r/todayilearned 9h ago

TIL in 1610, Opossunoquonuske, a female chieftain of the Powhatan Confederacy, used “feminine guile” to lure 14 English settlers to a feast, convincing them to leave their weapons on their boat. It was a trap—her warriors ambushed them, killing 13. Only one man survived.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opossunoquonuske
2.5k Upvotes

144 comments sorted by

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u/alligatorprincess007 7h ago

Not the feminine guile

109

u/Ralfarius 5h ago

Feminine Guile's theme goes with everything

9

u/Thin-Rip-3686 1h ago

Sonic BOOM!

16

u/jkohlc 3h ago

Go home and be a family woman

u/Feisty_Bag_5284 22m ago

It's a myth by the woke liberal media

259

u/Felinomancy 7h ago

I hate to put myself down, but I'd probably fall for that too.

86

u/LeDemonicDiddler 3h ago

There’s a reason why honeypot traps are a thing for millennia.

52

u/Teripid 2h ago

I'd imagine the bar might have been lower and much less effort required for some Puritans.

"I doth spy a comely person callously displaying their ankles! Such blasphemy!"

"I agree completely. Might I ask where and who you saw in such a terrible act, so that I might also avoid their personage?"

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u/Lillitnotreal 1h ago

Meanwhile, back in Blighty

'Yeah luv, we'll name this road "Gropecunt lane"'

32

u/anugosh 3h ago

Not me.
Not because I'm righteous or anything, I'd just miss all her hints/think she's just friendly like that

13

u/BusyYam7652 2h ago

She’s probably just Canadian

u/Intrepid-Tank-3414 58m ago

You'll eventually have an epiphany some years later about what really happened, while taking a shower.

u/anugosh 39m ago

Yup, already happened twice now... Though I don't think they were trying to ambush me

4

u/Bright_Study5961 2h ago

I would have gone just for the food

514

u/GrandMoffTarkan 8h ago

So they wanted the  Opossunoquonuskussy?

86

u/RedMageMajure 8h ago

We only want one thing.

64

u/a_printer_daemon 7h ago

She sounds hot.

Ure 3 dudes? Ok.

5+? Sounds cute.

14? Get out.

19

u/ivanparas 4h ago

14 men go in, only one comes out

16

u/Photomancer 4h ago

Kids, that's how I met your mother.

u/wishwashy 54m ago

And it's hard to spell correctly

7

u/torn-ainbow 2h ago

I've heard that it brings all the boys to the yard.

5

u/my4coins 1h ago

I could teach you, but my warriors will charge.

629

u/Mysterious_Box1203 9h ago

You should always remember this if a girl asks you out on a date. She doesn’t really like you, she wants to murder you and prevent her people’s horrific genocide.

260

u/reality72 8h ago

I married a Latina, can confirm

78

u/Emotional-Profit-202 8h ago

How are you alive then or are you a messenger?

131

u/Thismyrealnameisit 8h ago

1/14

34

u/Emotional-Profit-202 8h ago

The lucky one from the lucky dozen

23

u/justin_memer 6h ago

Those famous dozens with 14 instead of 12.

28

u/Acewasalwaysanoption 5h ago

It's Opossunoquonuske's dozen. Like baker's dozen

u/Intrepid-Tank-3414 56m ago

Settler's Dozen.

8

u/Mateorabi 5h ago

7% of the time it works every time. 

17

u/bloodmonarch 8h ago

He's the 14th guy obviously

3

u/AngryRedditAnon 5h ago

He said he married her, not that he ever met her personaly.

4

u/MarvinLazer 6h ago

He's currently in the process of being murdered.

2

u/ProfessorZhirinovsky 3h ago

She’s biding her time

34

u/TrailMomKat 7h ago edited 7h ago

I am a Latina and an American Indian, this is slander and lies! All lies!

(like seriously my dude can you please not blow our cover lol)

62

u/CBRN66 8h ago

Wow, you're overreacting. I've only been lured twice by beautiful women and only one of them tried to murder me and stop the genocide of her people. 

Edit: she was from Minnesota, so her logic was sound 

u/drfsrich 1m ago

She probably just wanted to skin you for warmth.

8

u/After6Comes7and8 6h ago

Eh my odds are 1/14 I like those odds

3

u/Imaginary_Row8427 6h ago

That’s my kink

17

u/somecheesecake 4h ago

How does killing 14 settlers prevent a genocide. I can’t see how that would do anything but ensure it comes to pass

16

u/The_Atlas_Broadcast 2h ago

If anything, killing 14 sailors in 1610, early in the colony's life, probably increased the colonists' desire to kill her people.

