Ms Pemberton,
You may be licensed to surmise that eggs were part of the diet in
Pochhantas' time. It seems that egg harvesting was a universal practice in
pre-modern times in every culture. So, though chicken fricassee might not
have been on any Powhattan menus, eggs probably were. And children were
employed in the harvest wherever one reads of the practice.
tom
-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Anne Pemberton
Sent: Sunday, February 11, 2007 9:58 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Native American Culture
Douglas,
Thanks for the suggestions. But the "European" child in the story is a
modern American, who may be of any race, who is reading the story. They are
a traveler from the future. They don a magical History Hat.
In 1609, from my understanding, the Jamestown colonists grew little or
nothing in crops, depending on Powhatan to feed them. It was a tough year
all around and he refused because it would have left his people without
enough, and hence the Starving Time.
Would it be better to set the time as 1608? I don't want to make it after
1609 since Pocahantas will be a young woman by then, and would perhaps not
be much of a day's companion to a child visiting "from the future".
Anne
Anne Pemberton
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http://www.erols.com/stevepem
http://www.erols.com/apembert
http://www.educationalsynthesis.org
----- Original Message -----
From: "Douglas Deal" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, February 11, 2007 9:37 PM
Subject: Re: Native American Culture
> Anne:
>
> The larger issue (diets aside) is whether English and Indian children (and
> others?) would've engaged in such friendly socializing in 1609, or any
> other time. 1609 is a bad year to select for your story: the English
> settlement was on the brink of dissolution and torn by internal power
> struggles; and the relations between the local Indians and the colonists
> were not good, to put it mildly. See chapter 6 of James Horn's new book, A
> Land As God Made It. He describes, among other things, an abortive attempt
> by the English in 1609 to purchase a small island from the Nansemond
> Indians' "king," who had no interest in selling it (it was one of their
> holy places with graves, etc.). The Nansemonds had "sacrifysed" the two
> English messengers who had visited the island to negotiate its transfer;
> their "Braynes [were] cut and scraped out of their heades with mussell
> shelles." The English, upon hearing this, ordered the island taken by
> force, and George Percy (one of the group's leaders) reported afterwards
> that they had "Beate the Salvages outt of the Island," burning their
> houses, ransacking their temples, pillaging the corpses of their dead
> kings in their tombs. They had also "caryed away their pearles, Copper and
> braceletts, wherewith they do decore their kings funeralles." (Horn,
> p.165)
>
> Doug Deal
>
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