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A review by lizmart88
Pocahontas: Medicine Woman, Spy, Entrepreneur, Diplomat by Paula Gunn Allen
4.0
Incredibly well done biography from a native American perspective on one of the most iconic Indians in US history, and also one of the least understood.
The author is Native American and has studied traditions and mythologies of early American tribes extensively.
First recommendation: make sure you read the forward! I usually skip them but she explains why the book is structured in such a circular and repetitive way (it's modeled on Indian mythology and storytelling not Anglo chronological time stories).
Second, go in with an open mind! This book has the basic facts about Pocahontas and her life, but she also focuses on context, worldview, and conjectures. It's an alternative version to the traditionally told love story, from John Smith's perspective. She focuses a lot on the worldview, religion and spiritual beliefs, and ideas That pocahontas would have believed as a Native woman.
It definitely got me thinking quite a bit about how we view Pocahontas, John Smith, John Rolfe, and other contemporaries.
The author is Native American and has studied traditions and mythologies of early American tribes extensively.
First recommendation: make sure you read the forward! I usually skip them but she explains why the book is structured in such a circular and repetitive way (it's modeled on Indian mythology and storytelling not Anglo chronological time stories).
Second, go in with an open mind! This book has the basic facts about Pocahontas and her life, but she also focuses on context, worldview, and conjectures. It's an alternative version to the traditionally told love story, from John Smith's perspective. She focuses a lot on the worldview, religion and spiritual beliefs, and ideas That pocahontas would have believed as a Native woman.
It definitely got me thinking quite a bit about how we view Pocahontas, John Smith, John Rolfe, and other contemporaries.