Braids of the Powhatan

Braids of the Powhatan is a short story written by Isaiah Wilson. The story is an adaption of the legendary tale of Pocahontas first meeting with John Smith, an English explorer. The story takes a different look at the tale as it openly mocks other interpetations of the story through the main character of Pocahontas herself. The story is told completely from Pocahontas' perspective and not very much insight is given on events that occured when she wasn't there Although not a completely accurate dipiction of the true story this adaption does keep several important facts of the actual story- Pocahontas' and John Smith's age, The Governor's actual role in the story (being a protagonist and not a villian), and most importantly Pocahontas' saving of John Smith's life.

Plot

The story begins with Pocahontas opening the story with how different Hollywood's depiction of her differs from what actually happened. She then proceeds to the actual story. Pocahontas is coming home from a trip to another Native American nation on the back of a buffalo accompainied by Paul her turkey friend. She meets her father who is returning home victorious from war. Her father-Cheif Wanaton-greets and informs her that he missed her during the battles. Pocahontas tells her father that her tenth birthday has arrived that according to their people's tradition she is allowed to unbraid her braids as this represents her coming into womanhood. He tells her that "A man must be brave in the midst of war. A woman must be brave for peace". Her father tells her that he does not feel that she is truly ready to take on the womanhood mantle. Although she pleads with him he refuses to let her unbraid. She leaves slightly discouraged to her grandmother's house.

Paul tries to make her feel better about her present situation and tells her that perphaps her grandmother will see her side of the story. Grandmother Wotan makes a grand entrance upon Pocahontas' arrival. Pocahontas tells her situation to her grandmother but she does not agree with Pocahontas either and points out that just because Pocahontas travels to distant lands and other nations does not make her a woman. Grandmother Wotan tells her grandaughter that she has done nothing that is consider worthy enough to be freed of her child status. Pocahontas, Paul and Tonk the buffalo then proceed to Journey to Mother Spirit's pond.

It is revealed then that Pocahontas mother is in fact Mother Spirit. Pocahontas knowing that her mother rarely agrees with her husband, pleads her case to her mother. However Mother Spirit agrees with what everyone else has said and even Paul is shown to beginning to believe it at the end of the conversation. Downtrodden, Pocahontas walks through the woods and hears a loud unidentifiable noise. It turns out that it's a gun shot fired by John Smith. It appears that John Smith is being attacked by a bear. However the bear is really trying to warn him from being too close to a nearby bear den guarded by the bear's ex-wife. Pocahontas 'saves' the man and the two become fast friends. Pocahontas takes John Smith on a canoe ride to the downtown sector of the village where John Smith orders a fancy coffee.

Upon coming back to the village and saying goodbye to John Smith for the day, Pocahontas sees all the people in her part of the village crowded together. Cheif Wanaton tells all of the people that Pocahontas' 19-year old sister Hanawanoton is engaged to marry the most prominent warrior of their village Solocum. Pocahontas and Koru-her father's attache- exchange cruel words to each other. This notes a bit of a rivarly between the both of them. Pocahontas feels sorry for his sister and wants to devise a plan to save her. The next day Pocahontas, Paul and Tonk go to see John Smith at his camp. John Smith tells her that The Governor doesn't want him to see her again in fear of the natives trying to attack. Pocahontas tells him that he'll keep it a secret from both of their peoples. Unknown to the both of them, Thomas the govenor's assistant, is spying on Smith talking to Pocahontas. Pocahontas and Smith attempt to trap Solocum in a bear trap but instead Smith gets caught in it. They try several other attemtps to capture Solocum yet they all fail. John goes back to the camp for dinner but promises to be back for the wedding that night. Thomas then hurries back and reports his information to The Governor.

The Governor then forbids Smith from leaving the camp that night. Smith manages to escape yet he brings along another curious colonist Burkhart along with him for protection. Smith and Burkhart must watch the wedding ceremony from a nearby tree while Pocahontas being a family member must be present for the ceremony. Her family and her animal friends are all gathered around the fire of unity while the high priest has her father and Solocum's father recite a vow to upkeep their children's union and provide support. Pocahontas spots Smith and Burkhart and goes over to them while the ceremony is taking place. Pocahontas tells Smith that he and Burkhart must leave because there is too many security warriors guarding the area as customary for a the marriage of village noble. Pocahontas has Paul and Tonk distract the rest of the ceremony attendants with a song. Burkhart has become infuatated with Hanawanotan. She herself states to her father she is not going to marry Solocum and runs away effectively canceling the engagement. She bumps into Burkhart who then offers the chance that they meet each other secretly after admitting that he himself was once in her situation. Pocahontas and Smith promise to help keep their secret.

A weeks pass by and neither the Englishmen or The Powhatan have attacked each other yet tensions rise. Thomas sees John Smith with Pocahontas again while looking for kindling wood and reports this The Governor. Solocum sees Pocahontas and Kocoum(her baby cousin)with John Smith and predicts that he is trying to attack her. He attacks Smith and brings him to her father. Cheif Wanaton sentences him to death and all of the village is stirring with the news. Pocahontas and Paul decide that they must rescue Smith otherwise she could never live with herself. Just as Smith is about to be killed Pocahontas head butts her father and frees Smith. The Englishmen rush to Smith's aid and attack the natives who fight back. Grandmother Wotan summons the spirits of the crows to attack the Englishmen. Mother Spirit also fights. Burkhart grabs Hanawanotan and carries her to saftey. Pocahontas manages to end the violence yet Koru wants it to continue and uses a canoe to take Smith to the highest point in the village to kill him. Grandmother Wotan summons the spirit of the eagle and Pocahontas along with Tonk and Paul rush to Smith's aid. Hanawanotan sees this and summons the warriors to go fight Koru and leads to them to him.

