- Home
- History
-
Controversies
- Controversies
- 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?
- How should we view John Smith's credibility overall?
- How was Pocahontas captured?
- Did Pocahontas willingly convert to Christianity?
- What should we make of Smith's "rescues" by so many women?
- Were Pocahontas and John Rolfe in love?
- 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?
- Why didnt the Indians wipe out the settlers?
- 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?
- Books
- Art
- Films
- Powhatan Tribes
- Links
- Site Map
- Contact
What was the tribe of Pocahontas?
Slideshow video text. Scroll down to see the slideshow. The numbers below match the slide numbers.
1) What was the tribe of Pocahontas?
This is a 3-part slideshow video series on the tribe of Pocahontas.
2) For real information about Pocahontas, see my website at pocahontaslives.com. It’s a non-monetized educational site with absolutely nothing for sale. {This site!]
3) You may wonder why I need multiple videos to answer the question of Pocahontas’s tribe. Basically, I’m going to answer the question in this first video. In later videos I’ll go into some details about possible descendants of Pocahontas and unverified claims by some individuals and tribes that are controversial.
So let’s get to it!
4) Pocahontas, as you know, was a pre-teenage Native American girl who made an impression on the English colonists when they founded the Jamestown colony back in 1607. The colonists knew that she was the daughter of Wahunsenaca (more commonly known today as Powhatan), and some said she was his favorite daughter.
5) It’s possible Pocahontas had as many as 100 brothers and sisters, and I’m inclined to think that this whole ‘favorite daughter’ thing was just a literary flourish on the part of the original Jamestown chroniclers. But who knows, really?
Anyway, we can say with near certainty that Pocahontas was a Powhatan Indian, but what does that really mean, and how does that connect to her tribe?
6) The English had been making excursions along the east coast of North America for some decades. They had attempted to found a colony at Roanoke in 1585 and 1587, but those colonies ultimately failed.
7) However, the English learned some things about the area and about the Indians, and they began to set their sights on the Chesapeake Bay area, which was some 150 miles further north.
8) In 1607, three English ships, the Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery, arrived in the Chesapeake Bay and began looking for a site to found the colony commissioned by the London Company.
9) They settled on a somewhat swampy peninsula which they named Jamestown and they began exploring.
10) They soon figured out that the Indians in the area were organized into various tribes along the rivers, but that these tribes were connected in allegiance to their paramount chief, Wahunsenaca, who the English called Powhatan. The word Powhatan came to refer to both the confederation of tribes there and to their leader, Wahunsenaca. Wahunsenaca lived at Werowocomoco further north on the York River.
11) The area that the English explored around the James and York Rivers was mapped by the English settler John Smith, who became one of the more prominent of the original Jamestown settlers. The original map, which came to be known as the Map of Virginia, looked like this. For a better view, go to my website. North is actually to the right..
[John Smith's Map of Virginia at NPS.gov site]
12) To see where we’re talking about, the area in yellow on this map is roughly the area under the Powhatan confederacy. With this, we can see how the area matches up with current geography.
13) This map shows the location of most of the tribes within that area, based on the information in John Smith’s Map of Virginia.
14) According to Smith’s information, there were roughly 28 tribes in the Powhatan Confederacy. Anthropologist Helen C. Rountree made a list of 30 in 1989 based on information from both John Smith and William Strachey, a later colonist. Rountree’s list is here, but you can also see it on my website.
We should notice that the spelling of these tribes changes according to various sources. Smith and the others wrote the names down phonetically, and ethnohistorians have tweaked those spellings over the years.
|
Occohannock
Accomac Chesapeacke Nansemond Warraskoyack Quiyoughcohannock Weyanock |
Appamattuck
Powhatan Arrowhateck Chickahominy Paspahegh Kecoughtan Chiskiack Youghtanund |
Pamunkey
Mattapanient Werowocomoco Piankatank Opiscopank Nandtaughtacund Cuttatawomen I Pissaseck |
Rappahannock
Moraughtacund Cuttatawomen II Wiccocomico Sekakawon Onawmanient Patawomeck |
15) So now I’m starting to zero in on what we know, or actually, don’t know, about Pocahontas’s tribe.
Smith and Strachey and the others sometimes matched particular individuals with their tribes. For example, Opechancanough, a Powhatan warrior chief who had several interactions with John Smith, was identified as Pamunkey. Iopassus (sometimes referred to as Japazaws) was a chief of the Patawomecks. Opitchipam, a brother or half-brother of Wahunsenaca, was identified as Pamunkey. Pepiscunimah (aka Pipsco) was a chief of the Quiyoughcohannock.
