RECREATING THE WEDDING OF POCAHONTAS AND JOHN ROLFE. Laurie Gwen Shapiro had an article in Slate about the recreation of the wedding of Pocahontas and John Rolfe, which took place on April 5, 2014, exactly 400 years after the date of the actual event. The recreation was held next to the site of the chapel where the original wedding took place. The fort at Jamestown was found only about 20 years ago, and the site of the chapel was found only four years ago.
Laurie Shapiro focuses on the effects of the Rolfe-Pocohontas marriage on life in Virginia today. A large number of the oldest families in Virginia are their descendants. There were also a number of other princesses who married settlers, with many of those marriages thought to be intended to secure allegiances.There are thought to be thousands of descendants of Pocahontas in the United States and thousands more in England.
There was extensive cooperation from the Pamunkey tribe in the recreation. In an interview with Shapiro, the chief of the tribe says that he is motivated to seek publicity for the tribe to support efforts for federal recognition of the tribe and the preservation of the longstanding fishing rights of the tribe.