Pocahontas

             Many moons ago, an Indian girl was not yet born but there were many problems with Indians and the white man as the Indians. This unborn child would become a huge part of colony history between the Indians and the English; this child was to be recognized in history by many different names the most famous name would be Pocahontas. The book I read was about Pocahontas by Grace Steele Woodward. This book covers many different subjects in Pocahontas's life. The book begins with a background of The Powhatans, Pocahontas's people. She was not just a little Indian girl but the daughter of a very powerful chief. Before she was born Chief Powhatan claim many of the lands around and near the James Pensile and up through the Chesapeake Bay area. He kept a tight fist with all of his new tribes that he has acquired during his conquest; by placing family members in charge of the new land. Powhatan had the respect of all his people and his people knew not to try to over throw him or question his authority. The Powhatans Indian tribe were part of the woodland culture; a culture of pressure-flaked projectile point, stone-headed hatchets and war clubs, and primitive farm tools constructed of stone and bone. The Wood land "culture" was actually an amalgam of various tribes that belonged to different linguistic families not related by blood, their only common ties being certain tools and implements marked by great stands of pine, cypress, and walnut trees and productive in cleared areas of pumpkin, maize, and beans (pecctatoas). (Woodward, 9) The Powhatans were made up of different combinations of Indian tribes some included the Cherokees, Iroquois, Monacans, Siuuan, Choctaws, Creeks, Chickasaws, and the Muskhogean. The Powhatans dress was different between the sexes and classes of the tribe. Members of the royal household would wear many feather and deerskins on their bodies and usually painted themselves in bright colors.