The Three Little Pigs:
as it was originally passed into English folklore in
1620
|
 |
William' Shakespeare's The Tempest
was inspired by an account of the wreck of The Sea Adventure
on Bermuda Island written by William Strachey, the secretary of
the Virginia Colony (believed to be the person who brought the
story of the Three Little Pigs back to England):
This was on the 28th of July, 1609
The shipwrecked mariners were on the
Bermuda Islands, called "The Devil's Islands" on account of the
dreadful storms which the mariners then believed to be the most
frequent there. These islands were "accounted as an enchanted
pile of rocks, and a desert inhabitation for devils; but all the
fairies of the rocks, were but flocks of birds; and all the
devils that haunted the woods, were but herds of swine".
From a True Declaration &c., Force's Tracts, Vol. 3, No. 1, p.
10 by William Strachey
|
|
 |
John Smith is popularly believed to have
contributed significantly to early colonial successes. In fact
he was a rogue who early on was indicted by members of the
Virginia Colony for many wrongdoings, not the least of which was
fabricating the story of Pocahontas saving his life.
From a legal document from 1609 listing the indictments
against John Smith.
For representing the indians as overflowing with love and
admiration for him; while he showed himself, by word and deed,
as a great exponent and advocate of the doctrine, that the only
good Indian, is a dead Indian. (p.560) And now for the more
serious matters: For brutality in his treament of the Nanesemond
and other Indians, prisoners as well as others. (p. 487) For
attempting to assasinate Powhatan, shortly after a treaty of
peace had been made with him, at the time of his coronation by
Newport. (p. 529) For causing, indrectly, the drowning of the
two councilors Scrivener and Waldo, and Captain Anthony Gosnold,
and eight others, who were attempting to defeat Smith's unlawful
attempt on Powhatan's life (p. 553)
From "The Conquest of Virginia" by Conway Whittle Sams, B.L.,
Virginia Historical Society, 1929
|
|
|
Katharine Gates, publisher. (great great great
great granddaughter) and resident of Richmond, Virginia |
|
 |
The crucial conflict in the values of these
two cultures was in their opposing views on the nature of
ownership of property. The English insisted on private
ownership, and the Naturalls insisting that property could not
be owned.
In this Southeastern Native American tale wolves
are created in order to destroy private property.
The Origin of Wolves
A doctor [shaman] made the Wolf. That
doctor, while travelling along, took up a pinecone lying in the
trail. He carried it along and presently found another in the
trail and took that. He held one in each hand, sang, and blew
upon them. He went on with them, and came to a fork in the
trial. He stopped, sang, blew on them, and struck them together.
After he had stood there with them for a while, he rolled one of
them along upon one trail and the other down the other trail.
Both of the pinecones then turned into Wolves. But they were
weak and their feet were not stout. They came back to where the
doctor stood.
When they got there, that man blew on his hands and felt of the
Wolves' backs. He blew on both of his hands and felt of the
backs. After he did this, the Wolves grew stouter, and the man
said to them, "Both of you go along on this trail until you come
to where a man loves who has much property. What he eats, you
eat with him." After he had so spoken, the Wolves started along
barking and scratching up the dirt.
After they had gone, that man was sorry. He thought, "I am
worthless for having done that." He went along on the other
trail, but from that time on, the Wolves have disturbed the
stock. It has been told.
From: Myths and Tales of the Southeastern Indians, John
R. Swanton, Smithsonian Institution Bureau of American
Ethnology, Bulletin 88, 1929
|
|
 |
Werowans, Weroance, Werowance, Weroanse,
Wiroans, Wiroance, Heround, Herowan, Cheroun,
Car. Alg.; chief or leading man in a tribe (H,N). Cp. Strachey
weroance, wiroance 'a king or great lord' (Hist. of
travell, pp. 63, 190), wironausqua ( lege
wiroan(s)usqua) 'a woman queene'. Apparently from wilaw-
'rich, valuable, precious' (as in Delaware) plus -antesi
'exist, get along, have such a manner of life' (as in
Fox-Ojibwa-Algomnkin -atesi-, -stisi-, adisi-,, but here
a nasal must have developed after -a-, as in New
England). This seems satisfactory, although I have no citations
in support of Delaware wilawi-, and do not know whether
this has wi- or wi--.
From "The Roanoke Voyages 1584-1590, Hakluyt Society, 1955, p.
899
|
|
 |
Although there are cases of happy marriages
between Europeans and Indians, the popular legend of Pocahontas
ignores the fact of her unwilling capture by the English which
resulted in her marriage to John Rolfe (not John Smith, as
suggested in the Disney movie). Ralph Hamor's 1614 book "A True
Discourse", includes this account of Pocahontas' capture:
...to James Towne she was brought, a
messenger to her father forthwith dispached to advertise him,
that his only daughter was in the hands & possession of the
English, there to be kept til such time as he would ransome her
with our men, swords, pieces & other tools treacerhously taken
from us: the news was unwelcome, and troublesome to him, pertly
for the love he bare to his daughter, and partly for the love he
bare to our men his prisoners...
A True Discourse of the Present State of Virginia, and the
successe of the affaires there till the 18th of June, 1614,
Raphe Hamor the younger, William Weley, London, 1615.
|
|
|
|
 |
It may be remembered from a
previous sidebar
(text_2) that Strachey was also the very same man who
brought the tale of a shipwreck back to England which
subsequently inspired Shakespeare's play, "The Tempest".
|
|
 |
Early Indian houses were constructed of
cattails, much like the home of the first little pig (engraving
by DeBry, after a painting by John White)
|
| | |
