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Is it possible that John Smith never actually met Pocahontas?
This is not really a controversy, and I don't hope to turn it into one. The question arises because of a short passage in The Inconvenient Indian, by Thomas King, a Canadian writer who self-identifies as part Cherokee and who often writes about First Nations issues. The passage is as follows:
From The Inconvenient Indian: A curious account of native people in North America (2012) by Thomas King
"... My favourite old chestnut features Pocahontas and Captain John Smith. The original story, the one Smith told, is that he was captured by the Powhatan in 1607, shortly after arriving in what is now Virginia. He was taken to one of the main villages, and just as the Indians made ready to kill him, he was saved by the daughter of the head man, a young woman whom all of us know as Pocahontas. It's a pretty good tale. And 1607 wasn't the first time Smith had used it. Before he came to America, he had been a soldier of fortune, had found himself in a number of tight spots, and, according to the good Captain, had been befriended and / or saved by comely women. Smith makes mention of three such women in his writings, the Lady Tragabigzanda in Turkey, the Lady Callamata in Russia, and Madam Chanoyes in France, all of whom "assisted" him during his trials and tribulations as a young mercenary. Lucky guy. Of course, the story of heroes being saved by beautiful maidens is a classic and had been around for centuries. Personally, I don't believe that Smith knew Pocahontas. I certainly don't believe that she saved him or that they had any sort of relationship. His first mention of her doesn't come until Pocahontas arrived in England in 1616. By then, as an authentic American Indian princess, she had acquired a certain fame and notoriety, and Smith, I suspect, eager to bathe once again in the warmth of public glory, took the stock story out of storage, dusted it off, and inserted Pocahontas's name in the proper place. Helen [King's wife] likes details, and she is inordinately fond of footnotes. I'm not. But because I love her, I try to accommodate her needs. So, here are the facts, as we know them. Smith does come to Virginia in 1607. He is most likely captured by the Powhatan people. Whether they want to kill him or not is a moot point. The reality is they don't. He gets back to the colony in one piece, is injured in a gunpowder explosion, and returns to England in 1609. Did he know Pocahontas? There's nothing to indicate that he did. Did he have a relationship with her as the Disney folks suggest in their saccharine jeu d'esprit? Well, at the time of the supposed meeting, Smith would have been twenty-seven and Pocahontas would have been about ten, maybe twelve years old. Possible, but not probable. Still, the story, false though I believe it to be, has been too appealing for North America to ignore. And we have dragged the damn thing--with its eroticism and exoticism, its White Hero and its dusky maiden--across the continent and the centuries." p. 8, 9 |
My reaction to King:
When I first read this passage, I was a little surprised at the notion that John Smith could have fabricated all of his meetings with Pocahontas, and I had to go back and review the historical record to see if there was even a possibility of truth to this. It turns out that King simply had his facts wrong.
King says "I don't believe that Smith knew Pocahontas." He further states "There's nothing to indicate he did." I guess we could quibble about the meaning of "knew," but John Smith is the first person in recorded history to mention Pocahontas. In his 1608 publication, A True Relation., Smith states,
Smith also mentioned Pocahontas in 1612 in A Map of Virginia. This is still several years before she had gained any "fame and notoriety." The text suggests (but does not prove) a friendly relationship between Smith and Pocahontas. In a section of the document where Smith lists some of the Powhatan words and phrases he knows, he includes this sentence:
King is happy to point out how popular culture gets the Pocahontas story wrong, but he wasn't very careful about unearthing the actual facts himself.
King also implies in the above that Smith had told stories prior to 1607 of being rescued by "comely" women. One might think, for example, that Smith told this story once in 1603, then again in 1605, and again in 1607, each time substituting a new and more beautiful heroine. That's not quite how it worked. Smith first told the story of being rescued by a woman (Pocahontas) in 1622. He later (in 1624) wrote of being helped by other women, all of these incidents having occurred earlier in his life. One might argue that there's no essential difference, but it's clear that King is imprecise in his account. As for the women all being "comely" (i.e., beautiful), Smith only indicated that the Lady Tragabigzanda was "beauteous," while Lady Callamata was described as "charitable" and Madame Chanoyes was merely "good."
I'm also slightly irritated at King's easy potshot at Disney. The folks at Disney by no means created the legend of Pocahontas and John Smith; they only repeated it, and they never claimed to be making a historical documentary. I view this as King pushing some easy buttons to tap into already existing Native American dissatisfaction with the Disney portrayal of Pocahontas.
