Pochantas

Matoaka, also known as Pocahontas which meant “playful one”, was born on the year 1595. The book that I had read was Pocahontas: Medicine Woman, Spy, Entrepreneur, Diplomat by Paula Gunn Allen. It was published by HarperCollins Publisher Inc. in 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022 on the year 2003. She was an amazing person and woman who became famous for standing up for what she believed in.

Pocahontas was the daughter of Chief Powhatan which made her an Indian Princess. When she was 12 years old, she saved a colonist named John Smith from being clubbed to death. After this, the relationship between the colonist and the Indians were at peace. Captain Smith sent many presents to Powhatan and the Indian woman gave food to the colonist. When John Smith left Jamestown because of a gunpowder accident, the peace between the Indians and the colonist weaken. In 1612, Governor Thomas Dale ordered for Pocahontas to be kidnapped, held for ransom that would be paid in corn by Chief Powhatan. While she was held captive, Pocahontas was baptized Christian and given the name Rebecca. Also while she was imprisoned, Pocahontas fell in love with John Rolfe, who then asked for her hand in marriage. Sir Thomas Dale and Chief Powhatan gave their consent and they got married in Jamestown on April, 1613. This marriage brought peace between the English and the Indians for many years. On 1615, John and Pocahontas had a child named Thomas. Pocahontas became the center of English society’s attention. She had then become Lady Rebecca Rolfe. Before going back to Virginia, Pocahontas became sick. She died on March, 1617, at the age of 21 in England. She was buried in the chapel of the parish church in Gravesend. Rolfe returned to Virginia, where he manufactured tobacco. I liked Pocahontas because she was the kind of person who was willing to do new things and she did the right thing even if no one would agree with her. She is famous for her actions (even if Disney exaggerated them) and I admire her strength and courage to stand up for what she believed in.

The Living Wax Museum was not as easily manageable as I thought. The book I chose was a high school to college level book. Each day I scheduled how many pages I would read. It was easier to schedule at the end of the year since we did not have as much to do as we did in the mid-year. My research methods were writing down what information I thought we the most important such as important dates, what she did,