on these natural commodities, but that reality had been ongoing in Ireland for many decades. Interestingly, there was also a parallel between the Irish and the Indians re. freedom of movement. Apparently the Irish moved their cattle from place to place, which the English found to be barbaric and contrary to good governance (and probably taxation). The Indians, though they didn't have cattle, followed game where it took them, a habit the English put a stop to as soon as they could, putting up fences and restricting movement.
Gallay makes much of Ralegh's friendship with Indians and his desire to create North and South American colonies that existed in cooperation with the natives instead of the taking of their land by conquest. As we know in hindsight, that idea never really had any prospect of success, being a minority viewpoint and losing its major proponent when Ralegh's head was removed from his body in 1618.
Gallay makes much of Ralegh's friendship with Indians and his desire to create North and South American colonies that existed in cooperation with the natives instead of the taking of their land by conquest. As we know in hindsight, that idea never really had any prospect of success, being a minority viewpoint and losing its major proponent when Ralegh's head was removed from his body in 1618.
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Reference
Captain John Smith: Writings with Other Narratives of Roanoke, Jamestown, and the First English Settlement of America James Horn (editor; 2007) Library of America ISBN-9781598530018 A weighty tome of original chronicler writings (with a weighty title!) printed on thin onionskin-type paper like a bible, this book is an essential reference for students of the Jamestown story. I haven't read this one from cover to cover (though I hope to get to it someday!), as I have with the other titles on this list. I use it for reference mainly. Pretty much everything in this collection is available online, but what this book offers is an index, which is handy for finding mentions of 'Pocahontas' or other keywords. I used this for finding all the references Smith made of Pocahontas on my "What was the relationship between Pocahontas and John Smith?" page, as it's easy to see the references chronologically. Anyway, don't buy this for light reading, but it's the bible of Jamestown chronicler writings for those who need all of the important accounts in one volume. |
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Book Review (2005): covers Townsend, Rountree, Allen and Price above; no paywall
Pocahontas: (De)Constructing an American Myth, by Michelle LeMaster, William & Mary Quarterly, LXII, No. 4
Pocahontas: (De)Constructing an American Myth, by Michelle LeMaster, William & Mary Quarterly, LXII, No. 4
Fred Fausz article on HNN that references some of the books above (and my own comments).
In the course of my (admittedly casual) research on Pocahontas, I stumbled across this article by ethnohistorian and university professor, Fred Fausz where he comments on some of the books above. Fausz's article appeared in 2007 on the History News Network site and was apparently timed to coincide with Virginia's 400 year anniversary celebration of the founding of Jamestown. The article laments the lack of academic rigor and accuracy among modern historians, and Fausz is concerned about the current trend towards commercialism and cultural pandering in our historical accounts. He takes some drive-by shots at a number of Jamestown related books, including several of those I've reviewed above. I'm going to repeat his comments here and riff off them a bit.
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In the course of my (admittedly casual) research on Pocahontas, I stumbled across this article by ethnohistorian and university professor, Fred Fausz where he comments on some of the books above. Fausz's article appeared in 2007 on the History News Network site and was apparently timed to coincide with Virginia's 400 year anniversary celebration of the founding of Jamestown. The article laments the lack of academic rigor and accuracy among modern historians, and Fausz is concerned about the current trend towards commercialism and cultural pandering in our historical accounts. He takes some drive-by shots at a number of Jamestown related books, including several of those I've reviewed above. I'm going to repeat his comments here and riff off them a bit.
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- The best-selling Love and Hate in Jamestown: John Smith, Pocahontas, and the Heart of a New Nation (!) by journalist David A. Price, merely recasts Smith's accounts into a soap opera, while missing the opportunity to add new information. - Fausz
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- Anthropologist Helen C. Rountree's Pocahontas, Powhatan, Opechancanough: Three Indian Lives Changed by Jamestown, in contrast, is too creative in peddling a purported Indian view of Virginia colonization to anniversary readers, but the passive tense of her subtitle shows the problem of that approach. - Fausz
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- Camilla Townsend's seriously-flawed Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma is misleading due to a misreading of critical original sources. Referring to a famous 1590 De Bry engraving of an Indian girl and her mother, Townsend contends that the child is "holding a powder horn," which "has often been taken [by other historians] to be a doll in Elizabethan dress." But it is clearly that, and Thomas Harriot's caption directly underneath the picture confirms that the English at Roanoke brought dolls to give to Indian children. - Fausz
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- Paula Gunn Allen's even worse book, Pocahontas: Medicine Woman, Spy, Entrepreneur, Diplomat, is a fictionalized, error-filled study masquerading as biography. The Laguna Pueblo author considers Pocahontas the "female counterpart to . . . George Washington," and she credits the "inspiration" she received by "soak[ing] up . . . Algonquin whispers . . . of the Wampanoag women" at Plimoth Plantation--as well as "direct and startling messages" communicated by the spirit of Pocahontas herself! Allen's claim that the "battle" of March 22, 1622 "resulted in few deaths among the English" (my italics) reveals the historical dishonesty in so-called "Native American views" of the Powhatan Massacre, which Rountree and Frederic W. Gleach similarly promote (see my essay, "The First Act of Terrorism in English America," HNN, January 16, 2006). Twisted terminology and suspect "evidence" produce ethnic polemics, not "authentic history."
New York Times review of The Complete Works of Captain John Smith (1580-1631). New York Times archive from June 29, 1986, for reference purposes
(C) Kevin Miller 2018
Last updated May 7, 2022
Last updated May 7, 2022
