Pocahontas Read Online Free Page A

would arise from the Chesepiock Bay that would bring an end to my father's great confederacy.
    But even then, all the Chesepiocks were not killed when my father made war on them to defeat that prophecy. It was not the people but their nation that was seen by my father as a great threat. After the Chesepiock warriors were defeated, their name as a tribe was extinguished like a burning log dropped into the river. Their women and children were not harmed but adopted among us. Their people were scattered among our other nations and given new names so that the prophecy could not come to pass.
    ***
    This morning, I rose, as I always do, before Kefgawes, the Great Sun, showed itself. I walked down to the river and washed myself in its cold, clean water. I sat by its banks. I made a small circle of tobacco around me. Then I spoke to Kefgawes, giving thanks that I was able to see a new day, that there is strength in my body to move about, that my people and I have been given the things needed to live.
    I then went back to my place in my father's house and took out my paint. I chose red paint, made from puccoon, the
bloodroot, and the oil crushed from hickory nuts. I stirred it well to make it even and smooth, and I painted my whole face, from the top of my head down to my chin. As is the case for all girls before they reach the age of marriage, my hair is all cut off except for the single long braid at the back of my head. I also painted my shoulders, but I stopped applying paint before reaching the intricate tattoos of intertwined flowers that circle the upper parts of my arms. Those tattoos were made only two seasons ago. I remember the feeling of the sharp bone awl piercing my skin again and again as drops of paint were applied to the places where blood welled up. Of course, I did not cry out or show in any way that I felt the pain. I appreciated the great care that my aunts and my mothers took to make me so beautiful by giving me the tattoos.
    As I applied my paint, I used the three long fingers of my right hand and then those of my left. One of my mothers, Green Reed, the oldest of my father's wives, watched as I did all this. She made sure the paint was smooth and even and that I had not missed any places. She painted the white circles around my eyes first and with the fingers of her right hand used more red paint to touch up the places I missed. I had to use the eyes of Green Reed to tell me how I looked.
    "Close your eyes," Green Reed said as she dipped her left hand into a box of
matchqueon,
the beautiful dust made by grinding a certain stone. It makes one's face sparkle with many lights that are almost as bright as the twinkling of the Pummahumpal, the distant ones far above, the stars that fill the night sky.
    I did as Green Reed said. The warm touch of her breath struck my face as she blew the dust evenly over the still-moist paint. Then I sat without moving until it dried, feeling it tighten the skin of my cheeks as it did so. When it was dry, I stood up and finished dressing myself. The weather has been
warm enough to wear no clothing at all—which is the way most of us go about when we are children. However, I was dressing to impress these new Tassantassuk. I would present myself as the favorite daughter of the Great Chief. So I put around my waist a fine white apron of deerskin, which had been softened by tanning with smoke. The apron was decorated with
rawrenock
shells and pieces of copper, making designs in the shapes of animals and flowers. I hung long earrings of strung pearls through the pierced lobes of my ears and then wound a long necklace of pearls and pieces of copper around my neck so that it hung across my bare chest.
    Green Reed looked me over and then nodded in approval, as did the other women. I had chosen eight girls of my own age to accompany me. Several of them also were very well dressed, but no one looked as beautiful as I did. They had brought rattles with them, as I had told them to. It was