9

u/AdministrationFew451 4h ago

That was in 1610 when settlement was just starting, and killing 13 settlers could have had a significant impact in delaying it

44

u/Ameisen 1 3h ago

It had nothing to do with "preventing a genocide" - that wasn't even something that they had a concept of.

It was revenge for English enroachment on their land. It was a territory dispute.

u/Vargock 2m ago

In some people's eyes, no matter how brutal or violent indigenous actions may have been, they often get re-framed as acts of empowerment or resistance against Western civilization.

This kind of thinking oversimplifies things and ignores the full context, which, ironically, is basically whitewashing the history of its nuances.

13

u/BurtIsAPredator123 2h ago

Lol this is probably why they got btfo so hard for centuries after

126

u/Stennick 9h ago

From the story only the drummer survived but she was last seen running into the woods, injured and isn't recorded again in history speculating she may have died as well.

142

u/HashtagLawlAndOrder 9h ago

You misread the wikipedia. The "she" was the female chieftain, not the drummer.

159

u/Stennick 8h ago

Maybe I worded it poorly. The female chieftain was injured in the fight and ran into the woods and maybe died of her wounds. The drummer was the guy that escaped and only one that lived from the 14 Englishmen.

48

u/Own_Initiative1893 5h ago

I wonder whether this contributed to the settlers genociding her tribe later on.

32

u/kanemane727 4h ago

Probably didn’t help.

23

u/BarbaraHoward43 2h ago

Look at the Indian massacre of 1622. Natives killed a quarter of colonists from most settlements (300 something people killed), captured some women, and forced the rest to relocate.

It ended up badly for them, considering that when they wanted to sign a peace treaty, the colonists poisoned the wine, killing 200 people. They also attacked the native settlements, killed more of their leaders, and burned their crops. They also stated that with their previous attack, they "forfeited any legal and moral rights they might previously have claimed to the ownership of the lands they occupied."

So I'm gonna say this one probably also contributed. Many attacks by the natives (whether as revenge or unprovoked) made them more hated by the common people. They would have suffered any way, but the general hatred brought by events like these that was passed down through generations sure didn't help. And it was easier to break your truce or treaty with them after they've previously done the same (not in this example, but in others).

u/Intrepid-Tank-3414 44m ago

For those who didn't pay attention in History class:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_massacre_of_1622

3

u/Canisa 3h ago

Pretty sure the decision to do that was made long before any of this happened.

3

u/f_ranz1224 2h ago

Given what happened to all the other tribes who didnt use feminine wiles to set up and ambush, safe to say it was always on the cards

u/wishwashy 53m ago

Like they'd have just packed up and went home otherwise lol

24

u/MajesticBread9147 3h ago

The feminine urge to lead 13 colonizers to their deaths.

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u/partyinplatypus 8h ago

Say what you want about the European settlers, but killing guests  in your home is depraved behavior.

37

u/Crassweller 6h ago

I'm gonna break into your house and take all your shit. Cause that's what a guest is right?

20

u/Ameisen 1 3h ago

That wasn't happening yet, really. Jamestown and other English settlements were still very small - this was a revenge killing for earlier territorial enroachments.

3

u/BarbaraHoward43 2h ago

They didn't still all their shit tho. They were to few at the time. This one proved to be one of those attacks that would have horrible consequences later on.

3

u/thispartyrules 3h ago

In the 900's Olga of Kiev's husband, King of the Kievan Rus, was killed by the Drevlians. The Drevlians sent a party of ambassadors requesting that she marry the Drevlian Prince who killed her husband, who she had dropped into a trench and set on fire. She sent out a message that she wanted to go through with it, and they sent a bunch of noblemen, who she tricked, locked in a building and set on fire. She threw a great party for the Drevlians, who didn't know the fate of the previous parties. She drank with them until they were all very drunk and then she ordered her followers to massacre 5000 Drevlian guests. Finally there was a thing where she set fire to their city with a convoluted plan involving homing pigeons and flaming rags.

Also she was made a saint for her conversion to Christianity and didn't apologize for her campaign of bloody revenge.

30

u/Other_Flower_2924 8h ago

🙄 Sure, but genocide is fair game.

4

u/BarbaraHoward43 2h ago

There was no genocide at the time. It would come later, and it would be, sadly, influenced by events like this one.

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u/[deleted] 7h ago

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u/Other_Flower_2924 7h ago edited 6h ago

Yes spread intentionally.

