Virginia Indians; Powhatan, Pocahontas, and European Contact

HistoryConnects is made possible by the Hugh V. White Jr. Outreach Education Fund Table of Contents

Virginia Indians; Powhatan, Pocahontas, and European Contact

Teacher Guide

Introduction/Program Description ...... 3

Lesson Plan ...... 4-7 Historical Background...... 8-9 Activities: Pre Lesson Activity: The Historical Record...... 10-12

During Lesson Activity: Vocab Sheet...... 13

Post Lesson Activity: Pocahontas...... 14 Suggested Review Questions...... 15 Student Worksheets

Word Search...... 16 Algonquian Language Worksheet...... 17-18 Selected Images/Sources

Map of Virginia...... 20

Images of Pocahontas...... 21-23 2 Introduction

Thank you for showing interest in a HistoryConnects program from the Virginia Historical Society. We are really excited for the opportunity to share some of the treasures from the VHS with you and your group. As we prepare for the presentation, we would like to share some additional information, to make sure that the program meets your expectations. The program uses primary sources and replica artifacts while a contextual background history for the students. It is designed to work as either a preview or a review of the topic. If there are particular historical aspects regarding the Powhatan Indians that you would like to be the focus of the presentation, please let us know and we will do our best to make sure the educator highlights these areas more intensely during your presentation. We are able to tailor each presentation to your needs.

This PDF packet of suggested pre- and post-program activities and teaching extensions is fully intended for use at your discretion. The program is designed as a standalone activity, but could easily fit into a larger unit. Please familiarize yourself with the materials and discuss them with your class.

Please be prepared to facilitate by calling on students yourself during the lesson. Explain to students that this is an interactive medium and encourage them to ask questions. This will be an inquiry-based exploration. Students are sometimes initially shy about responding to questions during distance learning lessons. Even when students are not shy, these programs work more smoothly when the students are called on by their teachers. Have students raise their hands to be called on. If possible, have the students stand when asking or answering a question. We understand that not all questions will be able to be answered during our time together. We have established [email protected] as an outlet for teachers and students to continue our historical conversation after the program has ended.

We encourage you to share photos and/or comments about your HistoryConnects experience and tag us in your posts/tweets. Here are some ways you can connect with us:

@VAHistorical

We ask teachers, after the program, to please fill out the evaluation form emailed to you. HistoryConnects is made possible by the Hugh V. White Jr. Outreach Education Fund. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact us at [email protected] or 804-342-9689. We are looking forward to this program with your group.

Program Description

Virginia Indians; Powhatan, Pocahontas, and European Contact

Much of what historians now know about the Indians we call "the Powhatans" is derived from English sources, as the Powhatans had no written language. The Algonquian speaking Powhatans provide an example of Eastern Woodland Indian life and culture.

Using primary sources as well as replica artifacts created by Mattaponi Indians, students will learn about what life was like in Virginia before the first English settlers made it their home. Students will identify the various natural resources used by Native American men, women, and children to make their tools and clothing. Students will also be engaged in a discussion about Pocahontas and the myths associated with her life.

3 Lesson Plan

Topic: Virginia Indians; Powhatan, Pocahontas, and European Contact Content Provider: HistoryConnects with Virginia Historical Society Topic-Specific Central Question: What was life like for Powhatan Indians in Colonial Virginia?

Maximum number of participants: none, HistoryConnects suggests 30 students

Objectives: Students will: 1. Understand the historical origins of the Powhatan Indians 2. Examine the VHS’ collection of historical artifacts to understand Indian culture 3. Make inferences about how the Indians related to the climate and their environment throughout daily life 4. Use the artifacts to make inferences about the climate of Virginia’s Coastal Plain region 5. Identify the major Indian language groups in Virginia 6. Understand interactions between English settlers and Native peoples 7. Draw comparisons between historical maps and modern maps 8. Examine historical prints and identify elements of Powhatan life 9. Assess images of Pocahontas and contrast her story with popular myth and depictions

Materials Provided: 1. Lesson Plan catered to Virginia Standards 2. Historical background for teachers 3. Pre, During, and Post Activities 4. Student worksheets

Introduction: Before the HistoryConnects lesson begins, we ask that teachers complete the "Pre Lesson Activity" provided in the lesson packet. The activity addresses primary sources and how students can identify them. It plays into the broader theme of this lesson, and ehances the students' experiences during.

