Pocahontas

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Pocahontas on an engraving from 1616

Pocahontas [ ˈpɒkəˌhɒntəs ] ("the playful", "the one who messes everything up"; * around 1595 in Virginia ; †  March 21, 1617 in Gravesend , southeast of London ; actually Matoaka , later married to Rebecca Rolfe ) was the favorite daughter of an Indian chief Mediator between the Virginia-Algonquin tribes and the English colonists . It forms the historical core of a historical myth about the supposedly peaceful settlement of North America by the Europeans .

Life

Pocahontas was better than daughter of the Indian chief Wahunsonacock, known as Powhatan, the Powhatan - Sachem born, and one of his wives and called Amonute and Matoaka too. Pocahontas was her nickname. She is described as one of her father's favorite daughters.

According to tradition, Powhatan married numerous women, each of whom bore only one child and was then sent away and supported materially by him until she found a second husband.

According to the report of Captain John Smith , Pocahontas is said to have saved him from death through personal intervention by throwing herself protectively in front of him when Pocahontas' father tried to kill him. In a cartoon by the Walt Disney Studios and in the US feature film The New World , she is told a love story with Smith. In fact, this romance never actually existed.

As one of the chief's favorite daughters, Pocahontas had some influence on him. While he and the social group of warriors initially did not want to tolerate the presence of the whites, Pocahontas was of the opinion that peaceful coexistence and an exchange of cultures must be possible. She also helped the European settlers in America to improve their nutritional situation by teaching them which plants were edible. She also taught John Smith the language of her tribe.

William Strachey made a note in 1616 that, prior to her marriage to Rolfe, Pocahontas had been married to a warrior named Kocoum (who was the brother of the Patawomeck weroance Japazaws and had a child named Ka-Okee with him, who by the Patawomecks was raised). There are no further indications; and there is controversy as to whether Strachey spoke of Rolfe.

In 1613 the English lured them onto a ship near Stafford . There she was initially held as a hostage . During the time of her imprisonment she received Christian lessons from Alexander Whitaker , she converted to Christianity and was baptized "Rebecca". Historians are unclear as to whether baptism was voluntary or compulsory. The name Rebecca refers to the biblical Rebecca, "mother of two nations" through her sons Jacob and Esau. This is how Pocahontas was sometimes seen by contemporaries. In 1614 she married the Virginia planter John Rolfe . Both Pocahontas and Rolfe emphasized that they did not marry for the lust of the flesh. Rather, in the social class of Pocahontas (similar to the European nobility), marriage from a political point of view was common. According to his own words, Pocahontas hoped that her marriage would help to secure peace and the friendly coexistence of cultures and to consolidate the social position of her family. Rolfe hoped that the marriage would also protect his interests in his planting. He also believed that marriage would save Pocahonta's soul. He also hoped to help release English prisoners through the wedding. He said that he married not for the lust of the flesh but for the sake of the plantation, for the glory of his land and for the glory of God.

The marriage resulted in eight years of peace between the Jamestown colonists and the Virginia Algonquin and a flourishing of trade. In 1615 Ralph Hamor wrote:

"Since the wedding we have had friendly commerce and trade not only with Powhatan but also with his subjects round about us."

"Since the wedding, we have had friendly trade not only with Powhatan, but also with his subjects around us."

In 1615 their son Thomas Rolfe was born. She came to the English royal court as her father's ambassador . There Pocahontas was received in 1616 as the only "Indian princess" and ambassador of her "royal" father Powhatan recognized by the English royal family. Because of her grace and her bright mind, she was very popular among the nobles; nevertheless, the court disapproved of Rolfe's marriage to Pocahontas, because, unlike her, he was not of royal blood. Pocahontas, now called "Rebecca Rolfe", died shortly before starting the return journey to Virginia in Gravesend (in the northwest of Kent ). According to Rolfe, she died saying that everyone was mortal and that it was enough for her to know that her child was alive. Depending on the source, pneumonia , tuberculosis , typhoid or smallpox are named as the cause of their early death . The burial took place on March 21, 1617 at St. George's Church in Gravesend. She was probably buried under the pulpit; however, since the church was destroyed by fire in 1727, the exact location of her grave is unknown. A copper engraving from her time at court has survived showing her in the court costume of that time.

The dome of the Capitol in Washington is adorned with a mural depicting the Native American baptism.

family

Through their son Thomas, Pocahontas had numerous descendants, most of whom were members of the white upper class. Many of the “first families in Virginia” (FFV), as the rich and prominent families there call themselves, can still be traced back to Pocahontas and Rolfe.