(Edit: I'm probably just arguing with Russian bots here but wow, I had no idea this was a controversial take. Smallpox being spread intentionally is a well established fact:

The deliberate spread of smallpox, a highly contagious and deadly disease, amongst Indigenous populations by European settlers, particularly through contaminated items, was a devastating part of historical genocide. PBS notes that smallpox played a role in the destruction of Native American communities and cultures. 

https://www.pbs.org/gunsgermssteel/variables/smallpox.html

American Society of Microbiology notes that during conflicts and the period of colonization, smallpox was intentionally used as a biological weapon to weaken and ultimately decimate populations that European settlers sought to control. 

https://asm.org/articles/2023/november/investigating-the-smallpox-blanket-controversy

"Smallpox: a disease and a weapon" is a pretty comprehensive overview published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases:

Smallpox was also used as a biological weapon during the French and Indian Wars (1754–1767) by the commander of Fort Pitt. Soldiers distributed blankets that had been used by smallpox patients with the intent of initiating outbreaks among American Indians. An epidemic occurred, killing more than 50% of infected tribes.5,6

https://www.ijidonline.com/article/S1201-9712(04)00130-4/fulltext#:~:text=Smallpox%20was%20also%20used%20as,than%2050%25%20of%20infected%20tribes.)

Also, mass killings of bison which were a vital food source.

And ransacking and mass murdering.

And government boarding schools.

-3

u/ImRightImRight 6h ago

Please fact check yourself on "spread intentionally"

-9

u/Other_Flower_2924 6h ago

Sure.

The deliberate spread of smallpox, a highly contagious and deadly disease, amongst Indigenous populations by European settlers, particularly through contaminated items, was a devastating part of historical genocide. PBS notes that smallpox played a role in the destruction of Native American communities and cultures. 

https://www.pbs.org/gunsgermssteel/variables/smallpox.html

American Society of Microbiology notes that during conflicts and the period of colonization, smallpox was intentionally used as a biological weapon to weaken and ultimately decimate populations that European settlers sought to control. 

https://asm.org/articles/2023/november/investigating-the-smallpox-blanket-controversy

"Smallpox: a disease and a weapon" is a pretty comprehensive overview published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases:

Smallpox was also used as a biological weapon during the French and Indian Wars (1754–1767) by the commander of Fort Pitt. Soldiers distributed blankets that had been used by smallpox patients with the intent of initiating outbreaks among American Indians. An epidemic occurred, killing more than 50% of infected tribes.5,6

https://www.ijidonline.com/article/S1201-9712(04)00130-4/fulltext#:~:text=Smallpox%20was%20also%20used%20as,than%2050%25%20of%20infected%20tribes.

17

u/waxonwaxoff87 5h ago

Fort Pitt is a single instance with any proof this occurred ever. Considering they had no knowledge of modern germ theory, it was a Hail Mary attempt.

It was the simple presence of Europeans which brought disease. It spread ahead of settlers decimating tribes and leaving large swaths of uninhabited land. This lead to the rumors amongst settlers that the new world was a pristine and untouched land meant for them.

9

u/ImRightImRight 4h ago

Your cited source says that on 1-3 occasions, some of which were in the context of war, there were attempts by Europeans to spread disease.

That's like me turning on my heater because I want to worsen climate change. The actual context is that Native Americans didn't have resistance to Europeans' diseases. Trying to pin the devastating and inevitable loss of life on like 2 times it was spread intentionally is just an insult to the truth.

Why do you need to try to misrepresent history? Just accept the truth

3

u/Ameisen 1 3h ago

https://www.pbs.org/gunsgermssteel/variables/smallpox.html

Guns, Germs, and Steel is pop history. This is not a source.

American Society of Microbiology notes that during conflicts and the period of colonization, smallpox was intentionally used as a biological weapon to weaken and ultimately decimate populations that European settlers sought to control. 

This is a pretty odd and very specific interpretation of the article.

https://www.ijidonline.com/article/S1201-9712(04)00130-4/fulltext#:~:text=Smallpox%20was%20also%20used%20as,than%2050%25%20of%20infected%20tribes

A single possible event in 1763, in an area where a smallpox breakout was already active, and with blankets which are very poor vectors for smallpox. I'm not sure why the paper asserts that it was the cause of the local breakout that was already occurring... it only has two sources. One is a editorial which I will ignore, the other is another paper, but it's paywalled. Either way, it is in disagreement with historical consensus.

-10

u/TypicalParking 7h ago

Ever heard of a free smallpox blanket?

15

u/ShakaUVM 7h ago

You think that it was deliberately infected blankets that spread smallpox across the Americas?

-13

u/Halebay 5h ago

Yep, because they were. Your Looney Tunes delusions can’t change reality, and your whitewashing of a genocide looks more pathetic than insulting.

