Early Jamestown Ritual

There were many key events and people in the founding and success of Jamestown but the most important people and events, to me, were Captain Smith, Pocahontas, and the ritual of death and rebirth. Jamestown revolved around Captain Smith, Pocahontas, and the ritual of death and rebirth. Captain Smith had valuable knowledge about survival. He knew the Algonquian language to trade with the native tribes that were already at Virginia. Captain Smith has good leadership skill and is sometimes able to command the gentlemen to work alongside commoners, even though he is a commoner. On page 70 and 71, 2 native men approach Jamestown with baskets full of berries and bread. When he went on an exploration trip in Chapter 14 (where Captain Smith talks

It states on page 120, “...I heard the voice of a child, begging for my life to be spared…. She came running over to me. She ignored the men with their raised clubs. She gathered my head in her arms, and laid her own head down over mine. The warriors could not strike a single blow now without hitting her first.” Then, when Namontack helps the settlers, he elaborates on the story. On page 138-141, the reader learns that the ritual (before the settlers thought that what happened was for real), was just a ceremony about death as an Englishman and rebirth as a Powhatan man. Namontack says, “Captain Smith was adopted into our tribe. He became a son to Chief Powhatan. Captain Smith is your ruler, your werowance, and so now your tribe belongs to Chief Powhatan. You are Powhatan people. What happens to one of us happens to all of us- that is why we took care of you after the fire. ” Finally, the reader can piece it all together. There is a cause-and-effect relationship. Since Captain Smith became part of the Powhatan Empire, he affected all of the settlers. Since it affected all of the settlers, they were helped out after the fire. This event was like a pillar that helped both the primary and secondary