About this remarkable lady, not a lot of information is known. Everything that we do know was written by other people because she never recorded any of her own thoughts or feelings.
To be more specific, her story has been passed down down the generations in the form of documented historical documents and, more recently, through the sacred oral history of the Mattaponi.
Pocahontas, more than anybody else, has been responsible for imprinting an enduring image that has persisted for more than 400 years. Despite this, many of the people who are familiar with her name know very little about her.
When Was Pocahontas Born?
Pocahontas, also known as Matoaka and Amonute, was given the Christian name Rebecca when she was born around the year 1596 in the area that is now known as Jamestown, Virginia, in the United States. She passed away in March 1617 in Gravesend, Kent, England.
Pocahontas was a Powhatan woman who encouraged peace between English colonists and Native Americans by befriending the settlers at the Jamestown Colony in Virginia and eventually marrying one
The moniker Pocahontas, one of her many native names, was the one that the English used to refer to her the most often. At the time, this term meant “little wanton” or “mischievous one.” Powhatan, or Wahunsenacah, as he was also known, was the chief of the Powhatan empire, which encompassed about 28 different tribes living in the Tidewater area.
She was her father’s daughter. Powhatan was known to the English as Powhatan. Pocahontas was a young girl of about 10 or 11 years old when she had her first acquaintance with the colonists who had established in the area around the Chesapeake Bay in 1607.
According to the story told by the head of the colonial settlements, John Smith, she intervened in December of that year, after her father’s troops had taken Smith prisoner, to prevent him from being executed.
Smith said in his writing that when he was brought before Powhatan, Pocahontas prevented him from being executed by positioning herself over him just as he was about to have his head beaten on a stone. Smith reported that this event occurred when he was brought before Powhatan.
Smith was given permission to go back to Jamestown after being released by Powhatan. Some authors have hypothesised that Smith may have misunderstood what he witnessed and that what he assumed to be an execution was, instead, a benign ceremony of some type; other authors have alleged that he created the rescue outright. Smith has denied both of these allegations.
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Early Life Of Pocahontas
Pocahontas was born approximately 1595 as the daughter of Powhatan, who was the strong supreme chief of Tsenacommacah, an alliance of over thirty Algonquian Indian towns in Tidewater,
Virginia. Powhatan’s tribe was known as the Powhatan (these villages are spread around the shores of the rivers now called James and York, which flow into Chesapeake Bay).
Her mother, whose name and specific tribe are unknown, was one of the many wives that Powhatan took. Each wife gave him a single child and was then sent back to her village to resume her life as a commoner and be supported by the chief until she found another husband.
Her mother was one of the many wives that Powhatan took. Pocahontas’s mother is said to have passed away while giving birth to her, in accordance with certain traditional accounts of Powhatan history.
Matoaka, which means “bright stream between the hills,” was the name given to Pocahontas when she was young; but, later in life, she became known as Pocahontas, which means “little wanton” or “playful one.
” Matoaka was the name given to Pocahontas when she was young. Her childhood was most likely spent gardening, foraging for food and fuel, and assisting the members of Powhatan’s household in the preparation of huge feasts.
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The Arrival Of Settlers
The arrival of seafarers from Spain, France, and England who were searching for a way to go to the East Indies via the Northwest Passage posed a danger to Powhatan’s dominion. When Queen Elizabeth I passed away, a great deal of money and personnel became available for the promotion of commerce and the spread of Christianity among the “savages.”
In the beginning, the English claim to North America was divided between two companies: the Society of Merchant Venturers, which was based in Bristol, took Newfoundland, and in 1607, three ships from the Virginia Company of London appeared in Chesapeake Bay.
Both of these companies were based in London. Powhatan did allow the would-be settlers to land, but he actively worked to dissuade them from settling permanently. When the English constructed a fort on a swampy peninsula on the James River, the Native Americans launched an attack, but they were driven off by a ship’s gun.
Even though the ships made it home before winter, more than 100 of its crew members were left behind. During the following few months, the Englishmen had multiple meetings with the Tsenacommacah Indians, some of which were friendly and others of which were hostile.
Pocahontas Meets Captain John Smith
The mythical and sometimes romanticised tale of English Captain John Smith and Pocahontas’s first meeting is the stuff of folklore. In December of 1607, while heading an expedition for the newly established Virginia colony,
John Smith was taken by a hunting party led by Opechancanough, a near relative of Powhatan. At first, Smith was welcomed by the chief and fed a feast before being marched through the swamps and woodlands to Powhatan’s main residence at Werowocomoco, located about 12 miles from Jamestown.
According to other versions, the tribal chiefs then took Smith and forced him to spread out on top of two enormous, flat stones. The Indians then surrounded him, clubs at the ready, seemingly waiting for orders to execute him.
A young Indian girl ran over from Powhatan’s side, seized Smith’s head in her arms, and laid her head on top of his. As a result, she helped him to his feet. Smith was allowed to go back to his base after being freed and told he and Powhatan would be buddies.
