Pocahontas Culture Vs Religion Essay

Culture vs. Christianity When many people think of Pocahontas, they think of the Disney movie character. Many believe they know the true story of the young Native American girl. Her real life however, was appreciably different than the story portrayed on film. The film does touch on her roots with her tribe and also her life with the whites; there is considerably more to it. Pocahontas was influenced by her tribe and Christianity. Long before the Europeans arrived in America, the Native Americans lived on the land. One group in particular were the Powhatan Indians who lived in the area they called Tsenacamoco (Stebbins 1). This land is now known as the state of Virginia. At its peak, all the Powhatan Indians would total around 25,000

His accounts are considered by some to be false and that they were said for attention and fame. In his story he says a Powhatan hunting party captured him in the winter of 1607 (Stebbins 3). Then he tells of the famed rescue by Pocahontas, who was eleven at the time, in which she threw herself over Smith to keep her tribe from killing him (Stebbins 3). There are doubters that this happened for many reasons, including the fact that she was so young. Smith then went back to England because of a gunpowder wound, but Pocahontas was told that he was dead (Stebbins 5). Young English boys of the time were sent to live with the Indians, and vice versa (Stebbins 5). Smith also claims Pocahontas saved yet another life, one of a young boy. The English boy, Henry Spelman, ran away from the tribe he was living with (Stebbins 5). Pocahontas found him and sent him off to live with the Patawomeck tribe (Stebbins 5). These events, which supposedly happened, according to Smith, show Pocahontas’ true caring and free willed spirit she had while living with her