Pocahontas Statue, Gravesend

[poliphilo]

No-one knows what killed Pocanhontas, but she must have been wide open to any infection that was going the rounds. She was taken ill shortly after boarding a ship bound for Virginia and died in the arms of her husband, John Rolfe. She was buried in the chancel of St George's Church at Gravesend- a place of honour befitting her status as a daughter of "King" Powhatan. She was in her early 20s.

Comments

[artkouros.livejournal.com]

Yes, there was a lot of money made in the process.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Well of course, but I hate to be wholly cynical about the process. From what we know about the Jamestown colony- which isn't a huge amount- the early relationship between settlers and natives was edgy but basically friendly.

[artkouros.livejournal.com]

By the time of the Jamestown settlement, the native population of the east coast had already been decimated by plagues brought by cod fishermen who came in the 1500's. Whole villages had been wiped out and could still be seen, littered with skeletons. The extermination of the Indians over the next 250 years was relentless and shameful. I'll grant that hatred of the Indians and the self serving righteousness of the English (and Americans) wasn't universally held, but it was certainly a majority view.

My first ancestor in America came from Plymouth in 1633. The puritans and pilgrims were a nasty grim folk full of righteous prejudice and superstition. I'm afraid I don't hold them in high regard.

A very good book about the indigenous Americans before contact with Europe is Charles C. Mann's "1491".