Her descendants include Edith Bolling Galt Wilson , wife of Woodrow Wilson , attorney and Brigadier General George Wythe Randolph , Admiral Richard Byrd , Virginia's Governor Harry F. Byrd , fashion designer Pauline de Rothschild ; former first lady Nancy Reagan , actors Glenn Strange , George W. Bush and mathematician Percival Lowell .

reception

History myth

Alonzo Chappel: Pocahontas Rescued John Smith, circa 1865
Statue of Pocahontas, St George's Church, Gravesend, Kent, England

Pocahontas is at the center of a historical myth that whites repeatedly tell : She is presented as a female noble savage , i.e. as an indigenous person willing to assimilate , who would have possessed the virtues of whites by nature. This myth served to legitimize the violent conquest of America . Smith's salvation appears in this narrative as evidence of the Algonquians' willingness to embrace the values ​​of European culture, which would have provided the basis for a harmonious relationship between the two groups, but which, unfortunately, was undone by other vicious indigenous people.

Place names

Numerous places in the USA are named after Pocahontas. These include:

Also:

Further designations

Pocahontas was also the namesake for one of the richest hard coal deposits in West Virginia. From 1930 to 1960 one of the Norfolk and Western Railway's luxury trains was called Pocahontas. Four United States Navy ships were named USS Pocahontas and one was named USS Princess Matoika. This posthumous naming was controversial because Pocahontas was a pacifist all his life .

US President Donald Trump mockingly describes candidate Elizabeth Warren as Pocahontas after she claimed to have Indian ancestors.

Bank note

So far, only two women have been depicted on US banknotes: Martha Washington , the wife of George Washington , and Pocahontas.

literature

In his story, Seelandschaft mit Pocahontas (1955), Arno Schmidt refers to the Indian princess, in which the protagonist uses her name as a nickname for his holiday lover.

In his post-modern novel The Tobacco Dealer (1960), the American writer John Barth sexualized the Pocahontas myth with a satirical intention: he invented an Indian custom according to which the groom had to deflower the bride before marriage . Because of Pocahontas' special anatomy, many have already failed. Captain Smith can only do this with the help of a plant.

Social sciences

The cultural scientist Klaus Theweleit makes Pocahontas the namesake of his thesis that conquerors justified their conquest and colonization in many cases with reports about royal daughters. In these myths and stories, the woman would admire the stranger, betray her culture and traditional property claims and hand over the land with her body. Besides Pocahontas, Medea , Dido , Cleopatra and Malinche serve as examples .

astronomy

The asteroid (4487) Pocahontas was discovered in 1987 and named after her in 1991.

music

A particularly popular musical memorial was given to Pocahontas and Captain Smith in a line of text from the song Fever by Otis Blackwell (pseudonym: John Davenport) and Eddie Cooley. The track was made famous by artists such as Peggy Lee (1958) and Elvis Presley (1960) and is still covered by well-known artists today.

In 1979 Neil Young released his song Pocahontas on the album Rust Never Sleeps . a. was covered by Johnny Cash .

In 2016, the German rock band AnnenMayKantereit released a song called Pocahontas, which entered the German single charts and was also included on the band's number 1 album Alles nix Konkretes from the same year. It's about a broken relationship.

Movies

literature

  • Paula Gunn Allen : Pocahontas. Medicine woman, spy, entrepreneur, diplomat. HarperSanFrancisco, New York NY 2003, ISBN 0-06-053687-X .
  • Philip L. Barbour: Pocahontas and her world. A chronicle of America's first settlement in which is related the story of the indians and the englishmen - particularly Captain J. Smith, Capt. S. Argall, and Master J. Rolfe. Hale, London 1970, (below).
  • Barbara Bartos-Höppner : Pocahonta's chief daughter. With pictures by Gerlinde Mader. Esslinger Verlag et al., Esslingen et al. 1996, ISBN 3-215-13086-6 .
  • Stuart E. Brown Jr., Lorraine F. Myers: Pocahontas' descendants. A revision, enlargement, and extension of the list as set out by Wyndham Robertson in his book "Pocahontas and her descendants" (1887). 3rd corrections and additions. 2nd printing. Genealogical Publications, Baltimore MD 2003
  • Linwood "Little Bear" Custalow, Angela L. Daniel "Silver Star": The true story of Pocahontas. The other side of history. From the sacred history of the Mattaponi reservation people. Fulcrum, Golden CO 2007, ISBN 978-1-55591-632-9 .
  • Tobias Döring: Pocahontas / Rebecca. In: Claudia Breger, Tobias Döring (Hrsg.): Figures of / the third. Exploration of cultural in-between spaces (= international research on general and comparative literary studies. Vol. 30). Rodopi, Amsterdam et al. 1998, ISBN 90-420-0592-0 , pp. 179-209.
  • Helen C. Rountree: Pocahontas, Powhatan, Opechancanough. Three Indian Lives Changed by Jamestown. University of Virginia Press, Charlottesville VA 2005, ISBN 0-8139-2323-9 .
  • Klaus Theweleit :
    • Pocahontas. 1: Pocahontas in Wonderland. Shakespeare on tour. Stroemfeld, Frankfurt am Main / Basel 1999, ISBN 3-87877-751-5 (German);
    • Pocahontas. 2: Book of the King's Daughters. Of men of gods and women of men. Myth-making, pre-Homeric, American. Stroemfeld, Frankfurt am Main / Basel 2013, ISBN 978-3-87877-752-6 .
    • Pocahontas. 4: "You give me fever". Arno Schmidt. Seascapes with Pocahontas. Writing sexuality according to WW II. Stroemfeld, Frankfurt am Main / Basel 1999, ISBN 3-87877-754-X .

