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NEW YORK - England's first successful colonists in America have been branded as rapists and murderers who imported slaves and oppressed the local Indian people.
The controversial portrait of pioneer life in 17th-century Jamestown has become a central part of this year's 400th anniversary of the colony, the settlement of which led to the birth of the Unites States, the world's most powerful nation.
When the Queen arrives in Virginia as guest of honour in early May, she will find that organisers have banned plans for a "celebration", instead calling the event a "commemoration" after black and Indian members of the organising committee branded Jamestown "an invasion".
An exhibition by the US National Park Service, which manages the land on which the original settlement was built, plays down the achievements of the first 107 settlers, who brought with them the English language and the traditions of English justice and common law that underpin the United States today.
A critic for the New York Times, who visited the exhibition this month, noted that the Queen would find "not the triumph of British influence, but the triumph of ambiguity, discomfort and vague multiculturalism".
Edward Rothstein warned that the "overall impact" of the exhibition was "only to diminish a visitor's sense of English culture".
Organisers of the Jamestown 2007 events justify their decision to ban the word "celebration" by saying: "Many facets of Jamestown's history were not cause for celebration."
Galleries at the exhibition place heavy emphasis on the local Indians, who are described as being "in harmony with the life that surrounds them" and living in an "advanced complex society".
By contrast, life in early 17th-century Britain is shown portrayed as offering "limited opportunity" thanks to a "small elite" of aristocrats who made sure "life was difficult" for most people.
After arriving on May 14, 1607, the small group of men who were America's first English settlers suffered such disease and starvation that after a year only 38 were alive.
The expedition's leaders included Captain John Smith, who was captured by Indians and claimed he had been saved by the 10-year-old Pocahontas, a daughter of the local chief.
Pocahontas, who was portrayed in a Disney animated film, became friendly with the settlers and eventually married a widowed tobacco farmer, John Rolfe.
She had a son, Thomas, but she died suddenly at the end of a visit to England in 1617 and was buried at St George's Church in Gravesend.
The True Story of Pocahontas, a book written to coincide with the anniversary, claims she was raped by at least one leading member of the colony and was murdered in England, possibly to stop her from telling her father what she had learned during her visit.
The authors say the allegations of rape and murder come from "sacred Mattaponi oral traditions".
However, Christian groups say the organisers of the "commemoration" are ignoring the strong religious faith of the first settlers and are organising a rival event in June.