Meanwhile Koru is ready to slaughter Smith until Pocahontas manages to stop him. She uses her braids to fight him. However Koru overpowers her and knocks her off a cliff. Grandmother Wotan catches her and Pocahotas confronts Koru again and defeats him. Not wanting to face the Cheif's wrath Koru attempts suicide. Pocahontas tries to save him with her braids but her braids then unravel and her hair finally flows like the wind and evil is defeated. Nearly five months later, Hanawanotan and Burkhart are getting married and there is much dancing and rejoicing. Paul and Tonk are preforming once more. Pocahontas goes to the shore to wish John Smith and his men goodbye as her hair flows in the wind symbolizing that she is now a woman.

Characters

Main Characters

Pocahontas- Pocahontas is a ten year old girl with a lot of spunk. Pocahontas is a sarcastic yet lovable little native american girl who seeks to join the ranks of adulthood. Pocahontas wants to unbraid her braids as customary for all girls around her age yet because she was done nothing worthy to be considered a true woman she must keep them bound. It is not until she saves John Smith in the end that her hair finally flows like the wind. It can be argued that since she saved John Smith from the bear and being discovered at the wedding that she already showed that she already showed a bit of courage. However being that bear really wasn't going to hurt John Smith at all it can also be argued that it is justified that her braids remained bound. One unique skill Pocahontas possess is the ability to use her braids as weapons though not in the sense that she is like the Medusa or the Powerpuff Girls villian Sedusa. It is also revealed in the story that Pocahontas likes to travel. In fact she travels to the different nation as an ambassador for her people.

John Smith- John Smith is a 40-Something, twice divorced English explorer. Unlike other adaptions where he plays a father-like role or even a romantic interest John in this adaption is more of a platonic friend that also gives Pocahontas advice on certains issues yet still remains simply a close friend. John is more or less the central driving force in the story that keeps the focus on Pocahontas' struggle. We first encounter him when he is being 'attacked' by a bear. Pocahontas comes to rescue John and the two become quick friends. It's worth noting that John is quite curious for a man his age. He is astounded when he sees the downtown area and is fascinated by the wedding rituals, the latter of which he writes down in his journal.

Supporting Characters

Chief Wanaton- Chief Wanaton is Pocahontas' father. He is strict and yet he is loving to his daughters. Pocahontas mentions that he rarely smiles except when someone is on the verge of death. This can be interpetted as a love for gore or as the joy of seeing another one of his friends of the human world join The Great Spirits although it's probably the latter.

Paul- Paul is the turkey friend to Pocahontas. Paul's personality is a lot like Pocahontas' personality however unlike her he is more open to differing opinions. Paul's major role in the story is to play comic to Pocahontas and to be more or less or conscience. In the wedding scene Paul accompanied by Tonk musically distracts the crowd while Pocahontas sneeks John Smith and Burkhart out of the area. Paul is named after comedian/actor Paul Lynde.

Tonk- Tonk is a buffalo that Pocahontas was given as peace offering from the Sioux tribe. Unlike the other animals in the story Tonk does not speak in an animal dialect known to Pocahontas or her people. However, Pocahontas does understand only every other word he says. Tonk assists Paul in distracting the crowd in the wedding scene.

Grandmother Wotan- Grandmother Wotan is the mystic elder of all the Powhatan people. She frequently summons the spirits of animals. Grandmother Wotan is shown to live with Pocahontas in the same tent. Its impiled that she herself was like Pocahontas in her younger days.

Mother Spirit- Mother Spirit is actually Pocahontas' mother. Mother Spirit once was a normal human however because of her disrepect of nature The Great Spirits transformed her into nature itself. Its implied that she is a lot older than Pocahontas' father being that she was transformed nearly 500 years ago.

Hanawanotan- Hanawanotan is Pocahontas' older sister. Pocahontas explains that Hollywood made the depiciton of herself too much like her sister. Hanawanotan is ambitious and a strong willed yet does not want to be told what to do too often. Hanawanotan will probably become chieftess after her father dies or head mystic if her grandmother dies, which ever one dies first that's whose job she's taking. In the story, she is engaged to marry a fierce warrior who promises to give her parents many children and build her a strong house. Hanawanotan wants more than that and cancels the engagement in front of everyone. Hanawanotan eventually falls in love with Burkhart and they get married at the end of the story. It is implied by then that she is pregnant with his child.

Burkhart- Burkhart is John Smith's friend and roommate. Burkhart is woman-hungry after spending months on a boat with nothing but men. Although he comes later in the story he plays an important role in the story. It is he who falls in love with Hanawanotan after calling her "the most beautiful creature I've ever seen". Shortly after that, he has an actual interaction with her and they become lovers. He defends her in the climatic fight.

The Governor- The Governor is the leader of Jamestown and is a bit of a father figure to John Smith. John and The Governor have worked with each other a lot before so John considers him more of a colleague than a boss. The Governor is the one who sends a spy out to make sure John Smith isn't doing anything he shouldn't be. Unlike other portrayals The Governor is not shown in a villianous role at all but more of a conflicting force.

Koru- Koru is the main antagonist in the story. He hates Pocahontas because she once stopped him from trapping Mother Spirit in a fig. He is the Chief attache and second in command. Koru is the one who attempts to kill both John Smith and Pocahontas in the end of the story.

Thomas Timthoy S. Hardwick- Thomas is The Governor's spy that keeps an eye on John Smith. Thomas is a coward and a liar and shows many similarities to Koru only he doesn't try to kill anyone. He has a bit of a rivalry with John Smith and seeks to destroy him. Thomas can be seen as secondary villain of sorts.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu