|
|
Pocahontas Revealed
|
|
|
|
Classroom Activity
|
Activity Summary
Students rewrite the story of Pocahontas based on archeological and
historical evidence.
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to:
-
copy of the "Examining an American Myth" student handout (PDF
or
HTML)
-
copy of the "The Legend of Pocahontas" student handout (PDF
or
HTML)
Background
Pocahontas' story has been told for centuries. The popular legend
holds that Pocahontas risked her life to save Captain John Smith. As
told by Smith, he was brought to Chief Powhatan, the paramount chief
of the Powhatan nation that included many districts and lesser
chiefdoms. There Smith was welcomed and offered a great feast.
Following the feast, he was grabbed by the Indians and forced to lie
on two large, flat stones. Indians stood over him with clubs, ready
to beat him. Pocahontas rushed to Smith, took his head in her arms,
and laid her own head on him in order to save him from death. Chief
Powhatan decided to spare Smith's life.
Recent archeological excavations have uncovered the site to which
Smith was brought, Werowocomoco, and artifacts found at the site and
historical evidence paint a different view of that possible
meeting—that Smith was there to establish a trade
relationship, that the chief may have been interested in bringing
Smith into his tribe in order to rule over him, and that Pocahontas'
actions may have been part of traditional adoption rituals by the
Indians.
In this activity, students explore the differences between the
traditional Pocahontas legend and the story that archeological and
historical evidence has revealed.
-
Tell students that they have been hired by a textbook company.
The company is about to revise its most popular history textbook
and the publishers would like them to write a new story of
Pocahontas based on the most recent scientific research.
-
Organize students into teams of three and distribute the
"Examining an American Myth" student handout to each team. Have
team members decide which of the historical figures each team
member will take notes on while watching the program: John
Smith, Pocahontas, or Chief Powhatan.
-
As they watch, have students take notes on their chosen
historical figures. When they have finished viewing, have
students work in their teams to exchange information they have
learned about their figures.
-
Distribute "The Legend of Pocahontas" handout to each team. Have
students discuss and compare their new observations with the
traditional story. Then have students individually write a new
version of the story based on what they have learned.
-
Ask students to volunteer to present their rewritten stories.
After the volunteers' presentations, compare stories and discuss
any major differences among them. Do students think that
Pocahontas was at the meeting between Chief Powhatan and Smith?
Why or why not? If she was, what might have been her role there?
-
As an extension, have students read
The True Story of Pocahontas: The Other Side of History
by Angela L. Daniel and Linwood Custalow (2007), which presents
Pocahontas' story from the viewpoint of the descendents of her
own tribe. After reading the book, have students revisit the
further revise their stories about Pocahontas's role in
relations with the English colonists.
The following story lists some of the information learned and
conclusions drawn from archeological and historical evidence.
Students may list additional information from the program; accept
all reasonable answers.
Possible New Story
Archeologists identified the Werowocomoco site and uncovered
evidence of a longhouse like the one described by Captain John
Smith. Pocahontas may or may not have been at the meeting in the
longhouse between Chief Powhatan and Smith. Because she was the
chief's chosen child, and was likely with her father much of the
time, she may have been there. If she was, and if she did throw
herself onto Smith to save him, it may not have been because of a
romantic impulse. Some historians believe she may have done it
because she was playing her appointed role in an adoption ritual.
Because copper was found at the site, which was determined through
testing to be English copper, some archeologists believe Smith may
have been meeting with the chief to discuss trade. Smith may have
wanted to trade scraps of copper for food for the colonists, while
the chief may have been more interested in adopting Smith as a
Powhatan and placing Smith under his domain. After freeing Smith
from captivity, Chief Powhatan called him son.
While no one knows for sure whether Pocahontas and Smith had a
romantic relationship, historians doubt this is true. Smith
respected Pocahontas and Pocahontas seemed fond of him, but nothing
indicates that they were romantic.
In 1608, Pocahontas brought food to the English colonists when their
settlement was on hard times. Good relations ensued between the two
cultures—until the Indians stopped bringing food. Tree-ring
research showed this occurred when a severe drought affected the
region and the Indians may have feared they would not have enough
food to feed themselves.
The English started a war with the Virginia Indians to take what
they wanted; Chief Powhatan and his people abandoned Werowocomoco in
1609 because of the hostilities. Smith was badly burned in a
gunpowder explosion during this time and returned to England, and
Pocahontas was told that Smith was dead. The English later captured
Pocahontas. She eventually converted to Christianity, married John
Rolfe, and returned with Rolfe to England. While in England, she
learned that Smith was still alive and saw him again for the first
time in eight years. She expressed her sadness to him that Smith, as
a tribal family member, did nothing to try to contact her or her
father or come back to help them. A few months after the meeting,
Pocahontas died.
Web Sites
NOVA—Pocahontas Revealed
www.pbs.org/nova/pocahontas/
Provides articles, interviews, interactive activities, and resources
in a companion Web site to the program.
Four Faces of Pocahontas
www.co.henrico.va.us/manager/pokeypix.htm
Shows four depictions of Pocahontas and recounts her story.
Pocahontas
www.apva.org/history/pocahont.html
Tells the story of Pocahontas' life from birth to death.
Powhatan History
www.powhatan.org/history.html
Describes the Powhatan Renape Nation and includes information about
Powhatan history and the Powhatans today.
Virtual Jamestown
www.virtualjamestown.org/page2.html
Includes virtual recreations of the Jamestown fort, interviews with
contemporary Indians, interactive maps, source documents, and
classroom use tips.
Books
Pocahontas
by Joseph Bruchac. Harcourt, 2005.
Chronicles what happened to the Powhatans and the Virginia colonists
from two different perspectives, that of Pocahontas and Captain John
Smith.
Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma
by Camilla Townsend. Hill and Wang, 2004
Traces Pocahontas's life from her childhood and youth to her
eventual marriage to John Rolfe and her move to England.
Pocahontas's People: The Powhatan Indians of Virginia Through
Four Centuries
by Helen C. Roundtree. University of Oklahoma Press, 1996.
Tells the story of the Powhatans from 1607 through the late 1900s.
The True Story of Pocahontas: The Other Side of History
by Angela L. Daniel and Linwood Custalow. Fulcrum Books, 2007.
Shares the previously unpublished oral history of the Mattaponi
tribe—one of the original core tribes of the Powhatan
chiefdom—and its memories of 17th-century Jamestown.
The "Examining an American Myth" activity aligns with the following
National Science Education Standards (see
books.nap.edu/html/nses).
Grades 5-8
History and Nature of Science
Nature of science
Grades 9-12
History and Nature of Science
Historical Perspectives
Classroom Activity Author
Developed by James Sammons and WGBH Educational Outreach staff.
Sammons has taught middle and high school science for 30 years. His
teaching practices have been recognized by the National Science
Teachers Association, the Soil Conservation Service, and the
National Association of Geoscience Teachers.
|
