Pocahontas the Mediator
By: Kendra Zitzman
Pocahontas and her early life
Through out Pocahontas's life she was taught to help everyone no matter who they were and this translated into how she helped the people of Jamestown by combining the English settlers and the Native Americans lives and showed them how both groups could work in harmony. Pocahontas's early life was different than most of the Indian girls her age. She was treated like a young lady preparing for motherhood and marriage but she was different than most. She was a free spirit. She birth name was Amonute but she was called Pochahontas meaning "playful one" because of her playful nature. She was treated as any other Indian child being that she leaned how to cool, grow crops, and learning the basics of the land she lived on, but on her free time she explored the land and learned more abut the place that she called home. Pochahontas was 11 years old when the settlers of Jamestown came to the Americas. As any other girl of that age she had a fascination with people invading her home. She grew to be interested in one settler inparticularly John Smith. This fascination grew into something more and led to the saving of the colony of Jamestown,
Love and Survive in the New World
Throughout the colonization of Jamestown Pocahontas helped them in more than one way. When the English first arrived in the new world Powatan wanted to kill John Smith but the brave Pocahontas jumped in front of him and saved his life. This began a growing love between the two and helped the Indians and English grow together. Pocahontas was of great help to the English Colonists, she had knowledge of the land they were trying to survive in. She was able to help teach them new planting methods and the most effective ways to make shelter and grow food. She was able to identify the berries that would be edible and she knew ways to make clothes from resources. The most significant thing that Pocahontas did for the English Colony of Jamestown was protect them from Indian attacks. The English would not have survived if they had Indian attacks facing them daily, the Indians were fierce and at that time, the masters of the land and they could take down weak English Colonists any day. She showed that the Indians and English could live in harmony together and could both benefit from knowledge that the others lacked. This lead to the ability for the English to survive and create the land we know today.
Her later life
Many years after the settlement of Jamestown John Smith got injured and had to go back to England for support and proper medicine. No one told Pocahontas and she thought for many years that he had died and no one would tell her. Without John Smith to interact with Pocahontas the relationship of the Indians and the English fell apart and the Indians started to attack them and the colony started to fail. The English were mad and wanted revenge so without John Smith to stop it they thought the best was to show the Indians a piece of their mind was to capture the Indian Princess. They shoved her on a English ship until a couple months later the released her. Pocahontas married John Rolfe who was the man who helped Jamestown prosper the most by bringing tobacco and a new way to grow tobacco to the colonies. He is know for saying " You don't work, you don't eat." They had a child, a little baby boy. John Rolfe and Pocahontas headed back for England to report to the Queen about the progress of Jamestown. While sitting outside to her shock John Smith her first love showed up. All of this time she thought he died but he had just returned to England. Her happy shock turned into anger and she was frustrated that she was not told about his returning and she believed that he had betrayed her. Not much after Pocahontas and she son came down with pneumonia and they decides to head back to Virgina to be with her family in this time. Not even a week into the journey Pocahontas died in her husband's arms. Her son survived and lived a long prosperous life. Pocahontas died at the age of 22. Although her life was short it affected the world we live in today.