Finally, King states that stories about heroes being saved by beautiful maidens are a "classic," implying that Smith was just repeating a common trope that we would all recognize. So, Dear Reader, in 30 seconds, how many of those "classic" stories can you recall? Tick, tick, tick. Yeah, I couldn't think of any either. {I admit, this is a nitpick, as the charge is plausible and has been pointed out by historians. I guess my nitpick is King's use of "of course," which implies that even non-historians should obviously know and agree on this.]
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My comments above notwithstanding, The Inconvenient Indian is an interesting book, and it introduced me to the story (actually myth) of the Almo Massacre, which I hope to write about in this site someday. Thank you, Mr. King, for that.
When I first read this passage, I was a little surprised at the notion that John Smith could have fabricated all of his meetings with Pocahontas, and I had to go back and review the historical record to see if there was even a possibility of truth to this. It turns out that King simply had his facts wrong.
King says "I don't believe that Smith knew Pocahontas." He further states "There's nothing to indicate he did." I guess we could quibble about the meaning of "knew," but John Smith is the first person in recorded history to mention Pocahontas. In his 1608 publication, A True Relation., Smith states,
- Powhatan, understanding we detained certaine Salvages, sent his Daughter, a child of tenne yeares old: which, not only for feature, countenance, and proportion, much exceedeth any of the rest of his people: but for wit and spirit, the only Nonpariel of his Country. (1608)
Smith also mentioned Pocahontas in 1612 in A Map of Virginia. This is still several years before she had gained any "fame and notoriety." The text suggests (but does not prove) a friendly relationship between Smith and Pocahontas. In a section of the document where Smith lists some of the Powhatan words and phrases he knows, he includes this sentence:
- Kekaten pokahontas patiaquagh niugh tanks manotyens neer mowchick rawrenock audowgh Bid Pokahontas bring hither two little Baskets, and I wil give her white beads to make her a chaine..
King is happy to point out how popular culture gets the Pocahontas story wrong, but he wasn't very careful about unearthing the actual facts himself.
King also implies in the above that Smith had told stories prior to 1607 of being rescued by "comely" women. One might think, for example, that Smith told this story once in 1603, then again in 1605, and again in 1607, each time substituting a new and more beautiful heroine. That's not quite how it worked. Smith first told the story of being rescued by a woman (Pocahontas) in 1622. He later (in 1624) wrote of being helped by other women, all of these incidents having occurred earlier in his life. One might argue that there's no essential difference, but it's clear that King is imprecise in his account. As for the women all being "comely" (i.e., beautiful), Smith only indicated that the Lady Tragabigzanda was "beauteous," while Lady Callamata was described as "charitable" and Madame Chanoyes was merely "good."
I'm also slightly irritated at King's easy potshot at Disney. The folks at Disney by no means created the legend of Pocahontas and John Smith; they only repeated it, and they never claimed to be making a historical documentary. I view this as King pushing some easy buttons to tap into already existing Native American dissatisfaction with the Disney portrayal of Pocahontas.
Finally, King states that stories about heroes being saved by beautiful maidens are a "classic," implying that Smith was just repeating a common trope that we would all recognize. So, Dear Reader, in 30 seconds, how many of those "classic" stories can you recall? Tick, tick, tick. Yeah, I couldn't think of any either. {I admit, this is a nitpick, as the charge is plausible and has been pointed out by historians. I guess my nitpick is King's use of "of course," which implies that even non-historians should obviously know and agree on this.]
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My comments above notwithstanding, The Inconvenient Indian is an interesting book, and it introduced me to the story (actually myth) of the Almo Massacre, which I hope to write about in this site someday. Thank you, Mr. King, for that.
Camilla Townsend, in her book Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma (2004) had something to say about John Smith's familiarity with Pocahontas.
My comment (Edit: Oct. 14, 2019):
I am not actually as certain as Camilla Townsend seems to be that Smith interacted with Pocahontas during his captivity. It's possible, of course, but we'll never know. I include Townsend's paragraph here as interesting speculation on how well Smith may have known Pocahontas.