4 Lesson Plan

1. The classroom teacher will distribute the vocab note sheet to be used during the lesson. The HistoryConnects istructor will begin with an introduction to Powhatan Indians’ historical origins focusing on the following topics a. Archeology b. Movement of Native peoples to Virginia c. Survival skills and language d. Emergence of Powhatan 2. Instructor will allow students to examine replica artifacts as examples of life and culture for Eastern Woodland Indians. 3. The instructor will discuss European settlement in America in the 16th and 17th Century a. Roanoke- John White b. Jamestown 4. The instructor will then help students compare several John White water colors a. Discuss images portrayed: What can students identify? What do they recognize? b. Why would White have painted them in this way? c. What do the images reveal? 5. The instructor will help students examine and compare John Smith's famous map to current maps of today. a. Werowocomo b. What do students notice about the map? 6. Cultural Exchange a. Canoe at the VHS demonstrates ways in which Virginia Indians embraced the culture of European settlers for their own benefit b. How could Pocahontas also be an example of this? 7. The students will then view several images of Pocahontas created over the last 400 years and discuss some of the myths that surround her. a. Varying depictions of her in paintings and stories b. Why does her myth matter? 8. Question and answer period

Conclusion: After HistoryConnects’ lesson, the classroom teacher should choose one of the provided "post" activties to increase retention, and deepen understandings of broader implications of the lesson.

Evaluation: We recommend teachers include some of our suggested review questions on exams and integrate the primary sources we have provided and discussed into their larger unit plan. Differentiated Instruction: The distance learner appeals to a variety of different learners. The visual and audio components are exciting for students who aren’t always enthusiastic in the traditional classroom setting. Students are actively involved in a question and answer style lesson, which gives many otherwise quiet students an opportunity to engage with the distant educator. We also use a variety of historical artifacts that encourage students to engage with the past in more authentic way. We have included a activities for different levels of cognition to help students use the material after the distance lesson is completed.

5 Lesson Plan

Virginia Standards of Learning Addressed:

VS2.2 The student will compare the lives and contributions of three American Indian cultures of the past and present, with emphasis on the Powhatan of the Eastern Woodlands, the Lakota of the Plains, and the Pueblo peoples of the Southwest. VS2.3 The student will identify and compare changes in community life over time in terms of buildings, jobs, transportation, and population. VS2.4 The student will develop map skills by c) locating the regions of the Powhatan, Lakota, and Pueblo Indians on United States maps; d) understanding the relationship between the environment and the culture of the Powhatan, Lakota, and Pueblo Indians. VS2.12 The student will understand that the people of Virginia b) have diverse ethnic origins, customs, and traditions, make contributions to their communities, and are united as Americans by common principles.

VS4.2 The student will demonstrate knowledge of the physical geography and native peoples, past and present, of Virginia by a) locating Virginia and its bordering states on maps of the United States; d) locating three American Indian language groups (the Algonquian, the Siouan, and the Iroquoian) on a map of Virginia; e) describing how American Indians related to the climate and their environment to secure food, clothing, and shelter; f) describing how archaeologists have recovered new material evidence at sites including Werowocomoco and Jamestown; g) identifying and locating the current state-recognized tribes.