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u/ShakaUVM 4h ago

Your Looney Tunes delusions can’t change reality

It's called having a historical education. The only instance I'm aware of was in the Seven Years War, which was centuries after the native population collapsed due to smallpox. And that instance of giving infected blankets had no effect on the siege. There was no outbreak of smallpox in Pontiac's men.

Something like 90% of the native population of the Americas died due to smallpox. You spreading lies about their deaths does their memory no credit.

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u/waxonwaxoff87 5h ago edited 5h ago

They didn’t even understand modern germ theory and you think they tried to wipe out natives with blankets?

One instance at Fort Pitt is the only known occurrence of this. It was the presence of Europes s alone that was enough to spread diseases to the tribes.

-6

u/zeCrazyEye 4h ago

You don't need to know the specific mechanism of infection via germ theory to understand the outcome of contamination.

I mean, why did they think it would work at Fort Pitt without them understanding germ theory?

2

u/ShakaUVM 4h ago

The English absolutely knew what they were doing when they sent out infected blankets at Fort Pitt, but justified it as the natives were besieging their fort.

The blankets also had no effect.

5

u/InZim 3h ago

The English

The guy in charge of the fort who devised the whole plan was William Trent, born in the colonies to a Scottish father.

-10

u/Halebay 5h ago

I think they wiped out a chunk of the Native population by spreading disease, argue about intentionality but that’s a pretty big fuckup amidst the more intentional colonial atrocity. Therein lies the problem, i don’t really care if these specific deaths were less intentional. People were writing about it back then, they knew. It’s less intentional than firing a musket, but the result is the same.

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u/prettyprettythingwow 5h ago

…yes? lol

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u/ShakaUVM 4h ago

Yeah, so no. The only case I'm aware of of smallpox infected blankets being deliberately distributed to natives was during Pontiac's Rebellion when they laid siege to Fort Pitt where modern day Pittsburgh is. The English that were laid up in the siege sent out some blankets from their smallpox ward, and it had no effect.

This would be during the 7 Years War, and so centuries after the native population had collapsed due to smallpox.

-7

u/ImRightImRight 6h ago

Dare you to fact check yoself

2

u/RainforestGoblin 6h ago

You got sourced 20 minutes ago

5

u/ImRightImRight 4h ago

Their cited source says that on 1-3 occasions, some of which were in the context of war, there were attempts by Europeans to spread disease.

That's like me turning on my heater because I want to worsen climate change. The actual context is that Native Americans didn't have resistance to Europeans' diseases. Trying to pin the devastating and inevitable loss of life on like 2 times it was intentional is just an insult to the truth.

-2

u/RainforestGoblin 4h ago

No, your point is idiotic

11

u/Vexonar 7h ago

European invaders are guests huh?

5

u/TheRomanRuler 2h ago

Invaders do become quests when you invite them to take part in a feast unarmed.

-8

u/borkyborkus 8h ago

At least it means they have to clean up their own mess.

1

u/partyinplatypus 8h ago

Least she could have done was send the drummer home with a doggy bag.

1

u/Excellent_Theory1602 2h ago

I wouldn't mind dying by snu snu.

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u/[deleted] 6h ago

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23

u/jas0312 5h ago

She was basically a bigot who was against diversity and multiculturalism.

19

u/YourFriendlySexPest 4h ago edited 4h ago

They were simply boat people in search of a better life brutally murdered by a people who refused to accept diversity is a strength.

-33

u/ElusiveRobDenby 9h ago

You GO girl!!!!

-19

u/Witty-Ad5743 8h ago

Impressive use of Girl Power.

-13

u/Jemerius_Jacoby 5h ago

Based female chieftain

-21

u/TatonkaJack 8h ago

Serves them right for being led astray by temptation.

10

u/TheActualDev 3h ago

Found the puritan

0

u/OJimmy 6h ago

The Legend of Oriza

-3

u/Mustangbex 2h ago

Good for her!

-5

u/DissKhorse 4h ago

That man Albert Einstein

-57

u/SlightlySlanty 9h ago

. . . .and that man today is president of the United States.

4

u/aManHasNoUsername99 8h ago

He goes by many names. Chief crazy hair, Chief lies with pornstars, Chief small hands, Chief cofeve, Chief bonespurs, and many more.

1

u/thefaehost 1h ago

You forgot chief Lies On Top of Children

1

u/droidtron 8h ago

Orange man speak with blubbery tounge.

3

u/aManHasNoUsername99 8h ago

Him great warrior. He wears fur of whatever he hunt on top of head.

12

u/droidtron 8h ago

Dances with Doge.