Native American Colonies

The inclination to discover unknown places or decipher enigmatic concepts is a customary manifestation of an historian’s inherent desire for knowledge and insight. With knowledge lies a sense of security, comfort in the awareness and predictability of phenomenon; the accumulation of such knowledge and insight allows for an enhanced, and often revised, understanding of the physical world, intensifying our desire for wisdom and thus power. As regions became more distinctively separate, each with its own language and culture, another inherent feeling surfaced: competitiveness. All of Europe experienced such spirits, and the extent of its influence, in addition to the revolutionizing philosophy of the Renaissance period, instigated the intensity …show more content…
In their visions, none foresaw that in less than a year, complications of food shortages, rampant illnesses, and lack of skilled laborers or farmers to recreate domesticity would prevail. They soon realized that the complications could be eliminated with the help of the indigenous Native American Powhatan tribe, as “the prosperity of our Colonies on the Continent will stand or fall with our Interest and favour among them.” Though much discussion has been devoted to the tension between the Native Americans and the English colonists, another significant component of their relationship is the initial feelings for each other. The inclination of the English colonists to deny their suspicions and search for similarity emphasizes their hopes of finding not only validity in their assumed assumptions of the Native Americans, including their potential for reconciliation for their barbaric ways, but also security in of their presumed superiority and advancement. The similarities that Virginia colonists hoped to uncover dealt primarily with the Powhatan tribe’s values, and how those principles influenced their societal …show more content…
The cultural facets of this structure signify the philosophical as well as psychological advancements of the community, with certain components of its framework connecting varying groups of people to a common goal. One such component that the colonists alluded to in varying documents is the traditions, particularly the aesthetics portions like apparel and architecture, of the Powhatan people and how they are comparable to those of the English. Captain John Smith, in the document, “The Generall History of Virginia,” suggests the Powhatan tribe’s attire and architecture are complementary to that of traditional European pieces, informing the European world to the “large mantels of Deare skins, not much differing in fashion from the Irish mantels,” worn by the Powhatan people. He continues to relate the Powhatan people ensemble to that of the English by claiming the tribe’s accessories, specifically “those Rattels are somewhat like the chape of a Rapier, but lesse, which they take from the taile of a snake.” By describing the fashion of the Powhatan people with heavily allusive phrases such as “somewhat like” and “not so much differing in fashion,” Smith is implying that while the Powhatan culture, with “their houses built like our Arbors,” may not be identical to that of the English, the cultures are similar enough to persuade the natives to the