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Powhatan

Page history last edited by EzraPound12 11 years, 7 months ago

(sequoia12) Critical Thinking: Loewen has made me very excited about history. He shows that there is much more to be learned than just what the textbook is offering. It makes it all more interesting. He caused me to really read all the information that was given and look for biases that may be present in textbooks. He made me want to know what authors left out and why they would leave that out but not other parts. He really taught me to question what I’m reading and to dig deeper and look for the truth, to look at more than one perspective.

 

(sequoia12) Visual

Map of Powhatan territory                                             Pocahontas in EnglandPocahontas

http://www.wadsworth.com/religion_d/special_features/popups/maps/matthews_world/content/map_16.html

http://apva.org/rediscovery/page.php?page_id=26

Opechancanough  Powhatan chiefOpechancanough Rolfe, John images John Rolfe and Pocahontas

http://www.wpclipart.com/American_History/Native_Americans/various/other_famous_Native_Americans/Opechancanough__Powhatan_chief.png.html

http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/John_Rolfe.aspx

 

(sequoia12) Overview: The Powhatan Confederacy was made up of almost 200 villages along the Virginia coastal plain. 100 of these villages were named by Capt. John Smith. Powhatans did not truly become known until 1607 when the Jamestown settlement was created. The confederacy was lead by one person, the chief. In 1607, the current chief was Wahunsunacock. When the settlers first arrived in Virginia, they were surprised by the amount of work that women did. They perceived the men as lazy because the women built the houses and did the farming. While farming, they did not fertilize the ground, so the soil became unusable for a while, and the villages would have to move so they could restart their farming. This open land was still considered part of the Powhatan Confederacy by an unspoken agreement. The English did not understand this concept and thus began the dispute between the Powhatans and the English. Settlers wished to expand and thus had to attack Powhatan villages. In 1613, Pocahontas (whose real name was Matoaka) was captured by the settlers and held hostage. Pocahontas was a favored daughter of the chief. Pocahontas was about 11 when she first met the famous John Smith. She befriended the settlers and helped them through tough times. She helped establish a temporary peace among the settlers and Powhatans. When she was captured she was held for ransom. The chief refused some of the demands so Pocahontas was not released. Pocahontas began living among the settlers thereafter. She ended up marrying her tutor, John Rolfe, and had a child with him. They went to England for a time. She also converted to Christianity in her time with the settlers. While all this occurred, in 1618, the Powhatan chief died and the power was passed down to his brothers, Opitchapam and Opechancanough. Opechancanough led major raids on the English settlers in 1622. Instead of backing down, as was expected, the English sent reinforcements and fought back. It wasn’t until 1644 that Opechancanough was captured and held prisoner. He died by a shot to the back of the head. This ended the chief cycle for the Powhatans. Slowly after that the coastal tribes couldn’t keep hold of their lands. They began living on reservations, and soon began to either die out because of diseases or were pushed out because the settlers wanted to use the lands on the reservations.

 

http://www.personal.kent.edu/~dfriend/powhatan.htm

http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/tribes/powhatan/powhatanhist.htm

http://www.historyisfun.org/pocahontas-and-the-powhatans-of-virginia.htm

 

(ezrapound12)Overview: The Powhatan Confederacy was a group of Native American tribes who dominated the Virginia area. At the top of the tribe, was a chieftain who had control over all the tribes. All Powhatan had to obey this chief, who was Wahunsonacock at the time of the English arrival. They all spoke Virginia Algonquin, but this went out of use when the Powhatan were wiped out. Nobody is even sure how the language was spoken exactly. The famous explorer John Smith put the number of Powhatan villages at 100, but there were really over 200 at the time. Tensions started to rise between the colonists and Native Americans because lack of food caused the colonists to raid Indian camps for food. A man by the name of Lord De La Warr arrived a few years after the initial landing and declared war on all natives around Jamestown, which really caused Native Americans to retaliate. The English were brutal to native villages, killing women and children, and burning whatever was left. Both sides wanted to have peace though, and in 1614, John Rolfe's marriage to Pocahontas created a much needed peace. This was the end of what became known as the First Anglo-Powhatan War. Very soon however, conflict picked up again because of starvation on the part of the English. Wahunsonacock's death led to the new chieftain of Opitchapam, who ordered brutal raids on the English settlements. This only aggravated the English, who counterattacked. Conflict continued for the next decade or so, until Opechancanough, the chief's brother with the most power, was killed. After Opechancanough was killed, the Powhatan Confederation lost its functionality and collapsed. This ended the Second Anglo-Powhatan War and in 1646, a peace treaty verified this. The Powhatan steadily decreased in number throughout the 1600s because of numerous factors. A census in 1669 showed only 2100 Powhatan left. Smallpox and measles decimated the Powhatan, and the Powhatan Confederacy could not respond to attacks by English because it lacked organization. The English saw the Powhatan as disposable, because they provided no labor or any other function (according to our American Pageant textbook). So the English did nothing to stop the Powhatan from dying out, and in 1685, the Powhatan were considered extinct (although some still remained). Around 1705, 12 Powhatan villages were known to be left, but by the early 1800s, they had mixed with African Americans so much no one could tell they were Powhatan.

 

http://www.personal.kent.edu/~dfriend/powhatan.htm

http://www.bigorrin.org/powhatan_kids.htm

http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/tribes/powhatan/powhatanhist.htm

 

(janetreno12) Overview:    The Powhatan Confederacy was made up of several Algonquian tribes united by an early seventeenth-century ruler, Wahunsunacock, more commonly known as Chief Powhatan. The first known Powhatan tribe consisted of about 200 villages, spreading from the Potomac all the way to the interior Fredericksburg and Richmond. Though Chief Powhatan is known today primarily as the father of the well-known heroine Pocahontas, he was in fact a powerful leader who controlled most of eastern Virginia. The Powhatan were extremely skilled farmers and cultivated several varieties of maize, beans, and certain kinds of melons or pumpkins. They lived in oblong houses and wigwams with rounded roofs. Many of their towns and villages were enclosed with palisades that consisted of posts planted in the ground and standing 10 or 12 feet high. The Powhatan tribe worshiped many different gods .Their gods looked like men and when someone died they went to a wonderful place where gods live (a modern day heaven). Women Men could have and often did have more than one wife. Girls married at a very young age. Women were responsible for building houses, growing and gathering food, weaving baskets, making pottery, cord, and rope, and curing animal hides. The men fished, hunted, and fought in the wars. In the tribes the birth of a baby was a highly joyous and celebrated occasion. The Powhatan’s first true encounter with settlers was the Jamestown settlement in 1607. The Indians were generally friendly until driven to hostility by the exactions of the whites. Relations between the Powhatans and the English grew less friendly as the settlers moved to expand the colony. Even though there was great tension and many problems between the Powhatans and the British settlers, both sides realized how the badly needed peace would benefit them. Petty warfare took place until peace was established between the tribe and the British Empire through the marriage of Powhatan's daughter to a prominent Jamestown settler, John Rolfe. After Powhatan’s premature death, the government was left to Opechancanough, Powhatan’s brother. Opechancanough was the deadly foe of the whites and immediately after gaining leadership began secret preparations for a general uprising against the whites. On March 22, 1622, an attack was launched along the whole frontier. 347 of the English were killed, and every settlement was destroyed. Only the settlers of the Jamestown Settlement remained safe because they had been warned in time. As soon as the English recovered from the damage, they began a war with the intent of exterminating the Indians. Every year three expeditions were done against them with the hopes that they would be prevented from planting their corn, one of their main food sources, or build their wigwams, their primary shelter. The commanders were banned from making any attempt to create peace. Many of the Indians returned to their villages with false promises of peace only to be massacred shortly after. The English attempted the same attack another time but it was unsuccessful. The greatest battle of the war was in 1625 at Pamunkey, where Governor Wyatt defeated nearly 1,000 Indians and burned their village. The war lasted for 14 years, until finally peace was made in 1636. Peace lasted until about 1641 when Opechancanough spearheaded another attack on the settlers, 500 were killed. The year following the attack, Opechancanough was captured and shot. After his death, the confederacy was split up and the tribes made separate treaties of peace and were thrown on reservations, which were constantly getting smaller and smaller due to being sold or taken.  Many of the original member tribes of the old Powhatan Confederacy, like the Mattaponi, Pamunkey, and Chickahominy tribes, still make their homes on their home land in Virginia. Other Powhatan survivors fled northward, to Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

 

http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/tribes/powhatan/powhatanhist.htm

http://warriors.warren.k12.il.us/dmann/powhatan.html

http://www.smithtrail.net/native-americans/natives-and-smith/smith-powhatan-pocahontas.aspx

  

 (janetreno12) The Real Pocahontas: “Pocahontas" was a nickname, meaning "the naughty one”, “little wanton” or "spoiled child". Pocahontas was a favored daughter of Powhatan. Even though she was referred to as a princess, she was not truly royalty. She was not in line to inherit her father’s position in the hierarchy of the tribes. Her mother was a member of another tribe and was sent to Chief Powhatan as a wife. Based on the Native American tradition her mother returned back to her old tribe after Pocahontas was born. Pocahontas stayed with her father’s tribe like most Native American Chief’s children did. Pocahontas first met John Smith when she was 10 or 11 years old. She created friendships with many of the settlers and often visited their settlement to play with the children. Her friendships saved the lives of several settlers during times of starvation. She brought the colony food every few days, preventing the deaths of several colonists. In 1613 Pocahontas was kidnapped by English settlers. Pocahontas was held for ransom, her in exchange for the return of the Native Americans’ English captives and stolen goods (tools and weapons). Unfortunately Chief Powhatan only returned the captives and Pocahontas was not released. While in captivity for nearly a year Pocahontas spent the majority of her time with the settlement minister, Alexander Whitaker. The minister is taught Pocahontas the ways of Christianity and helped her greatly improve her English. This newfound knowledge led Pocahontas to convert the Christianity. She traded her long used nickname for and English name, Rebecca. Pocahontas fully committed to Christianity and became baptized. During her time in captivity, Pocahontas met an Englishman named John Rolfe. After spending much time together he asked Pocahontas to marry him. Contrary to the widely popular Disney film Pocahontas did not marry John Smith. This brought much needed peace between the settlers and the Indians. The marriage was great for the settlers. Pocahontas transformation from an Indian to a true Englishmen was considered a perfect example of the success of the Jamestown settlement. Pocahontas and John got married on April 5, 1614 and lived on Rolfe’s plantation for two years. The couple had a son, named Thomas Rolfe. In 1616 Pocahontas and John arrived in London. Considering she was Britain’s personal own success story Pocahontas was treated like and portrayed as royalty. She was dressed in printed materials and engravings. After a year Pocahontas got very sick on the boat back to America, and shortly after arriving she passed away of unknown causes.