16) Unfortunately, the original chroniclers, Smith, Strachey and others, never identified a tribe of Pocahontas and never identified her mother. In terms of historical documentation, we only know that Pocahontas was the daughter of Wahunsenaka and a Powhatan Indian from one of the roughly 30 tribes of the Powhatan confederacy.
17) Now, you may ask, why does it matter that Pocahontas’s mother was not identified? So … tribal identity in Powhatan society was determined by the mother. When Wahunsenaca took a wife from a confederated tribe, one of the purposes of that was to foster ties between the seat of power and the confederated tribe.
18) When a wife of Wahunsenaka became pregnant, she would return to her tribe, give birth, and raise the child in her tribe. The child would learn the ways of her tribe and establish social and family ties. When the child became old enough to live separately from the mother, the child would return to Wahunsenaca’s village. Later, as an adult, he or she could act as an intermediary between Wahunsenaca and the birth tribe as needed.
19) We do not have any historical information about Pocahontas’s mother or to which tribe she and Pocahontas belonged.
20) OK, so historically, we don’t know the tribe of Pocahontas, but what do the Powhatan tribes that exist today say?
I can’t speak for the Powhatan tribes, but I will try to answer this based on what we know from publications in which Powhatan tribes participated. For the moment, I am trying to keep this separate from what some individuals have said whose authority to speak for their tribes is questionable.
As far as I can tell, there are 3 books on the Powhatan Indians that have had extensive input from multiple Powhatan tribes. There are, of course, many other books written about the Powhatans from a scholarly point of view that may be accurate, but which did not feature much input or fact checking by the Powhatans themselves.
21) The 3 books with input from Powhatan tribes are …
22) None of these books identifies a tribe of Pocahontas. All of them had input or fact checking by multiple Powhatan representatives.
23) We’re Still Here (2006). This book was edited by Sandra F. Waugaman and Danielle Moretti-Langholtz, Ph.D. It contains input from the chiefs of the state-recognized tribes of Virginia, plus several other Virginia Indians. It is mainly about current (in 2006) Indian life, and not so much about history, but some historical information is included, and each tribe described what was characteristic about themselves. Pocahontas is mentioned as having lived at Werowocomoco, but there is no mention anywhere of her tribe or her mother.
24) First People: The Early Indians of Virginia (2006) . This book was written by Keith Egloff and Deborah Woodward. It describes the writing as a collaboration between the authors, the Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources and the Virginia Indian community. Many people from both the academic community and local Indian tribes are acknowledged for their input. The book covers the history and culture of Virginia Indians and devotes a chapter to Indian tribes today, where each tribe’s current (in 2006) situation is summarized. Again, Pocahontas is not described as coming from a specific tribe, and her mother is not mentioned.
25) Virginia Indians at Werowocomoco (2015). This is the most recent of the three books, and is published by the National Park Service, with writing credited to Lara Lutz, E. Randolph Turner III, David A. Brown, Thane Harpole and Danielle Moretti-Langholtz. The Virginia Indian Advisory Board, with representatives from the Virginia tribes, was acknowledged for its “expertise, perspective and counsel.” The book covers Powhatan history, culture, archaeology and the current status of Powhatan tribes. The book mentions Pocahontas as “Powhatan’s young daughter” but makes no mention of her tribe or her mother.
26) So again, none of these books, vetted by multiple Powhatan tribes, mentions a tribe of Pocahontas. The unwillingness of tribes to come together and state a tribe of Pocahontas is a pretty good indication that there is no definitive answer.
27) Author and researcher Helen C. Rountree is not Native American, and so obviously not Powhatan, but she is an acknowledged expert on Powhatan culture from an anthropological perspective. She has published more about the Powhatan Indians than any other scholar. She has conducted extensive interviews with Powhatan tribespeople, heard the oral histories, and examined the historical record, including the existing court records. She has always maintained that the tribe of Pocahontas is unknown.
28) Here’s a quote by Rountree from her 2005 book: “One daughter of Powhatan got and kept his attention - and ours - by sheer force of personality, and that was Pocahontas. Her mother’s name and background were never recorded. If her English husband knew, he did not write it down, and no one else seems to have been interested at the time. However, if the girl had had a mother of exotic origin, John Smith would probably have said so in his 1624 Generall Historie, which had factual additions to his earlier works, as well as exaggerations. Smith uttered not a word about the mother, or about where Pocahontas had spent her early years.” - from Pocahontas, Powhatan, Opechancanough: Three Indian Lives Changed by Jamestown (2005), p. 35, 36.
