True Story of Pocahontas

From the Sacred History of the Mattaponi Reservation People

"We invite you into our world that you might begin to know us for who we are."

Countless schoolchildren have heard the tale of Pocahontas and Captain John Smith, and movies and books have long perpetuated the English-colonists' version of the story. Now, for the first time in 400 years, the Native voice rings out, revealing the true account of Pocahontas's life and the tragic events surrounding her capture.

This significant book shares the sacred and previously unpublished oral history of the Mattaponi tribe, one of the original tribes of the Powhatan chiefdom encountered by the Jamestown founders. Passed down from generation to generation, The True Story of Pocahontas contains powerful gems of Powhatan knowledge that will awaken the truth-seeker in all of us.

Dr. Linwood "Little Bear" Custalow was born on the Mattaponi Reservation in West Point, the eldest son of Chief Daniel Webster "Little Eagle" and Mary "White Feather" Custalow. Early in life he was given the mission of learning the oral history of his tribe and of the Powhatan Nation as passed down by his father and his grandfather. Angela L. Daniel "Silver Star" has strived to learn and preserve the oral history of the Powhatan people so it can be passed down to future generations. The late Chief Webster "Little Eagle" Custalow honored Daniel by giving her the name "Silver Star." He encouraged her to learn and pass on the oral history of the Mattaponi.