 

http://pocahontas.morenus.org/

http://totallyhistory.com/pocahontas/

 

(janetreno12) Analysis:    Our Textbook, The American Pageant dedicates only a few pages to the history of the Powhatans. It briefly describes some of the major points like the tension between the settlers and the Powhatan, and the story of John Smiths rescue by Pocahontas, but focuses most of its attention on the settlers. It describes how the settlers were dying by the dozen from starvation and disease. Even with assistance from the Indians the settlers were dropping like flies. I found that Loewen addressed two themes in his book that weren’t directed toward the history of the Powhatans but perfectly described the research I found in our textbook. The first was Cognitive dissonance, which is psychological process where people convince themselves that what they are doing is justified. The textbook says “the starving settlers took to raiding Indian food and supplies”, Instead of the settlers stole food from the Indians. Both are true but the first version seems slightly bias, like they were justify raiding the food with the fact that the settlers were starving.  In the book they describe Lord De la Warr sending his troops to raid villages, burn houses and kill people. It doesn’t appear that the settlers or De la Warr had any desire to justify their actions but it seems like the book does.  It may be a personal bias or maybe the writers feel since the settlers were the founders of our country they “deserve some slack”.  The textbook says that the Indians did not serve any economic function and therefore could be disposed of without and harm to the economy. It describes them as a frustration to the colonist desire for land. This is a prime example of the theme of Eurocentrism Loewen describes in his book. The Europeans dominated the only part of the book dedicated to the Powhatans and since the Powhatans weren’t important to the Europeans desire for land, they were tossed away, disposed of.

  

(janetreno12) Critical Thinking: Loewen has completely changed my approach to history. It has caused me to always have this phrase in the back of my head. “There could be more than what you are being told” I will always keep looking for more. Leowen’s views showed me how much is missing and filled me with a insane amount of curiosity for what could have been left out or altered due to Heroification, the writers biases, etc. What did the writers possibly decide to leave out, why did they leave it out, did they write only what they thought was important. I am always told that I ask a lot of questions, and Loewen’s book has done nothing but add fuel to the fire. When I read and learn about history Loewen’s views will make me analyze deeper into the facts I am given. It has given me a new way of thinking when it comes to research. Typically I use the first site I find that has the information I need. I realize that was just one website relaying what they believed was important.

 

 

(ezrapound12)Culture/Tradition/Way of Life: Like many Native Americans, the Powhatan lived in longhouses called yehakins. These longhouses were made of trees, bark, and branches. Women were the actual builders of these longhouses, and several families lived in each one. The Powhatan slept on racks coming out of the side of the longhouse and used animal skins as blankets. The men of the village would fish or hunt for whatever they could get. The women had the role of cooking the men's food, and the children would help the women with planting crops, gathering seeds, etc. The Powhatan's lives revolved around the seasons; the jobs of all the villagers changed with the seasons. In the spring, the men would begin hunting and fishing for food. Meanwhile, the women and children were preparing stored nuts and berries to be eaten. During the summer, the villagers would begin eating the crops they planted during spring. After summer, the Powhatan villagers continued hunting game and eating crops. But when winter came, only game and stored food kept the villagers from starving. When the Powhatan hunted, they used all parts of the animals they killed, making tools or weapons with the bones. Marriage in the Powhatan villages occurred early, usually between thirteen and fifteen years old. The Powhatan worshipped many gods, and a tribal priest would supposedly be able to cure diseases and illnesses. The two main gods of the Powhatan were Oke and Ahone, the evil spirit and the giver of good things, respectively. Powhatan society was matrilineal, or passed down on the female line. The men obtained positions from their mothers, however the women had no political authority on their own for the most part. Wahunsonacock, or the great Powhatan, kept the dozens of villages from northern Virginia to North Carolina united. The Powhatan way of life changed forever on December 20, 1606, when the English first arrived in Virginia.

