I’m reading about Cockacoeske- more people should be reading & teaching about her. She led the Pamunkey people in the late 17th century. She descended from Powhatan. She helped ensure her people survived attacks & massacres from Nathaniel Bacon (known for Bacon’s Rebellion 1676)

She went to colonial courts and navigated their complex political and legal customs so she could advocate for the Pamunkey. In 1677, she signed a treaty with King Charles II in which she was identified as the leader of several Indian nations.

I’m annoyed US cultural history sanitizes Pocahontas as an Indian princess (she was actually taken captive to be missionized) & that the story of Cockacoeske as an Indigenous woman leader who advocated for her people & navigated colonial courts to protect her people is not told