Analysis Of Pocahontas And The Powhatan Dilemma

In Camilla Townsend’s historical monograph, Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma, Townsend points out that there are several historical inaccuracies and myths that are associated with the story of Pocahontas. Using historical evidence to support the story of Pocahontas, Townsend attempted to create an accurate timeline bringing the past to the present. This monograph attempts to recapture the humanity that the myth of Pocahontas stole from Amonute. We learn about the Native American girl behind the myth but also the about Virginia’s founding. Townsend’s thesis argues that the Algonquin girl took on the role of Pocahontas to serve the settlers and backers of the Jamestown expedition. According to Townsend, she “was brave as all her people – not

Townsend examines the months following the establishment of Jamestown and what follows is related to Pocahontas’s kidnapping, imprisonment, marriage, conversion to Christianity, and her death. She presents each of these situations from the perspective of Pocahontas, not the English. With this perspective change, Townsend is showing how Pocahontas and her people managed English colonialism according to their objectives. The Virginian Algonquians sought to establish their relationship with the English on their own terms. These terms would be favorable to themselves. Townsend states, “Realpolitik, not inherent egalitarianism, dictated the limits of Powhatan’s power” (p.

She does this by putting down the other key players of the time. The historiography of colonial Virginia needs to focus on all of those individuals who impacted the course of Virginia history through their choices. Without this biographical information of these key figures, besides Pocahontas, there is a lack of an ability to examine colonial Virginia in a new way. Townsend places Pocahontas at the scene of Smith’s execution and adoption into the Powhatan society. This is planned by her father. In the case of Smith, Townsend agrees with the evidence produced by previous scholars that Smith’s life was never in danger. The incident was simply an adoption ritual in the eyes of the Powhatan. This contradicts other accounts of the time. Throughout the monograph, Townsend views Powhatan as being less than the realpolitik. She states that “the Indians were not essentially different form Europeans” (p. 14). The Algonquians were a political powerhouse and made decisions to benefit them. These decisions were nothing like the decisions made by the Europeans and were made to defy colonialism and were made to protect their culture and their