They had a mission to make a settlement, yes, but they also had a mission to find mountains of gold and a passage to the other side of the world, which was paramount. One hundred and eight of them blew into the river path and dropped anchor in what they christened ‘James Town,’ in honor of their ruler and benefactor, King James I. The Englishmen on these ships were most likely sick, smelly and crabby after the rugged voyage, sporting heavy jackets and all manner of hair on their faces. One day in May, a breeze sent three ships –the Discovery, the Godspeed and the Susan Constant– into the horizon. She might have been taught how to weave baskets, make pottery or stitch with beads certainly, she didn’t have the many chores as the others did. She was a beloved child who danced in the moonlight and was always in motion –a very young girl building powerful legs and torso. Many thousand Indians thrived in the thick and dense jungle-like forests and her father led them all.

She led a charmed life as a princess of her powerful and fierce warrior-chieftain father in the Werowocomo Indian village. Pocahontas lived in a place where time was told by how many trips the geese flew north. She was born in 1596 and was the favored daughter of a Chieftain Powhatan, Wahunsenaca, leader of a network of 30 tribal nations under the Algonquian umbrella in the Tidewater region of Virginia, encompassing Chesapeake Bay. While we don’t believe Pocahontas was an ill-behaved child, her real name in the Powhatan tribe was Amonute and, in private, people close to her might call her Matoaka. To begin, the name “Pocahontas” is a kind of nickname that someone would say to identify a child as a “playful one” or even an “ill-behaved child.” To illustrate, historian Camilla Townsend defines some of the misbeliefs behind the myth of Pocahontas. Perhaps the hero gets stronger, bigger or more powerful under the face of adversity Amonute and Matoaka Through the ages, the story or myth will gain color. Cultures often instill a story or myth onto the message of their heritage using a famous forbearer whom they would like their offspring to emulate. The psychology of the cultural myth may tap into an emotional vein, something we have been taught as a moral or even ethical construct by our parents.

We foster these as we reach out to learn about ourselves and how we figure into society.

The cultural myth phenomenon taps into a fascination we nourish. The psychology to these stories reflect the way we grew up. Cultural myths reinforce belief in popular values or special ideas of the time. This popular belief or story has become so word-of-mouth that it is associated as truth of that person, even to becoming a cultural ideal.

The real pocahontas