Book Review

Pocahontas: Covering Up the Truth

The True Story of Pocahontas
by Dr. Linwood "Little Bear" Custalow and Angela L. Daniel "Silver Star"
Fulcrum Publishing | 168 pp | $14.95
ISBN: 978-1555916329

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A True History

People often tell lies to hide truths. Some truths are much harsher and disappoint more so than lies. Storytellers do this all the time. They create hero protagonists-an ideal figure that can do no wrong and puts everyone else's wellbeing before his/herself-and they spread their peaceful ways and save civilizations. Perhaps that is what motivated the manipulation of the tales of the first English settlers. Often, the settlers are portrayed as escaping some menacing force that was ruining their livelihood and our welcomed by American Indians with no repercussions.

In The True Story of Pocahontas, authors Dr. Linwood "Little Bear" Custalow (Mattaponi) and Angela L. Daniel "Silver Star" revisit the legend of Pocahontas and represent the Native perspective, which tells a much different story. Mixed with oral traditional storytelling and academia style writing, seventeenth-century Virginia comes to life through a tale of love, loss, and tragedy. The primary focus of the book is loving relationship between Chief Powhatan Wahunsenaca and his ten-year-old daughter, Pocahontas. The Powhatan chief put the well-being of Pocahontas above all his children, and at times, even his own tribe.

Together, they attempt to make peaceful relations with the English settlers through Captain John Smith. Unfortunately, their attempts are made in vain and the English introduce the concept of deceit. The book continues to relive a sequence of events, spread out over years, that separates father from daughter and ultimately leads to the great Powhatan nation's downfall.

The book contradicts many of major events of this tale, presenting new information. For instance, Captain Smith's account of being rescued by Pocahontas when he was going to be executed by her people actually never happened nor would she even allowed to be around a ceremony like that.

The True Story of Pocahontas is in fact a darker tale of one of the most famous American Indian stories. The authors present seemingly separate events that can be intertwined to the benefit of the English settlers thus creating a conspiracy set in place to bring the Powhatan's demise. This is a book for anyone interested in true American history.

posted July 9, 2011 9:40 am edt