 

http://ab.mec.edu/jamestown/villagelife.html

http://www.historyisfun.org/visitus/documents/LivingwiththeIndians.pdf

http://www.personal.kent.edu/~dfriend/powhatan.htm 

 

(ezrapound12)Who was Pocahontas: Pocahontas was not actually her real name; it was Matoaka. Pocahontas was a nickname given to her by her parents, because she was hard to control. Pocahontas is translated as "little wanton." She is famous in history for saving Captain John Smith, which may not actually be true. The Powhatan often times made mock executions and then someone would go in and pretend to save the person. Regardless, this caused Pocahontas and Smith to become friends, which eased relations with the Powhatan. But because of a gunpowder accident, John Smith returned to England, and Pocahontas was told Smith was dead. Tensions started rising again between the Powhatan and the English, and one day Captain Samuel Argall kidnapped Pocahontas for the ransom money. A part of the ransom was delivered, then Argall moved Pocahontas to a new settlement. She met John Rolfe here, who tutored Pocahontas in the Christian faith. Argall wanted to secure the rest of the ransom, so he took one hundred and fifty men to secure it. This only made the Powhatan angry, who attacked the English. In return, the English burned villages and killed many Indians. Pocahontas was let go after this, and told her family that she was going to marry John Rolfe. This marriage brought peace among the English and Powhatan. Both John Rolfe and Pocahontas decided to go to England, where Pocahontas met Smith. After a while, they went back to Virginia, but Pocahontas did not make the voyage, and died of either tuberculosis or pneumonia.

 

http://pocahontas.morenus.org/

http://apva.org/rediscovery/page.php?page_id=26

 

 

 

(ezrapound12)Analysis: Our American Pageant textbook does not devote many pages to the Powhatan Indians, but it does cover the most important stuff. The textbook tells us about how tensions rose between the English and the Powhatan, and goes on to cover why the English let the Powhatan practically become extinct. Loewen never mentions the Powhatan specifically, yet it is more than likely that the American Pageant textbook is withholding some information from us. The textbook never talks about how the English burned villages, killing women and children, for example. Perhaps the authors of the textbook felt some sympathy for the settlers and wanted to heroify them more than what they should be.  The authors of the textbook may have sought to find a reason for the English to let the Powhatan die out, and came up with the threee Ds-disease, disorganization, and disposability. Many sources talk about disease and disorganization, however no source online that did not come from our textbook talks about disposability. Perhaps the writers of the textbook were trying to justify the settlers letting the Powhatan die out, when in truth, the settlers may simply have not cared about them. The settlers were being led by Captain John Smith, who said he who does not work does not eat. So why then, did the settlers need outside labor from the Powhatan, as our book says? The settlers had indentured servants as well didn't they? Our book says "the Powhatans served no economic function for the Virginia colonists (and therefore could be disposed of)." One thing is for certain, however, is that our textbook does not use any melodrama over real drama in the section that talks about the Powhatan.

 

(ezrapound12)Critical Thinking: Reading Loewen's book really surprised me. It made me aware of the bias and interpretations of others among textbooks. Whenever I read a textbook from now on, I will keep an eye out for bias, melodrama, and Loewen's other themes. I will also pay close attention to the time period in which the book is talking about, because perhaps the book may have not included an event due to heroification. The Powhatan and other Indians have been virtually erased from history because authors felt that they were not important.

 

(janetreno12) Pictures:

 

Powhatan village       

Powhatan Village                                          The Baptism of Pocahontas                         Opechancanough                                        John Rolfe and Pocahontas

http://totallyhistory.com/pocahontas/

http://www.legendsofamerica.com/na-powhatan.html

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pocahontas/lege-nf.html

 

(ezrapound12)Visuals:

-From left: Range of the Powhatan tribes, a depiction of a Powhatan Indian, Lord De La Warr, and Chief Powhatan(Wahunsonacock).

http://www.learner.org/interactives/historymap/indians5.html

http://www.quia.com/pages/greendale4.html

http://www.whro.org/jamestown2007/imagegalleries/english/album/slides/Lord%20de%20la%20Warr%20Portrait.html

http://www.pauwau.com/chiefpowhatan.htm

 

 

(lucretiamott12)Critical Thinking: Reading this book has really made me think about how much we don't know. We have learned history all throughout school, and now this book has made me question what I am learning. Now questions like "What am I not learning?" and "What part of what I am learning is not true?"  are running through my mind. Loewen addresses a lot of the people we come in to contact with in history, but what about the others? Now, in future history classes I will be thinking about Loewen's themes and how they are being used in the textbooks.

 

(lucretiamott12)Analysis:Loewen's theme of textbook biases appears when the textbook is talking about the Powhatan Confederacy. It seems as though they are always building up the Europeans. They talked briefly about the Indians when they attacked, but mostly they always talked about how the Europeans triumphed over them. Throughout the book they talk about how great the weapons are and their strong army. That might be true but what are the good things about the Indians? We don't hear much about that stuff.The textbook also uses heroification. The Europeans usually always triumph over the Indians. They make it seem so great because people are dying at young ages and there is starvation. You feel bad for them and then when they when a battle they are the hero because despite the troubles they won. After reading Loewen's book I would like to know more about the Indian point of view and what they were going through during all of this.

