Pocahontas Statue

Pocahontas was an extremely influential figure of her time. She affected many of those around her, whether it was the English, the colonists or even her native people. In a time of great cultural disparity, she was a necessary bridge between cultures, one that made it possible for the old world to see into the wilderness that was their colonies. Her transformation from being viewed as a native, senseless savage to a refined, Christian Englishwomen also proved that the many thousands upon millions of natives in this land could be changed and created into ideal people, those who are safe and benign with their lives. Her reform gave Native Americans hope for peace, and the English hope that all could be converted to the day’s English standards. Throughout her life, Pocahontas had a very colorful history, filled with action and events leading up to her death in England, where she is honored with a cast of a bronze statue made to commemorate her final resting place. (See figure 1)

            Pocahontas had an immensely interesting history, causing her to be known as a symbol of many ideas. Pocahontas was born around what was thought around the late 1500’s, but her actual date of birth is unknown. Around the age of eight to twelve she met a ship captain named John Smith, to whom much of her life legacy can be accredited. As the story goes, John Smith was captured by the Powhatan. Right before his gruesome death, where he was to be beaten with stones, Pocahontas came to his rescue and saved him. As William Rasmussen brings up in “Pocahontas, Her Life and Legend,” she may have actually saved John Smith numerous times, but according to other sources, this event may have not taken place at all. Since Smith is the only person to have documented this occurrence, it’s possible that it was a ploy to elevate Pocahontas’s social status once she was in England.  After these encounters, the English captured Pocahontas by luring her onto Captain Samuel Argall’s ship. Amazingly, it is reported that she was treated fantastically, so much so that she converted to Christianity and was baptized, taking the name Rebecca. When her father, chief Powhatan, failed to meet the ransom of the colonists, Pocahontas remained in captivity, and eventually denounced her own people.  Within a year, she married John Rolfe and later bore a child, Thomas Rolfe. Pocahontas’s amazing story ends quite abruptly, as she travels to England and was accepted as royalty, only to die shortly thereafter. Pocahontas created a very intricate and fantastic history of herself, and her history is honored by a bronze statue created in her honor in Jamestown and in England.

The bronze statue of Pocahontas embodies much of the same symbolism as the woman herself.  Commissioned in 1906 to William Ordway Partridge in celebration of the three hundredth anniversary of James Town, the statue was not erected until 1922 (See figure 2). This delay was due mainly to lack of funds and support, which shows just how much the meaning behind Pocahontas has shifted in the minds of society.  Where she used to be an icon of change, peace, and ultimately a success story of Christianity, Pocahontas now is only a person in history to some.  The financial issues also affected the payment of the artist- he didn’t get half of the money until a decade after the original construction.  The artist did a great job with the idea of Pocahontas, if not with the accuracy of his details.  The figure is welcoming; her arms are held out showing how Pocahontas peacefully filled the gap between two extremely different cultures.  The placement of the statue is very low to the ground; Pocahontas was a human and can be related to.  Because of the warmness and portrayal of Pocahontas in the artwork, it doesn’t even matter that the woman seems to be much older than twelve, or that her shoes or the pattern on her vest are not of the Powhatan culture at all. Perhaps her headdress was created to represent stereotypical Native American dress. Accuracy isn’t the goal; the idea is to show what Pocahontas meant to all the people she affected. 

Pocahontas is not only a symbol of peace; she proved that two completely different and conflicting cultures could cohabitate, and even assimilate into one another.  She reached out the first welcoming hand, and she is well remembered for it.  The statue that commemorates this historical woman symbolizes all that she stood in a time where peace wasn’t always the first action taken.  A copy of the James Town statue was given to the queen of England and resides in Kent in town where Pocahontas is buried.  With the existence of these two statues, on in each of her worlds, the bridge she formed between the Native Americans and the European colonists shall forever live on in bronze.