A different theory suggests that Smith may have misunderstood what had happened to him in Powhatan's longhouse. Rather than the near victim of an execution, he may have been subject to a tribal ritual intended to symbolize his death and rebirth as a member of the tribe.[35][36] However, this theory is not well supported by evidence of Powhatan rituals or those of other North American Native groups.[37] The historian Margaret Williamson Huber has argued that Powhatan, in this case, was being politically pragmatic by attempting to bring Smith, and so the English, into his chiefdom. According to Huber, Powhatan attempted to offer Smith rule of the town of Capahosic, which was close to Powhatan's capital at Werowocomoco. In this way, the paramount chief hoped to keep Smith and his men "nearby and better under control"
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