eenth century. In this manner, PocahontasÆ vision included the end of her and her peopleÆs world and the establishment of a new one. As Allen (p. 28) describes it, it was a ôworld change time. Or world transformation time.ö
Most Anglo-American accounts of Pocahontas view her as an Indian maiden who helped rescue Captain John Smith from certain death and died tragically at a young age after marrying the man who would be responsible for the commercialization of tobacco, John Rolfe. Because of this largely mythical and shortchanging account of PocahontasÆ life, Allen provides us with a Native American perspective to more fully understand the prodigious gifts and influence this Powhatan had on both her own people and the English. AllenÆs (Front Matter) narrative is reflective of this account, as she adopts a ôrandom, almost chaotic system of narrativeö that uses rhetorical devices that are distinctly Native American such as repetition, humor and shifting points of view. In so doing, Allen provides us with an account of Pocahontas that avoids the dominant influence of mainstream culture in favor of an approach that is more Native American.
In this story of Pocahontas we are treated to a Native American young woman who served as a spy on the Jamestown colony, whose dream-visions provide insight into the coming onslaught of colonists for Native Americans, and who eventually helped John Rolfe commercialize tobacco. In addition, Pocahontas allegedly helped saved Captain John Smith, basically a profiteer, from certain death after his capture by the Powhatan and she would act as a bridge between two distinct cultures, her own and that of the Anglo-Americans and English. As Allen (Front Matter) tells us, Pocahontas represented ôthe living embodiment of this dual cultural transformation,ö as each culture influenced the other in significant ways.
AllenÆs book focuses on Pocahontas as the focal point of the story, and takes ...