 

(lucretiamott12)Overview:Powhatan was an Indian chieftain who asserted supremacy over a few dozen tripes which became Powhatan's Confederacy. The Powhatan Confederacy occupied eastern Virginia. Where the first English settlers in 1607 landed there were 14,000-21,000 Powhatan Indians. Chief Powhatan was suspicious of these settlers, but he wanted to make peace. They created this mock execution and kidnaped John Smith. Chief Powhatan's daughter Pocahontas "saved" him by putting herself between him and the club.It was supposed to show the power of the Indians. They made peace and Pocahontas would help with that, but the peace was shaky. THe Indians helped the English and taught them how to grow corn and tobacco, gave them medicine, and helped them hunt. When the English began to starve the started raiding Native American food supplies. This caused war between the English and the Indians. They fought many years until Pocahontas was held captive. Then Chief Powhatan and the English made peace and Pocahontas was sent off to England to marry John Rolfe. After Chief Powhatan died in 1618 the tribe became hostile. They tried to drive the Europeans away with the Indian Massacre of 1622 and another in 1636. This angered the Europeans and lead to the elimination of the tribe. THe whole confederacy was destroyed by 1646.

http://www.ushistory.org/us/2e.asp 

http://www.librarypoint.org/powhatan_confederation 

 

 

 

(lucretiamott12)Pictures:

 

Chief Powhatan                                     Pocahontas

Powhatan                                                            Pocahontas

http://www.ushistory.org/us/2e.asp               http://www.ushistory.org/us/2e.as

 

                                                     

 

Powhatan's Territory                                                                 Powhatan Massacre on settlers

http://www.powhatanmuseum.com/Powhatan_Map.html                http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Powhatan

 

(lucretiamott12)Culture and Way of Life: The Powhatan Indians were hunters and gatherers, but were also advanced in farming. They cultivated maize, beans, and certain kinds of melons and pumpkins, and some fruit trees. They all live in long houses with rounded roofs. Sometimes they had walls that encompassed the whole town and others that just protected things like the chiefs house. The Indians worshipped things of natures that could not be destroyed. They children were raised by their mothers, and when they were old enough the boys would learn from their fathers about hunting. Indians would use bows and arrows for hunting and silverware was made out of shells, rock, and wood for eating. They made pots and dishes out of clay. THe gardening tools were made out of antler, rocks, and bones. Most of the tribe spoke in Algonkian tongue, but since there were so many people there were probably many languages.

http://www.native-languages.org/powhatan.htm 

http://www.personal.kent.edu/~dfriend/powhatan.htm 

http://www.legendsofamerica.com/na-powhatan.html 

 

 

(buzzaldrin12) Overview: The legendary tribe that controlled a major portion of eastern Virginia is referred as The Powhatan Confederacy. There were many scattered villages along the coastal plain that combined to form a strong, unified empire. The Monacan, Nottoway, and the Iroquoian are a few examples of the many tribes that were included in the Confederacy. While the men of the tribes hunted and fished for the food, the women generally stayed home to make pottery and cook food. The people lived in longhouses, which could fit at least a family. Wahunsunacock, the leader or chief of the tribe, came from the Powhatan town, and controlled the entire empire. An English explorer, Captain John Smith, greatly impacted the relationship between the colonist and Native Americans. A year after Jamestown was established, in 1607, John Smith and his men were desperately in search of food and were captured by Native Americans that belonged to the Powhatan Confederacy. The Natives brought Smith to their leader to have him executed, but was gracefully saved by Pocahontas, Wahunsunacock’s daughter. This was the first of many of Pocahontas’s gracious acts for the new colonists.  The colonists were in desperate need of food and resources, so they brutally raided the Indians’ villages for anything they could use. They would continue fighting until the marriage between Pocahontas and John Rolfe, a Jamestown settler, created peace between colonists and natives. There was a peaceful agreement until the death of Wahunsunacock and the rise of Opechancanough, his brother. Besides Opechancanough’s hate towards the colonists, disease and the popular crop, tobacco, was a factor that affected the relationship between the two groups. A fourteen year long war that started in 1622 and did not end until 1636 was a tough time for the Indians and the colonists. Peace was declared in 1636 and lasted until 1641 when Opechancanough was upset the colonists crossed enemy lines. He aggressively attacked the colonists until he was captured in killed. In 1646, the Indians and colonist declared peace between themselves. After that, the Powhatan people rapidly began decreasing in population due to disease and lack of resources.   They desperately scattered throughout the region in search of protection anywhere they could find it. The legendary tribe still exists but in very small numbers throughout the country.

http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/tribes/powhatan/powhatanhist.htm

http://www.personal.kent.edu/~dfriend/powhatan.htm

http://christiananswers.net/q-eden/ednkc001.html

 

(buzzaldrin12) Analysis: The Indians are given a brief section in our textbook to show the relationship they had with the colonists. The pages seem like they focus more on the colonists' issues more than the history of the Powhatan. Loewen's theme, Heroification, is obviously used to describe how the desperate colonists always overpowered the Indians even though the colonists had problems of their own. It would make sense for the natives to prevail over the diseased and despairing foreign people. Is our textbook telling the entire story, or defending the colonists who founded our country? How did the struggling colonists manage to continually dominate the indigenous people? It is clear that the authors used Textbook Biases to explain how the relationship between the natives and colonists played out. If you compare the textbook with the research, then some of the important information is misleading each other. It is vital to always research multiple sources on the information your given, so you can differentiate from what is the truth from what is not. 

 

(buzzaldrin12) Critical Analysis: After comparing the research and textbook, I will always be more aware of the information I am reading. Thanks to Loewen learning about history will be more beneficial because I now want to understand the whole story. Loewen's themes will be circulating in my mind while I analyze the history I am reading. The questions, is this information valid and are all the details present, will be always be considered. I want to be able to know that I am getting the whole truth and not a bias opinion from the author. When I look over textbooks, I will always look out for Heroification, Biases, and all of Loewen's themes because I want to be able to learn the real information. Thanks to Loewen learning about history will be more beneficial because I now want to understand the whole story.  The way I think about history has changed through reading this book and receiving Loewen's ideas about textbooks.

 

(buzzaldrin12) Pictures:

 John SmithPocahontas and John Smith

Captain John Smith                                    Pocahontas saving John Smith

 

 

 

Inside of a Longhouse                                              Powhatan Canoe

                          

http://www.shmoop.com/jamestown/photo-john-smith.html

http://www.shmoop.com/jamestown/photo-pocahontas-john-smith.html

http://www.dailypress2.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=54635

http://www.dailypress2.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=54552

 

(williampenn12) Origin: The Powhatan tribe, who’s name means “falls in a current of water”, inhabited the eastern Virginia region including the Chesapeake Bay area, Richmond, and Fredericksburg. The Powhatan Indians included 30 tribes, altogether known as the Powhatan Confederacy, led by its creator, the Chief Powhatan, also known as Wahunsunacawh. The people of the tribes spoke the Algonquian language, lived in long houses, and were skilled hunters and gatherers. Their main crops consisted of maize, beans, and squash. They also worshiped many deities that they thought were found in nature.

When the English began to settle in the early 1600’s, the Powhatans moved closer inland, away from the James River. Their population, originally over 14,000, began to shrink in size due to new diseases carried by the English. The Chief Powhatan’s daughter befriended the English Captain John Smith in 1607 when she "saved" him from being killed by her tribe after his capture. Pocahontas went on to try and help the settlers by giving them food regularly, but violence eventually broke out again. Peace was finally achieved for a period of time, when the chief married Pocahontas to the settler John Rolfe.  That peace ended years later when the chief died and his overly ambitious brother took his place. The new chief attacked the settlers and fourteen years of fighting and bloodshed followed.  He was later captured and shot by the settlers. His death allowed for an end to the Confederacy, and the separate tribes dispersed across various reservations. Today, only eight of the original thirty tribes remain.

http://www.legendsofamerica.com/na-powhatan.html

http://www.smithtrail.net/native-americans/natives-and-smith/smith-powhatan-pocahontas.aspx

http://www.historyisfun.org/pocahontas-and-the-powhatans-of-virginia.htm

 

(williampenn12) Analysis:  The textbook allowed a very short portion of their chapter to the Powhatan Indians. The book only mentioned the Indians in relation to how they affected the colonists in their struggles to settle the land. The brief history of the Powhatans should have been included separately, so that there would have been less of a biased tie to the settlers who we already knew so much about. Also, they talked about John Smith and his capture too much and made it sound like the Indians were the bad guys with their big, dramatic capture and trial. That part of the story, though significant, was dragged out and covered most of the Powhatan section, that already had little information on the tribe. This shows Loewen’s theme in how text books can make some stories more dramatic than others.

 

(williampenn12) Critical Thinking: I have always been very skeptical of “history” websites and books. Many of them tell completely different stories and it can be hard to find out what really happened. Before reading Loewen’s book, I had always held our text books as the final answer to all of my questions. I thought that there was no way that a school would allow students to get false information from their textbooks, but now I know that I was wrong. From now on, I will consider every source and dig deeper in my research instead of settling for one author’s stories or opinions.

 

The Powhatan's Longhouses                                                       Captain John Smith and Chief Powhatan

(williampenn12)

 <http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&sa=N&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1920&bih=875&tbm=isch&tbnid=J0_eOUEx_6BG5M:&imgrefurl=http://blogs.henrico.k12.va.us/21/2012/01/20/corresponding-with-current-state-recognized-tribes-in-va/&imgurl=http://blogs.henrico.k12.va.us/21/files/2012/01/PowhatanIndianVillage2.jpg&w=800&h=532&ei=Q3I5UI-9HOOi2AXTpoHgDw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=565&vpy=425&dur=5675&hovh=183&hovw=275&tx=218&ty=123&sig=107056183065337340293&page=1&tbnh=129&tbnw=180&start=0&ndsp=68&ved=1t:429,r:34,s:0,i:234>.

http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&sa=N&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1920&bih=875&tbm=isch&tbnid=5CXqdg5Ruwm6CM:&imgrefurl=http://www.sonofthesouth.net/revolutionary-war/explorers/captain-john-smith.htm&imgurl=http://www.sonofthesouth.net/revolutionary-war/explorers/smith-fighting-powhatan.jpg&w=597&h=617&ei=l3I5UOj8B4eC2AWZgYFw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=1508&vpy=403&dur=8757&hovh=228&hovw=221&tx=157&ty=122&sig=107056183065337340293&page=1&tbnh=129&tbnw=125&start=0&ndsp=68&ved=1t:429,r:41,s:0,i:255