Web links

Commons : Pocahontas  - collection of images, videos and audio files

See also

  • Squanto - similar to Pocahontas, saved the European newcomers from starvation

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Historic Jamestown - Pocahontas: Her Life and Legend. A brochure from the US National Park Service.
  2. ^ Ralph Hamor: A True Discourse of the Present Estate of Virginia. 1615. Reprint in: Edward Wright Haile (Ed.): Jamestown narratives. Eyewitness accounts of the Virginia Colony. The first decade, 1607-1617. RoundHouse, Champlain VA 1998, ISBN 0-9664712-0-2 , p. 802.
  3. ^ Henry Spelman: A Relation of Virginia. 1609. Reprint in: Edward Wright Haile (Ed.): Jamestown narratives. Eyewitness accounts of the Virginia Colony. The first decade, 1607-1617. RoundHouse, Champlain VA 1998, ISBN 0-9664712-0-2 .
  4. ^ Charles Dudley Warner : The Story of Pocahontas. In: Charles Dudley Warner: Captain John Smith (1579–1631), sometime Governor of Virginia and Admiral of New England. A Study of his Life and Writings. Henry Holt and Co., New York NY 1881, pp. 200-246 .
  5. ↑ Kevin White: Kidnapping of Pocahontas Highway Marker. The Historical Marker Database (hmdb.org), August 30, 2007, accessed March 21, 2017.
  6. ^ André Maurois : The history of America. Rascher, Zurich 1947, p. 42.
  7. ^ Ralph Hamor: A True Discourse of the Present Estate of Virginia. 1615. Reprint in: Edward Wright Haile (Ed.): Jamestown narratives. Eyewitness accounts of the Virginia Colony. The first decade, 1607-1617. RoundHouse, Champlain VA 1998, ISBN 0-9664712-0-2 , p. 809.
  8. ↑ Rolfe. Letter to Edwin Sandys. P. 71
  9. ↑ St. George's Church - Gravesend: Pocahontas .
  10. ^ Suzi Parker: We are family. March 31, 2000.
  11. ^ Robert S. Tilton: Pocahontas: The Evolution of an American Narrativ (= Cambridge Studies in American Literature and Culture. 83). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 1994, ISBN 0-521-46959-7 , p. 191.
  12. ^ Heike Paul: The Myths That Made America. An Introduction to American Studies. Transcript, Bielefeld 2014, ISBN 978-3-8376-1485-5 , pp. 91-94 (accessed from De Gruyter Online).
  13. ↑ Peter Hulme: Colonial Encounters. Europe and the native Caribbean, 1492-1797 Methuen, London / New York 1986, p. 172.
  14. ↑ Bank Note Museum - United States of America, banknotes with Pocahontas
  15. ↑ Philip Young: The Mother of us all: Pocahontas. In: Same: American Fiction, American Myth. Essays. Pennsylvania University Press, University Park 2000, p. 38; Joseph Weixlmann: '… such a devotee of Venus is our Capt…': The Use and Abuse of Smith's “General Historie” in John Barth's “The Sot-Weed Factor”. In: Studies in American Humor 2, Issue 2 (1975), pp. 105-115; Heike Paul: The Myths That Made America. An Introduction to American Studies. Transcript, Bielefeld 2014, ISBN 978-3-8376-1485-5 , p. 120 (accessed via De Gruyter Online).
  16. ↑ Ulrike Fokken, Edith Kresta: "Former gods, today people". Interview with Klaus Theweleit on taz.de , October 5, 2013, accessed on March 21, 2017.
  17. ↑ Minor Planet Circ. 17657
  18. ↑ Pocahontas - The Legend on film-lexikon.de
  19. ↑ Pocahontas: The Legend in the Internet Movie Database (English)
  20. ↑ also as a radio play version by Disky NL
  21. ↑ All 4 volumes of the tetralogy have the title Pocahontas (1–4) because Theweleit is considered exemplary.
personal data
SURNAME Pocahontas
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Matoaka
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Indian princess
DATE OF BIRTH around 1595
PLACE OF BIRTH Virginia
DATE OF DEATH March 21, 1617
Place of death London , England