29) But what about individual claims that Pocahontas belonged to a particular tribe? Yes, individuals have offered claims, opinions and guesses about Pocahontas’s tribe. Anthropologist Buck Woodard (a Native American scholar and recently a historical consultant on the Jamestown TV series) has said that nearly every Powhatan tribe has claimed Pocahontas at one time or another.* And that’s what I’ll talk more about in my next slideshow videos, along with how people may or may not be related to Pocahontas by descent.
30) A final note: We sometimes hear the terms Algonquin or Algonquian. Algonquian refers to the language spoken by the Powhatans. This contrasts with the nearby language group Siouan. I have sometimes seen mistaken references to Pocahontas being from the “Algonquin tribe” [sic]. This is an incorrect use of the term Algonquin, because Algonquin is not a Powhatan tribe. However, we can say that Pocahontas was an Algonquian Indian if we are trying to specify which language group she was a part of.
* Note also that there are people called Algonquin located in Quebec. Pocahontas had no connection to these people other than that the Powhatans and the Algonquins both fall within the Algonquian language group.
31) Wikipedia has a nice explanation on “Algonquian peoples” if you want to know more about that.
32) So as for the question of “What was the tribe of Pocahontas?”, all we know is that Pocahontas was a Powhatan Indian from one of the confederated Powhatan tribes, or perhaps less likely from one of the neighboring loosely associated tribes. We do not know the specific tribe, and we likely never will. Most of the tribes have vanished and cannot make a claim to her. Any claims made by individuals or tribes today lack evidence and are unproven. Pocahontas was a Powhatan Indian. That's all we know.
33) Check out my website, Pocahontas LIves!, and my next slideshow videos on this topic. Cheers!
34) references
Smith and Strachey and the others sometimes matched particular individuals with their tribes. For example, Opechancanough, a Powhatan warrior chief who had several interactions with John Smith, was identified as Pamunkey. Iopassus (sometimes referred to as Japazaws) was a chief of the Patawomecks. Opitchipam, a brother or half-brother of Wahunsenaca, was identified as Pamunkey. Pepiscunimah (aka Pipsco) was a chief of the Quiyoughcohannock.
16) Unfortunately, the original chroniclers, Smith, Strachey and others, never identified a tribe of Pocahontas and never identified her mother. In terms of historical documentation, we only know that Pocahontas was the daughter of Wahunsenaka and a Powhatan Indian from one of the roughly 30 tribes of the Powhatan confederacy.
17) Now, you may ask, why does it matter that Pocahontas’s mother was not identified? So … tribal identity in Powhatan society was determined by the mother. When Wahunsenaca took a wife from a confederated tribe, one of the purposes of that was to foster ties between the seat of power and the confederated tribe.
18) When a wife of Wahunsenaka became pregnant, she would return to her tribe, give birth, and raise the child in her tribe. The child would learn the ways of her tribe and establish social and family ties. When the child became old enough to live separately from the mother, the child would return to Wahunsenaca’s village. Later, as an adult, he or she could act as an intermediary between Wahunsenaca and the birth tribe as needed.
19) We do not have any historical information about Pocahontas’s mother or to which tribe she and Pocahontas belonged.
20) OK, so historically, we don’t know the tribe of Pocahontas, but what do the Powhatan tribes that exist today say?
I can’t speak for the Powhatan tribes, but I will try to answer this based on what we know from publications in which Powhatan tribes participated. For the moment, I am trying to keep this separate from what some individuals have said whose authority to speak for their tribes is questionable.
As far as I can tell, there are 3 books on the Powhatan Indians that have had extensive input from multiple Powhatan tribes. There are, of course, many other books written about the Powhatans from a scholarly point of view that may be accurate, but which did not feature much input or fact checking by the Powhatans themselves.
21) The 3 books with input from Powhatan tribes are …
- We’re Still Here - 2006
- Virginia Indians at Werowocomoco - 2015
- First People - 2006
22) None of these books identifies a tribe of Pocahontas. All of them had input or fact checking by multiple Powhatan representatives.
23) We’re Still Here (2006). This book was edited by Sandra F. Waugaman and Danielle Moretti-Langholtz, Ph.D. It contains input from the chiefs of the state-recognized tribes of Virginia, plus several other Virginia Indians. It is mainly about current (in 2006) Indian life, and not so much about history, but some historical information is included, and each tribe described what was characteristic about themselves. Pocahontas is mentioned as having lived at Werowocomoco, but there is no mention anywhere of her tribe or her mother.
