The story of Pocahontas and John Smith has turned from compelling historical story of a brave woman who united two warring nations, to a melodramatic, oversimplified love story. In reality, Pocahontas likely never view Smith as more than a friend, since she was 11 when they first met. But they won't meet quite yet. We need to talk about the world they both inhabit, and the nations that will collide in the early 17th century.
Then, on the creature of the week, you'll see why you want to bring hair clippers when checking on your infant in the middle of the night.
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I stumbled onto this podcast after it was recommended to my by my oldest daughter and thoroughly enjoyed Romulus and Remus, Guest and King Olaf, not the mention Tatterhood. Still it was with some trepidation that I began listening to your account of the “true” story of Pocahontas. As a Native person I haven’t had a lot of great experiences with non-Native accounts of Native history. I saw your version described as a “Native perspective” and decided to give it a shot anyway. I was disappointed. The account given doesn’t quite match up with the Mattaponi history and fails to mention the reasons the Mattaponi give for why Matoaka couldn’t have warned Smith of the impending attack. It also leaves out Rolfe’s considerable ulterior motives for marrying Matoaka, that of getting an in with the Mattaponi so he would have access to learning Mattaponi tobbaco curing techniques which were a huge part of making James Town financially successful. Not only that but it seems worth mentioning she never saw her father or her oldest child after being tricked into boarding the English ship. It’s not really the story of a woman who fostered peace but instead the sad tale of one of the first Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.
There were watch’s in that time called chronometer