USI.1 The student will demonstrate skills for historical and geographical analysis and responsible citizenship, including the ability to a) identify and interpret primary and secondary source documents to increase understanding of events and life in United States history to 1865; b) make connections between the past and the present; f) analyze and interpret maps to explain relationships among landforms, water features, climatic characteristics, and historical events; USI.2 The student will use maps, globes, photographs, pictures, or tables to d) recognize key geographic features on maps, diagrams, and/or photographs. USI.3 The student will demonstrate knowledge of how early cultures developed in North America by a) describing how archaeologists have recovered new material evidence at sites including Werowocomoco and Jamestown; b) locating where the American Indians lived, with emphasis on the Arctic (Inuit), Northwest (Kwakiutl), Plains (Lakota), Southwest (Pueblo), and Eastern Woodlands (Iroquois); c) describing how the American Indians used the resources in their environment. USI.4 The student will demonstrate knowledge of European exploration in North America and West Africa by b) describing cultural and economic interactions between Europeans and American Indians that led to cooperation and conflict, with emphasis on the American Indian concept of land;

NETS-S technology standards addressed: NCSS themes addressed: ☐ Creativity and Innovation - demonstrate creative ☐ Culture thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative ☐ Time, Continuity, and Change products and processes using technology ☐ People, Places, and Environment. ☐ Communication and Collaboration - use digital media and ☐ Individuals, Groups, and Institutions environments to communicate and work collaboratively, ☐ Science, Technology, and Society including at a distance, to support individual learning and ☐ Global Connections contribute to the learning of others.

6 Lesson Plan

Marzano strategies addressed: Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy levels ☐ Similarities and Difference addressed: ☐ Summarizing and Note-taking ☐ Remembering ☐ Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition ☐ Understanding ☐ Nonlinguistic Representation ☐ Applying ☐ Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers ☐ Analyzing C3 Framework dimensions addressed: ☐ Evaluating sources and using evidence ☐ Communicating conclusions and taking informed action

7 Historical Background

Archaeology is the systematic recovery, by scientific methods, of material evidence remaining from the past. These artifacts or materials are traces of human culture, technology, and behavior and may hold clues about the inhabitants of a particular site. Training and skill are required in order to analyze and interpret these artifacts. Our knowledge of the early Powhatan people comes from information from archaeology, and primary sources created by the English who made first contact with the Indians.

Pocahontas, daughter of Powhatan, is the most famous Indian woman of the seventeenth century. She was a child when sent by her father as an emissary to the colonists, whom she befriended. She risked her life on several occasions warning the settlers of impending Indian attacks. In 1613, she was kidnapped by the English, but her father refused to make ransom payment. During her life with the settlers, she adopted their customs, learned to speak English, and was baptized a Christian. She was probably nineteen years old in 1614 when she married the man who had introduced West Indian tobacco to the colony, John Rolfe. Desiring to alleviate English fears about disease, climate, and Indian hostility, they sailed, with their infant son, to England. The two travelled to England to counter the negative publicity that Virginia had received. Pocahontas was an object of fascination to the English who were intrigued by the woman they called an Indian “princess”. She impressed her hosts with her grace, intelligence, and fluent English. She died, in 1616, as she prepared to return to Virginia. Her story has endured because of her humanitarianism and her sincere belief that the English and Indians could live in harmony and peace. The study of Pocahontas is an excellent exercise testing the strength of primary versus secondary sources. Factually we know very little about Pocahontas. These facts are often interwoven with myth and legend surrounding her life. Depictions of Pocahontas throughout the time can reveal as much about the time they were created as they do about the Indian “princess”.

While Pocahontas is the most well-known Virginia Indian, there have been people in Virginia for at least 16,000 years. The first settlers were probably descendants of those who came to North America from Asia during the great Ice Age. Over the course of centuries, small bands of people made their way across a vast uninhabited continent until they reached what is now called Virginia. They arrived long before the formation of the Chesapeake Bay. They adapted to changing environments over successive years, invented new technologies, and gradually increased in number. The bands merged into tribes and the tribes into chiefdoms. Their domestication of plants contributed to the formation of enduring villages. These people spoke different languages and had varied beliefs. Their population had reached about 50,000 in Virginia when the English arrived in 1607. Roughly 15,000 of these were confederated under a paramount chief named Wahunsonacock, later called “Powhatan” by the English. The confederation led by Powhatan was comprised of roughly thirty-two small chiefdoms, each of which spoke the Algonquian language. There were two other language groups in Virginia: the Siouan and the Iroquoian.

In the 1580s, English merchants, mariners, and adventurers promoted the idea of settlements in North America, where rival countries Spain and France had established colonies. In 1585, Sir Walter Raleigh attempted to create a self-sustaining colony on Roanoke Island (now North Carolina). Although this colony mysteriously disappeared, the idea of Virginia lived on.

The Virginia Company of London, a joint-stock company formed in 1606, was granted a charter in 1606 giving the company the right to settle North America’s mainland, and in 1607 Jamestown was established by 144 settlers and sailors who crossed the Atlantic on the Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery. The Virginia Company continued

8 to send colonists to Jamestown until 1624. Of the 8,500 who came, only 1,218 remained at the end of the period. Some settlers had returned to England, but most died from starvation, disease, Indian attacks, or oppression by their own leaders. When the Virginia Company came under increasing criticism, King James I revoked its charter in 1624 and declared Virginia a royal colony.

The English called the people they encountered in the new land “the Virginians”. In Virginia the Indians prefer the term Virginia Indians, and refer to themselves in this manner. In other locations around the United States the terms Native People or Native Americans are used.

John White was the governor of the English settlement at Roanoke Island in 1585. The paintings by White are among the most valued early American documents because of the details they reveal about the lifestyles of the late sixteenth-century Indians.

The Indians relied heavily on agriculture. The staple crops of their diet consisted of corn, beans, and squash, known in their culture as the three sisters. For most of their food, Indians depended on farming, which was supplemented by the old hunting and gathering practices.

Werowocomoco, located on the York River in present day Gloucester County, served as the capital of the Powhatan confederation. In 1607, while exploring the Chickahominy River, Captain John Smith was captured and brought before Powhatan at the chief’s principal residence at Werowocomoco. After Powhatan freed Smith, the English visited Werowocomoco several times in 1608 and 1609. Powhatan decided the English were settling too close to his capital and in 1609, he moved his capital further west.

To the Indians of eastern Virginia, open land was a source of food and bounty to be shared by all. The idea of individual ownership of land, as practiced by the English, was unknown and unacceptable to the Indians. A cultural clash was probably inevitable. The English had two advantages: European diseases, for which the Indians had no immunity, and superior weaponry. Within forty years of Jamestown’s founding, the Powhatans had been defeated by warfare, smallpox, and measles. The Powhatan Empire disintegrated, and its people were forced to live on disconnected pieces of tribal territory far from the traditional hunting and fishing grounds. This was the beginning of the reservation system.

9 Pre Lesson: the Historical Record

People living in the past left many clues about their lives. These clues include both primary and secondary sources in the form of books, personal papers, government documents, letters, oral accounts, diaries, maps, photographs, reports, novels and short stories, artifacts, coins, stamps and many other things. Historians call all of these clues together the historical record.

Primary sources are records of events as they are first described without anyone else’s interpretation or analysis. These items can be letters, photographs, maps, printed material such as newspapers or magazines, video and sound recordings, and physical objects such as clothing, furniture, or tools.

Secondary sources offer an analysis or an explanation of primary sources. Some secondary sources use primary sources to support a certain opinion or idea. Examples of secondary sources are dictionaries, encyclopedias, textbooks, books and articles.

Remember: A primary source account is the first account.

10 Pre Lesson: Primary Source Worksheet

1. What is the definition of a primary source?

2. What is the definition of a secondary source?

Below is a list of sources of historical information. Circle the letter indicating whether the item is a primary (P) or secondary (S) source. If an item could be used as either a primary or a secondary source, mark either (E). Because some items could be either or both, be prepared to explain your answers!

Business Reports P S E

A Reporter P S E

An Elderly Relative P S E

A Letter P S E

A Diary P S E

A Census Book P S E

A Textbook P S E

A Magazine Article P S E

A Video P S E

A Map P S E

A City Directory P S E

A Headstone P S E

A Museum Docent P S E

Court Records P S E

A Cartoon P S E

A Song P S E

A Photograph P S E

11 Pre Lesson: Primary Source Worksheet

Write a one-sentence description of how someone could use, read or look at

each of the following as a primary source for information.

· Diaries

· Interviews

· Letters

· Documents

· Scrapbooks

· Photographs

· Clothing

· Toys

· Surveys

· Audio/Video Recordings

12 During Lesson: Selected Vocabulary

Archaeology- the systematic recovery, by scientific methods, of material evidence remaining from the past. These artifacts or materials are traces of human culture, technology, and behavior and may hold clues about the inhabitants of a particular site.

Algonquian-

Siouan- one of the three Indian language groups in Virginia, spoken primarily in the piedmont region (ex. Monacan Indians)

Iroquoian- one of the three Indian language groups in Virginia, spoken primarily in Southwestern Virginia (ex. Cherokee Indians)

Powhatan- refers either to the leader of the largest gorup of Algonquian speaking Indians in Virginia (Wahunsonacock), or to the members of the roughly thirty-two chiefdoms organized and led by him.

Yehakin- Algonquian word for longhouse, the traditional long, communal dwelling of the Powhatan Indians

“Three Sisters”-

Hominy- Algonquian word for corn Valley and Ridge- includes the Great Valley of Virginia and other valleys separated by ridges. (The Blue Ridge Mountains and the Valley and Ridge regions are part of the Appalachian mountain system). Located west of the Blue Ridge Mountains

Blue Ridge-

Piedmont- (land at the foot of mountains), characterized by rolling hills, located west of the Fall Line

Tidewater- also known as the Coastal Plain, characterized by flat land and located near the Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay (including the Eastern Shore); east of the Fall Line

Sinew-

Culture- the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively

Artifact-

Replica- an exact copy or model something

13 Post-Lesson Pocahontas Activity:

Divide the students into groups, giving each a popular image of Pocahontas. Ask students to examine the image and answer key questions.

○ Who do you think she is? ○ Did she live long ago or today? ○ How can you tell? ○ Can you find the artist’s name? ○ What traits in the portrait are English and what traits are Indian?

Have the students ponder the way Pocahontas is dressed and how she appears in their image.

Here are some questions for consideration.What perspective is the artist portraying: English or Indian? Have the students speculate why Pocahontas would be depicted in this way.

Alternative:

Watch VHS's "Who was Pocahontas?" video and discuss with the class. Answer the following questions: https://youtu.be/8J3uEMUKdOk

1. Why do we know so little about Pocahontas?

2. Who was Pocahontas' father?

3. What do you think matrilineal means?

14 Suggested Review Questions:

1. Why did Powhatan Indian men cut hair off of only one side of their head?

2. What purpose do the fringes serve on the Powhatan Indian apron?

3. What do Powhatan Indians rub on their leather to soften the hides?

4. What was the process for constructing a canoe in the Powhatan Indian culture? What

tools were used?

5. What are the “three sisters” and why are they important? What is the significance

behind the term?

6. How many people lived in the Powhatan Confederacy when the English arrived?

7. What is Pocahontas’ real name? What does the name mean?

8. What was Chief Powhatan’s real name?

9. Did Pocahontas have any children? If so, how many?

10. What did the Powhatan Indians believe about land ownership? Did this clash with the

English view?

11. In what year was the engraving of Pocahontas made? Who was the artist?

12. How many separate groups made up the Powhatan Confederacy?

13. Give examples of how the language of the Powhatan Indians is still in use today in

Virginia and America.

14. What language did the Powhatan Indians speak? Was it a written or a spoken language?

15. What region of Virginia did the Powhatan Indians live in? What is the environment like?

How did the environment play a role in how the Powhatan Indians lived?

15 Word Search

Y J W C H R R C O L O N Y P M O E O P A S M W I T K L U J H B Z O P J A R P W M B U N N I F C P G T M E D F P I A W R O A A Q T O N Z L O S T H T A H H X A V J Q I Q Z A I I K O A R P A A N N A Y H T M A N N V O P M A T S M W E W P T N Y N A E P S E D O K J R A O B I Q S R Z E H P X U O S C U Q S T U E K Z F H W N D K F N N O R Z H P B H Q B O N E X Y W W K E Y S T O N E T L O V N C S F T

Apron Maize

Bone Mattaponi

Colony Pocahontas

Deer Powhatan

Flints Rappahannock

Jamestown Stone

John White Tribe alskdjf

16 Algonquian Language Worksheet A. Matching ldkfjalksdjfok Match the Algonquian word with its English counterpart

Mockasins Raccoons Yehakin Hello Oppossum Oppossum Wingapo Shoes Arrahacounes House

B. Indian or English Determine if the following names of Virginia Rivers come from the English or Virginia Indians

York River English Indians Chickahominy English Indians River James River English Indians Potomac River Rappahannock English Indians River English Indians

17 Algonquian Language Worksheet- Answer Key A. Matching Match the Algonquian word with its English counterpart

Mockasins (Shoes) Raccoons Yehakin (House) Hello Oppossum (Oppossum) Oppossum Wingapo (Hello) Shoes Arrahacounes (Raccoons) House

B. Indian or English Determine if the following names of Virginia Rivers come from the English or Virginia Indians

York River English Indians Chickahominy English Indians River James River English Indians Potomac River Rappahannock English Indians River English Indians

18 Selected Images and Sources

19 Map of Virginia Call no. Map F221 1644:1 Captain John Smith's map of Virginia was first published in 1612 and later appeared in his Generall Historie of Virginia in 1624. A number of European cartographers drew heavily from Smith's work to create their own maps, such as this 1644 version by Dutch map-maker Willem Blaeu. Jamestown and several capes are the only place names that appear in English. Large letters spelling Powhatan show the extent of his dominions.

20 Pocahontas Accession number: 1992.40 The only life portrait of Pocahontas (1595–1617) and the only credible image of her, was engraved by Simon Van de Passe in 1616 while she was in England, and was published in John Smith's Generall Historie of Virginia in 1624. She appears stiff in Jacobean court attire, but the costume probably hid tattooing and provided the chaste image wanted by the Virginia Company, which sponsored her trip and probably commissioned the print.

21 Pocahontas By Thomas Sully Accession number: 1852.2 Thomas Sully gives us Pocahontas at what might have been construed as her best moment—after her absorption into English culture and before the fateful trip to England from which she did not return. Pocahontas presents herself as a person of remarkable refinement and grace. Conscious of brewing sectionalism, Sully devised an image that would please Virginians, and he donated this portrait to the Virginia Historical Society, perhaps as a way of winning new patrons in Pocahontas's native state.

22 The Abduction of Pocahontas Accession number: 1996.49.14 "The Abduction of Pocahontas" by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris, c. 1910, recreates the arrival of Captain Samuel Argall (at left) at Jamestown with Pocahontas as his captive. He had kidnapped her in 1613 "for the ransoming of so many Englishmen as were prisoners with Powhatan: as also to get ... armes and tools ... [and] some quantities of Corne, for the colonies relief." The Europeans, who regarded Pocahontas as a princess, were surprised that her father did not redeem her, but in a matrilineal society she could not inherit her father's power and so was relatively unimportant.

23