Controversies

Part of what makes the Pocahontas story so fascinating is that Pocahontas is unknowable. We agree that she was real, and we know that some of her activities were recorded by others, and we know that either by accident or because of her strength of personality, she influenced the course of American history. But most of the details of her life are a mystery, so we are forced to imagine her and take our best guesses with the information and prejudices we have to create a Pocahontas that seems plausible. And since each person wishes to see Pocahontas in a different way, we are left to argue over the details, with little hope for definitive answers. In a way, the continuing controversies about Pocahontas are what keep her alive in our history books and in our consciousness.

Controversies that will be discussed here are;​

• Is John Smith's account of his rescue by Pocahontas true?
• Did John Smith misunderstand a Powhatan 'adoption ceremony'?
• What was the relationship between Pocahontas and John Smith?
• Is it possible that John Smith never actually met Pocahontas?
• Was Smith's gunpowder accident actually a murder plot?
• What should we make of Smith's "rescues" by so many women?
• How should we view John Smith's credibility overall? (page in progress)
• How was Pocahontas captured?
• Did Pocahontas willingly convert to Christianity?
• Were Pocahontas and John Rolfe in love? (page in progress)
• What was the meaning of Pocahontas's final talk with John Smith?
• How did Pocahontas die?
• How did John Rolfe die?
• Was there a Powhatan prophecy that predicted the arrival of enemies from the east?
• Why didn't the Powhatan Indians wipe out the Jamestown settlers when they had the chance?
• When did the balance of power shift from the Powhatans to the English?
• How big a part did European diseases play in the Jamestown story?  (page in progress)

Last updated April 5, 2020 / Banner photo by Hadley-Ives