Pocahontas

Pocahontas married a Pamunkey man named Kocoum, and they settled in the Potomac region in 1610. This marriage was probably dissolved when she was abducted by the English.

She spent a year with the English following her abduction in 1613. During this time, a minister named Alexander Whitaker instructed Pocahontas in Christianity, and helped her to improve her English through reading the Bible. She was also baptized with a new, Christian name: Rebecca.

During her captivity, Pocahontas became acquainted with John Rolfe, a tobacco farmer who proposed marriage to her. She agreed and the couple was married on 5 April 1614. Their marriage created a climate of peace between the English colonists and Powhatan's tribes for several years. The couple had a son called Thomas.

The details regarding Pocahontas’ early life are obscure; even the year of her birth is not certain though some historians estimate it to have been around 1596. She was the daughter of Powhatan, the paramount chief of the Pamunkeys, a tribe that inhabited the area around the Chesapeake Bay. The identity of her mother is not known as her father had multiple wives as was the custom in their tribe.

She was named Matoaka at birth. In her community—the Powhatan Native Americans—people were often given multiple names. In addition to Matoaka, she was also given the names of Amonute and Pocahontas, the name by which she became famous.

It is believed that she had a childhood that was typical for the girls of her tribe. She probably received training in whatever was considered to be women’s work, including foraging for food and firewood, and farming.

She was one of the favorite children of her father who completely doted on her. The colonist Captain Ralph Hamor noted that she was her father’s "delight and darling”, though by no means in line to inherit his position as a chief.

In April 1607, English colonist Captain John Smith arrived in Virginia with around a hundred other settlers. Over the following months the English had several encounters with the Natives and during one such encounter in December the same year, Smith was captured by a hunting party led by Powhatan's younger brother (or close relative) Opechancanough and brought to Powhatan's capital at Werowocomoco.

According to Smith’s account of his experiences during his captivity, he was ordered to be executed by the chief. But just moments before his execution, the young girl, Pocahontas, interfered and saved his life. Smith’s claims regarding this incident are heavily doubted by the historians.

Nonetheless, Smith escaped alive from his captivity and formed a friendship with Pocahontas who helped the English settlers by bringing them food and other supplies. In 1609, Smith suffered grievous injuries from a gunpowder explosion and returned to England for medical care. Pocahontas was then informed by the English that Smith was dead.

The First Anglo-Powhatan War, a conflict between the English settlers at Jamestown and the Native Americans began late in the summer of 1609, and intensified over the next few years. In 1613, Captain Samuel Argall treacherously invited Pocahontas to visit his ship Treasurer, and captured her.

Pocahontas was taken a captive to Jamestown. The English settlers demanded a hefty ransom from her father—corn, the return of English prisoners captured by the natives, and a peace treaty. Her concerned father sent a part of the ransom and requested that his daughter be treated well.

Pocahontas is said to have played a major role in saving English colonist John Smith from execution at the hands of her father according to Smith’s own accounts. However, there are several inaccuracies in Smith’s writings and historians have long debated upon his claims. Nonetheless, the anecdote of her having risked her own life to save Smith made her famous among the English.