James Town 1607
We have the story of the Powhatan as written by John Smith, William Strachey, and other early 17th-century visitors. But a much later writer Helen Rountree tells us we must read their journals with caution. John Smith, she says, viewed the Powhatans from a military interest. As for his writing, Rountree says, “Scholarly standards were loose then, and Smith was also decidedly egotistical; thus his writings cannot always be trusted, especially his later accounts, when he tended to rewrite history in his own favor.” William Strachey copied much from Smith adding his own embellishments, and of this Roundtree says, We are left to assume, then, that when Strachey copies from Smith in speaking of an Indian practice, either he is corroborating Smiths information or he does not know any better than to repeat it. Therefore, we must be wary of the early European writers, keeping in mind that their varying backgrounds and motives determined their writings.1Helen C. Rountree, The Powhatan Indians of Virginia: Their Traditional Culture (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1989), 4.
In 1607, three ships appeared on the horizon of the Chesapeake Bay. On the ships were the key players Admiral Christopher Newport, commander of the fleet, Bartholomew Gosnold, John Ratcliffe, and John Smith. Their sponsor, the Virginia Company, sent them to establish a settlement in the New World in order to explore and exploit the natural resources. Also on board were John Martin, George Kendall, Edward Wingfield, Robert Hunt, and many others to total almost one hundred men.
John Smith's Map of Virginia
When the three ships, the Susan Constant, Discovery, and Godspeed reached Virginia in 1607, Powhatan (Wahunsenacawh) was already in his late 60s and controlled a chiefdom of about 30 tribes. The appearance of these strangers was met with at times curiosity and at times apprehension. Because the British did not know how to survive in the new land, the Indians first aided them and brought them food, but as relationships spiraled downward the Indians stopped helping them; the British would take what they wanted by any means necessary, often violent and brutal. This led to many hostilities.
In the spring of 1620 ninety women were sent to Virginia. Fifty more were sent in 1621 and 1622. The Indian massacre killed between 300 and 400 of the 1240 inhabitants. In 1625 it is estimated that only 35 of the original 140 women sent between 1619 and 1922 were alive.2Julia Cherry Spruill, Women’s Life and Work in the Southern Colonies (New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1972), 9-10.