 

 

 

Comments (26)

EzraPound12 said

at 9:09 pm on Jul 2, 2012

In Lies My Teacher Told Me, Loewen discusses the various impacts that the Europeans wrought on the Native American way of life. Without tribes such as the Powhatan to show the way to great explorers, they would never have been able to survive in the New World. For example, in the chapter about the first Thanksgiving, Loewen describes how the first explorers in Virginia were digging up corpses to feed themselves. Pretty soon, the Indians took pity on the settlers and showed them how to plant crops and survive. Yet the Indians were repaid by being driven back into the wilderness, farther to the west. Diseases which the settlers thought came from God decimated the Natives as well. To this day, they are treated poorly in textbooks that do not appreciate their accomplishments. They continue to be left out in such events as the French and Indian War.

EzraPound12 said

at 9:12 pm on Jul 2, 2012

^^Under the topic of social structure and textbook bias.

JohnRandolph05 said

at 2:42 pm on Jul 10, 2012

re: they continue to be left out...- The American Pageant textbook does not leave out Native Americans out of the French and Indian War. On page 115 for instance, the army that defeated General Braddock is directly said to include Indians and on page 113, and the Iroquois are mentioned as being allies of the British.

JohnRandolph05 said

at 1:23 pm on Jul 11, 2012

In my opinion, the American Pageant textbook handles Powhatan respectfully in that it acknowledges that Powhatan did assist settlers.

EzraPound12 said

at 4:37 pm on Jul 13, 2012

A few pages later, however, Loewen discusses how numerous textbooks make the indians "look invisible". On page 119 it says even in describing the French and Indian War, some textbooks leave out the Indians (A BIG MISTAKE). In the American Tradition textbook, Loewen discusses how you would also never know about Indians defeating Braddock's forces.Yet on page 121, it discusses how the Americna Pageant textbook does know more than many other textbooks, I must agree with you that this one book does seem to do a better job than 99% of the others. Loewen tells of how the settlers didn't really care who they paid for the use of Manhattan Island, they just sought justification.

JohnRandolph05 said

at 10:29 am on Jul 16, 2012

Hold on a second. This page describes Powhatan who lived in Virgina, but you're bringing up a case from New York State. This is not a generic Native America page, and in my mind that is off-topic.

NeilArmstrong11 said

at 11:16 pm on Jul 29, 2012

See? This is why we needed to read this book. Otherwise, I never would have known about the groesome things that the settlers had to do if I hadn't read Lies My Teacher Told Me and read your wiki pages. Mind-shattering. (neilarmstrong11).

FranklinPierce03 said

at 12:32 pm on Aug 6, 2012

I don't feel that the textbook heroifies the Enlgish settlers when describing their relationships with the Powhatans. The authors mention the settlers' ruthless tactics a number of times, especially when discussing Lord De La Warr's "Irish tactics". The textbook also mentions that it was the Indians and not the settlers who wanted to start off on peaceful terms, which makes the settlers seem aggressive and greedy for raiding Indian settlements.

JohnRandolph05 said

at 9:37 am on Aug 7, 2012

I agree with FranklinPierce03's judgement on this issue. To be fair though, it does not directly mention soldiers killing women and children. It is implied though be referring to the tactics as vicious.

JohnRandolph05 said

at 9:38 am on Aug 7, 2012

Pardon. I should have said ,though, by referring to the tactics as vicious.

EzraPound12 said

at 7:54 pm on Aug 8, 2012

I did not come to the conclusion that the English killed women and children from the textbook. We are all supposed to research our respective topics in other sources, and I found many sites saying that the English committed atrocities of this scale against the Powhatan. This coverup of information seems a bit more heroifying to the English rather than the authors describing the Irish Tactics and raids. The heroification was a suggestion and may or may not be right, but to me the book seems to tone down all the terrible things the English did. The authors must tell the truth, which is why they still include Lord De La Warr, but the question is, what did they leave out?

JohnRandolph05 said

at 8:55 am on Aug 9, 2012

Certainly, research outside the text is required and useful. The truth need not encompass every part of the truth. I would be telling you the truth if I said I was using the internet right now. It would still be the truth if I did not say I was commenting on this page. Would that be a cover-up? They may have left it because they felt they had described it well enough. The incidents you're describing are vicious and they have described the tactics as vicious. What more is needed?

EzraPound12 said

at 7:57 pm on Aug 8, 2012

Also, what do you two think of the bottom part of my analysis, do you agree that the authors are searching for a reason to justify the settlers letting the Powhatan virtually go extinct?

GeorgeMcGovern08 said

at 10:59 am on Aug 9, 2012

I hate to see how badly we treated the Indians when we first settled. I do not understand why Americans like to hide the truth of what we really did to the Natives. For American textbooks the good and bad needs to be tolled about our arrival in Virginia. It seemed only fare that they attacked us back to defend themselves. Reading this gives me a better perspective on how one sided subjects can be and to get the truth you really need to do some research on your own.

