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Who Was Pocahontas?
Pocahontas was a Native American woman of the Powhatan people, renowned for her association with the early English settlers at Jamestown, Virginia. She is best known for her pivotal role in a famous historical event, where she is said to have saved the life of Englishman John Smith, allegedly intervening during his execution by placing her head upon his. Beyond this, Pocahontas later married English settler John Rolfe, adopting the name Rebecca Rolfe. Her life took a significant turn when she traveled to England, where she passed away in 1617 at the age of around 21.
Early Life of Pocahontas
Pocahontas was the daughter of Powhatan, the powerful leader of a confederation of approximately 30 Algonquian-speaking groups and smaller chiefdoms in Tidewater Virginia, collectively known as Tsenacommacah. While her mother’s identity remains uncertain, it is known that Pocahontas, like many Algonquian-speaking Virginia Indians, likely had several names used in different social contexts. At birth, she was named Amonute and also went by Matoaka. Her playful and curious nature earned her the nickname “Pocahontas,” meaning “playful one.”
Historians estimate her birth year to be around 1595, based on Captain John Smith’s 1608 account in A True Relation of Virginia and later correspondence. Smith’s records, however, offer inconsistent details regarding her exact age. Though English sources often referred to her as a “princess,” Pocahontas’s childhood was typical of a girl raised in Tsenacommacah.
As one of Powhatan’s many children, she was favored by her father, described by colonist Captain Ralph Hamor as his “delight and darling.” However, Pocahontas did not hold a royal title in the European sense, nor was she destined to inherit political power. Like other young girls in her community, she learned essential skills such as foraging, farming, and gathering firewood, as well as helping to build thatched houses. She would have also assisted in preparing feasts and ceremonies, playing an integral role in daily life within her community.
The Story of Pocahontas and John Smith: A Historical Overview
Pocahontas is closely associated with the English colonists through her connection with Captain John Smith, who arrived in Virginia with over 100 settlers in April 1607. Over the following months, the colonists had several interactions with the Tsenacommacah Indians. In December of that year, while exploring the Chickahominy River, Smith was captured by a hunting party led by Opechancanough, a relative of Powhatan, and taken to Powhatan’s home at Werowocomoco.
The details of Smith’s capture and subsequent events differ across his writings. In his 1608 account, he describes a feast followed by a conversation with Powhatan. Notably, in this version, he does not meet Pocahontas until a few months later. However, in 1616, Smith revised his narrative in a letter to Queen Anne, who was preparing for Pocahontas’ arrival in England with her husband, John Rolfe.
In the 1616 account, Smith describes Pocahontas intervening to save his life at the moment of his execution: “… at the minute of my execution,” he wrote, “she [Pocahontas] hazarded the beating out of her own brains to save mine; and not only that but so prevailed with her father, that I was safely conducted to Jamestown.” This dramatic version was further embellished in his later work, Generall Historie.
Historians have long questioned the accuracy of Smith’s later accounts, speculating that he may have exaggerated or even fabricated the story to elevate Pocahontas’s status. An alternative theory suggests that Smith may have misunderstood a tribal ritual in Powhatan’s longhouse, mistaking a symbolic death-and-rebirth ceremony for an execution attempt. It is also possible that Powhatan had political motives for incorporating Smith into his chiefdom.
What is well-documented is that Pocahontas developed a friendship with Smith and played a key role in aiding the Jamestown colony. She often visited the settlement, and during periods of famine, “every once in four or five days, Pocahontas with her attendants brought him [Smith] so much provision that saved many of their lives that else for all this had starved with hunger.” Despite the deep connection between Pocahontas and Smith, there is little historical evidence to support the idea of a romantic relationship between them.
In late 1609, Smith returned to England for medical treatment. The English informed the Indians that Smith had died. According to colonist William Strachey, Pocahontas later married a warrior named Kocoum before 1612, though little is known about this marriage, which may have ended when Pocahontas was captured by the English in 1613.
