The Untold Story

Write, in essay format, of at least 300 words, an analysis regarding the Pocahontas
story. Citations are a graded portion of this assignment-

Controversy is a disagreement. In history, controversies often present as two opposing viewpoints. However, often, only one side makes it into the history textbooks- Should the other side be told?

For your follow-up essay, analytically examine the history that some say was covered up regarding the life and death of Pocahontas- The initial post is the graded portion of the forum, participation posts are not required and will not be graded, but I encourage you to engage in discussion with other students- The following are further directions for the assignment:

A new history, written by the Mattaponi Indian tribe, focused on concerning the life and
death of Pocahontas. Please read The Pocahontas Archive and also watch
httsz/www-c-span-org/video/?202747-2/tme-story-pocahontas.

The Mattaponi tribe claims in their new book that English settlers captured, raped, and impregnated Pocahontas before her marriage to John Rolfe. To cover up this English abuse, John Rolfe agreed to marry Pocahontas in order to prevent war over her treatment and to protect his tobacco crop. The tribe also claimed that Pocahontas was already married to a Mattaponi man named Kocoum and had a son, but the Colonial the government viewed the marriage as null and void since it did not occur in a Christian
Church. She was forced to travel to England in order to help Rolfe save his people and keep hers from annihilation. This presents the story of Pocahontas more like a murder mystery than a rescue love story that many of us have been exposed to throughout our lives

Remember, people arranged marriages to guarantee land and protection- Some historians claim that Pocahontas was a needed insurance policy for plantation farmers, like Rolfe and the relationship between the two is a necessary evil to protect the assets of the English tobacco industry-

Research this further in the library and at Case Study: Pocahontas- Critically analyze this new development in the Pocahontas story- Summarize what you learned from the Mattaponi tribe- Include in your analysis, the debate between historians of European descent and those that are Native American about how to write the history of Indian peoples.