JohnGlenn10 said

at 2:29 pm on Aug 17, 2012

My opinion about the small amount of Powhatan description is that the textbook cannot included too much information. Loewen seems to repeatedly talk about how much the textbook leaves out, which gives me the impression that the textbook is purposely biased. While the textbook does leave out important information, for example about the Powhatan, information that he wants to be put into the textbook however, that he thinks is important, would make it biased in a new way. It doesn't matter what information is added to a textbook, since the new information added to make it unbiased is important based on your opinion, the textbook becomes biased in a different way.

TerrencePowderly13 said

at 6:18 pm on Aug 23, 2012

When reading the section on the Powhatans in the text book, i found, like janetreno12 in their anyalsis, that the textbook seemed to leave out many important details. i also found that the textbook tended to sympathize with the colonists, when the stole food, rather then disscussing how that could have effected the Powhatan. I think it should have disscussed how the stealing gave the Native Americans a sour taste toward the colonists.

ChesterNimitz15 said

at 8:48 am on Aug 24, 2012

I applaud janetreno12's facts behind the real Pocahontas. So little is shown about her in textbooks or movies that the same stories of her keep on getting recycled. Also, I like how janetreno12 and buzzaldrin12 pointed out the bias behind the description of the Powhatan and how the textbook seemed to describe the colonists mainly.

TimothyMcVeigh03 said

at 3:31 pm on Aug 24, 2012

It's sad that the English and the Powhatans never really reached a peace agreement. Now we will never really get to know the Powhatan culture and their language will forever be a mystery.

MargaretSanger02 said

at 3:49 pm on Aug 24, 2012

I really liked the facts on Pocahontas. It seems like a lot of what the books and Disney movies portrayed are far from the truth, huh? Her real name wasn't even Pocahontas! Great job to everyone on their overviews I felt they were all very thorough and I learned a lot of new things I had never known before! Although I especially enjoys the culture section about their longhouses and way of life. Creative section to add!

OliverHazardPerry16 said

at 10:50 am on Aug 25, 2012

Although the information about the Powhatans was great and very detailed on this page, I have a recommendation about how to make it easier to read and understand. You could have grouped all of the overviews that you wrote together under one large heading, and then do the same thing for the other sections (analysis, critical thinking, visuals, and works cited). That way, there wouldn’t be so much jumping around from heading to heading. I got confused when I read a critical thinking paragraph, and then an analysis paragraph immediately after. If you didn’t want to do this, you could even have each person cover all of the sections, and then the next person in the group could cover the sections after that. It could be organized by group members. So, for example, ezrapound12 could do their overview, analysis, critical thinking, visuals, and works cited, and then it could be janetreno12’s turn. This is a great page, but these are just some suggestions on how you could enhance it and make it easier to understand.

RobertMcNamara02 said

at 5:15 pm on Aug 25, 2012

When I read about Pocahontas I did not know the other part of the story. I did not even know Pocahontas was not even her real name!. I also thought she did save Captain John, but i guess that was all a lie too. This page made me understand about the Powhatans so much better than the textbook.

RossPerot14 said

at 10:11 pm on Aug 25, 2012

To WilliamPenn12- I completely agree with your critical thinking section. I always turned to the textbook as the all-knowing resource of history class, but now I am going to reconsider Loewen's themes and research through other sources. The only problem when researching is knowing which stories are in fact true.

MatthewPerry15 said

at 1:59 pm on Aug 26, 2012

This page was very impressive, lots of very detailed information! Also very nice visuals! I agree with Margaret and Robert! Most people only know Pocahontas from the Disney movie but you gave all the background information about her. Much more than the book and I like how you mention the book does not devote many pages to the Powhatans then you proceeded to tell us the unmentioned important details. Make sure you double check for spelling mistakes because in "Who was Pocahontas" section you said "here" instead of "her."

JamesMadison01 said

at 1:58 pm on Sep 2, 2012

This page gave alot of information about Pocahontas like how her name translates to many different phrases or how Pocahontas was not her real name. This page also gave me insight of the Powhatans and their disputes with the englishmen.

SylviaPlath06 said

at 10:32 pm on Sep 2, 2012

First of all, I would just like to say that I really enjoye reading this section! The information was superb, and the pictures were great as well, although the organization was a little odd.Second, while reading janetreno12's analysis, I was shocked! I remember reading the section in the textbook about how "the starving settlers took to raiding Indian food and supplies," but I didn't even think about how aweful that really was. I just kept reading. The truth is, the settlers stole needed nourishments from the Indians that had worked hard to harvest their crops, or kill their piece of meat. It is honestly disgusting what the settlers did- something people nowadays would be thrown in jail for- and the writers of the textbook just brushed it off and kept going like it was nothing. We really do have to be on the lookout for biased information when reading the textbooks.

HoraceMann04 said

at 7:40 am on Sep 3, 2012

Before reading Lies My Teacher Told Me, i did not know how aggressive the relationship between the settlers and natives were. The settlers raided Indian villages for supplies and gave the Indians reason to retaliate

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