Captivity and Marriage to John Rolfe
Pocahontas was captured during the First Anglo-Powhatan War. Captain Samuel Argall, seeking an alliance with the Patawomencks, a northern group with uncertain loyalty to Powhatan, orchestrated a deception to lure Pocahontas aboard his ship. Once aboard, she was detained and held for ransom, with the English demanding the release of their prisoners and supplies held by Powhatan. When Powhatan failed to meet these demands, Pocahontas remained in captivity.
Details of Pocahontas’ year with the English are sparse, but it is known that Alexander Whitaker, a minister, played a significant role in her life. Whitaker instructed Pocahontas in Christianity and helped her improve her English through Bible study. He baptized her with the Christian name Rebecca, a choice possibly reflecting the biblical Rebecca from Genesis, who was the matriarch of two nations.
In March 1614, amidst escalating conflict between English and Powhatan forces, Pocahontas was allowed to visit her family as a diplomatic gesture. English accounts suggest that she expressed a preference to stay with the English rather than return to her people.
During her captivity, Pocahontas met John Rolfe, a devout farmer who had lost his wife and child during the journey to Virginia. In a heartfelt letter to the governor seeking permission to marry Pocahontas, Rolfe expressed his love for her and his belief that their marriage would be a means of saving her soul through Christianity. Pocahontas’ personal feelings about Rolfe and the marriage remain unknown.
Rolfe and Pocahontas were married on April 5, 1614, and resided on Rolfe’s farm for two years. Their union produced a son, Thomas Rolfe, born on January 30, 1615. According to Ralph Hamor, the marriage facilitated a period of peace between the colonists and Powhatan.
Pocahontas became a symbol of Christian conversion, aligning with one of the Virginia Company’s goals. To showcase this, the company decided to bring Pocahontas to England as an emblem of the “tamed” New World “savage.” The Rolfes arrived in Plymouth on June 12, 1616, accompanied by a small group of Indigenous Virginians.
Although Pocahontas was not a princess within Powhatan culture, the Virginia Company presented her as one to the English public. An engraving from 1616 described her as “Matoaka, alias Rebecca, daughter of the most powerful prince of the Powhatan Empire of Virginia.”
In London, Pocahontas was treated with a degree of respect, though some viewed her more as a curiosity than a royal figure. On January 5, 1617, she appeared before King James I at Whitehall Palace during a performance of Ben Jonson’s The Vision of Delight. Shortly thereafter, John Smith encountered the Rolfes at a social event. According to Smith, Pocahontas, upon seeing him, turned away and obscured her face, showing apparent displeasure. Smith’s subsequent account of their conversation is fragmented but includes Pocahontas’ reminder of past courtesies, reflecting her awareness of the promises made between her father and Smith.
Death
In March 1617, Pocahontas and her husband, John Rolfe, embarked on a journey to return to Virginia. However, their ship had only reached Gravesend when Pocahontas fell gravely ill. She was subsequently taken ashore, where she passed away, likely due to pneumonia or tuberculosis. Her funeral was held on March 21, 1617, at St. George’s Parish. The exact location of her grave is presumed to be beneath the chancel of St. George’s, which was later destroyed by a fire in 1727.
Many descendants of Pocahontas and Chief Powhatan can trace their lineage through their son, Thomas Rolfe, to several notable Virginia families.
Popular Legend
The life of Pocahontas is shrouded in historical ambiguity, with limited records available. The sole contemporary depiction is Simon van de Passe’s 1616 engraving, which highlights her Indigenous features. Subsequent portraits, however, frequently depict her with more European attributes.
In the 19th century, myths surrounding Pocahontas’s story emerged, portraying her as a symbol of the potential for Native Americans to assimilate into European society. The romanticized narrative of her supposed relationship with John Smith underscores themes of cultural integration and dramatizes the encounter between two distinct cultures.
Numerous films have been produced about Pocahontas, starting with a silent film in 1924 and continuing into the 21st century. She stands as one of the most recognizable Native Americans in history and is among the few whose story is consistently featured in historical textbooks.