Pocahontas

Person Or Being In Fiction

1595 – 1617

28

Who was Pocahontas?

Pocahontas was a Virginia Indian notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. Pocahontas was the daughter of Powhatan, the paramount chief of a network of tributary tribal nations in the Tidewater region of Virginia. In a well-known historical anecdote, she is said to have saved the life of an Indian captive, Englishman John Smith, in 1607 by placing her head upon his own when her father raised his war club to execute him.

Pocahontas was captured by the English during Anglo-Indian hostilities in 1613, and held for ransom. During her captivity, she converted to Christianity and took the name Rebecca. When the opportunity arose for her to return to her people, she chose to remain with the English. In April 1614, she married tobacco planter John Rolfe, and in January 1615, bore him a son, Thomas Rolfe. Pocahontas's marriage to Rolfe was the first recorded interracial marriage in American history.

In 1616, the Rolfes traveled to London. Pocahontas was presented to English society as an example of the civilized "savage" in hopes of stimulating investment in the Jamestown settlement. She became something of a celebrity, was elegantly fĂȘted, and attended a masque at Whitehall Palace. In 1617, the Rolfes set sail for home, but Pocahontas died at Gravesend of unknown causes. She was buried in a church in Gravesend, but the exact location of her grave is unknown.

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Born
1595
Werowocomoco
Also known as
  • Matoaka
  • Matoika
  • Amonute
  • Rebecca Rolfe
Parents
Spouses
Children
Ethnicity
  • Indigenous peoples of the Americas
  • Powhatan
  • Native Americans in the United States
Nationality
  • United States of America
Lived in
  • Virginia
Died
Mar 1, 1617
Gravesend

Submitted
on July 23, 2013

Citation

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"Pocahontas." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/pocahontas>.

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