24) First People: The Early Indians of Virginia (2006) . This book was written by Keith Egloff and Deborah Woodward. It describes the writing as a collaboration between the authors, the Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources and the Virginia Indian community. Many people from both the academic community and local Indian tribes are acknowledged for their input. The book covers the history and culture of Virginia Indians and devotes a chapter to Indian tribes today, where each tribe’s current (in 2006) situation is summarized. Again, Pocahontas is not described as coming from a specific tribe, and her mother is not mentioned.
25) Virginia Indians at Werowocomoco (2015). This is the most recent of the three books, and is published by the National Park Service, with writing credited to Lara Lutz, E. Randolph Turner III, David A. Brown, Thane Harpole and Danielle Moretti-Langholtz. The Virginia Indian Advisory Board, with representatives from the Virginia tribes, was acknowledged for its “expertise, perspective and counsel.” The book covers Powhatan history, culture, archaeology and the current status of Powhatan tribes. The book mentions Pocahontas as “Powhatan’s young daughter” but makes no mention of her tribe or her mother.
26) So again, none of these books, vetted by multiple Powhatan tribes, mentions a tribe of Pocahontas. The unwillingness of tribes to come together and state a tribe of Pocahontas is a pretty good indication that there is no definitive answer.
27) Author and researcher Helen C. Rountree is not Native American, and so obviously not Powhatan, but she is an acknowledged expert on Powhatan culture from an anthropological perspective. She has published more about the Powhatan Indians than any other scholar. She has conducted extensive interviews with Powhatan tribespeople, heard the oral histories, and examined the historical record, including the existing court records. She has always maintained that the tribe of Pocahontas is unknown.
28) Here’s a quote by Rountree from her 2005 book: “One daughter of Powhatan got and kept his attention - and ours - by sheer force of personality, and that was Pocahontas. Her mother’s name and background were never recorded. If her English husband knew, he did not write it down, and no one else seems to have been interested at the time. However, if the girl had had a mother of exotic origin, John Smith would probably have said so in his 1624 Generall Historie, which had factual additions to his earlier works, as well as exaggerations. Smith uttered not a word about the mother, or about where Pocahontas had spent her early years.” - from Pocahontas, Powhatan, Opechancanough: Three Indian Lives Changed by Jamestown (2005), p. 35, 36.
29) But what about individual claims that Pocahontas belonged to a particular tribe? Yes, individuals have offered claims, opinions and guesses about Pocahontas’s tribe. Anthropologist Buck Woodard (a Native American scholar and recently a historical consultant on the Jamestown TV series) has said that nearly every Powhatan tribe has claimed Pocahontas at one time or another.* And that’s what I’ll talk more about in my next slideshow videos, along with how people may or may not be related to Pocahontas by descent.
30) A final note: We sometimes hear the terms Algonquin or Algonquian. Algonquian refers to the language spoken by the Powhatans. This contrasts with the nearby language group Siouan. I have sometimes seen mistaken references to Pocahontas being from the “Algonquin tribe” [sic]. This is an incorrect use of the term Algonquin, because Algonquin is not a Powhatan tribe. However, we can say that Pocahontas was an Algonquian Indian if we are trying to specify which language group she was a part of.
* Note also that there are people called Algonquin located in Quebec. Pocahontas had no connection to these people other than that the Powhatans and the Algonquins both fall within the Algonquian language group.
31) Wikipedia has a nice explanation on “Algonquian peoples” if you want to know more about that.
32) So as for the question of “What was the tribe of Pocahontas?”, all we know is that Pocahontas was a Powhatan Indian from one of the confederated Powhatan tribes, or perhaps less likely from one of the neighboring loosely associated tribes. We do not know the specific tribe, and we likely never will. Most of the tribes have vanished and cannot make a claim to her. Any claims made by individuals or tribes today lack evidence and are unproven. Pocahontas was a Powhatan Indian. That's all we know.
33) Check out my website, Pocahontas LIves!, and my next slideshow videos on this topic. Cheers!
34) references
Slideshow: "What was the tribe of Pocahontas?"
Re. a Mattaponi claim to Pocahontas, see the article on this site, "Meeting in the Middle: Myth-making in The True Story of Pocahontas: The Other Side of History"
- Home
- History
-
Controversies
- Controversies
- 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?
- How should we view John Smith's credibility overall?
- How was Pocahontas captured?
- Did Pocahontas willingly convert to Christianity?
- What should we make of Smith's "rescues" by so many women?
- Were Pocahontas and John Rolfe in love?
- 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?
- Why didnt the Indians wipe out the settlers?
- 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?
- Books
- Art
- Films
- Powhatan Tribes
- Links
- Site Map
- Contact