- "That John Smith got to know Pocahontas at least a little during his days in Werowocomoco seems beyond doubt. She lived there, and her later life proved her to be both outgoing and curious. ... When she later made a brief appearance of only a few hours at the English fort, Smith called her 'the nonpareil of her country' in the report he sent home immediately afterward. If she had been a gorgeous fifteen-year-old, he might--for obvious reasons--have needed only a few minutes to decide that was what he thought of her; but he would not have come to such a judgement of a ten-year-old so immediately without any previous acquaintance." p. 59
My comment (Edit: Oct. 14, 2019):
I am not actually as certain as Camilla Townsend seems to be that Smith interacted with Pocahontas during his captivity. It's possible, of course, but we'll never know. I include Townsend's paragraph here as interesting speculation on how well Smith may have known Pocahontas.
Those curious about King's statement in The Inconvenient Indian (above) that "the story of heroes being saved by beautiful maidens is a classic and had been around for centuries" need not wonder about it, as I'm providing a possible source here (Tilton's 1994 book, Pocahontas: The Evolution of an American Narrative). The Philip Young cited by Tilton in footnote 12 refers to the author of "The Mother of Us All: Pocahontas Reconsidered" from Kenyon Review, 24, 3 (Summer 1962) p. 391-415.
From Pocahontas: The Evolution of an American Narrative (1994), by Robert S. Tilton
From Pocahontas: The Evolution of an American Narrative (1994), by Robert S. Tilton
- "Philip Young has pointed out that some aspects of the Pocahontas narrative have sources that date to the classical age. [12} The stories of the salvation of Jason through the efforts of the enamored barbarian princess Medea, and of the engendering of the Roman race through the joining of the foreign soldier Aeneas to the indigenous princess Lavinia, certainly contain aspects of the later myth." p. 6
Another writer casts doubt on John Smith meeting Pocahontas!
I just stumbled on this article from The Atlantic (March 21, 2017) by Associate History Professor Gregory D. Smithers, of Virginia Commonwealth University where he says "it’s not clear that Pocahontas ever met Smith" and "Smith himself didn’t mention Pocahontas in his initial accounts of the Powhatan Indians." I am fairly stunned by these assertions, particularly the second, which is demonstrably false. I will attempt to contact him and see if I get a reply. {Sept. 10, 2018)
The Enduring Legacy of the Pocahontas Myth, by Gregory D. Smithers, The Atlantic, March 21, 2017
[Update: Nov. 7, 2018.
It's been almost two months since I tried to contact Prof. Smithers from my university email address to his, and he hasn't replied. I suppose I should leave room for the possibility that I wasn't polite enough in pointing out his error, so he felt no inclination to reply. I just hope he doesn't write any more articles about Pocahontas, or that he at least checks his own assertions against the historical record. Also, The Atlantic, which says it ."wants to know what [I] think" had no comment on this either. Oh, well.]
I just stumbled on this article from The Atlantic (March 21, 2017) by Associate History Professor Gregory D. Smithers, of Virginia Commonwealth University where he says "it’s not clear that Pocahontas ever met Smith" and "Smith himself didn’t mention Pocahontas in his initial accounts of the Powhatan Indians." I am fairly stunned by these assertions, particularly the second, which is demonstrably false. I will attempt to contact him and see if I get a reply. {Sept. 10, 2018)
The Enduring Legacy of the Pocahontas Myth, by Gregory D. Smithers, The Atlantic, March 21, 2017
[Update: Nov. 7, 2018.
It's been almost two months since I tried to contact Prof. Smithers from my university email address to his, and he hasn't replied. I suppose I should leave room for the possibility that I wasn't polite enough in pointing out his error, so he felt no inclination to reply. I just hope he doesn't write any more articles about Pocahontas, or that he at least checks his own assertions against the historical record. Also, The Atlantic, which says it ."wants to know what [I] think" had no comment on this either. Oh, well.]
excerpt
From 'The Enduring Legacy of the Pocahontas Myth' (2017) - The Atlantic
Relevant Documents
Virtual Jamestown - First-Hand Accounts - By Date
- A True Relation by Captain John Smith, 1608 at Virtual Jamestown
- The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England and the Summer Isles by Captain John Smith (PDF)
- A Map of Virginia. with a Description of the Countrey, 1612
- Excerpts from The True Travels, Adventures, and Observations of Captain John Smith (1630; html)
- All of John Smith's references to Pocahontas (compiled by me on this site; html)
Virtual Jamestown - First-Hand Accounts - By Date
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(C) Kevin Miller 2018
Updated Oct. 14, 2019
Updated Oct. 14, 2019
