Pocahontas
PocahontasBiography of Pocahontas
For more than two centuries since the death of the Indian princess Pocahontas, legends and stories of romance have been imbedded into our minds, but her dramatic life was more important to the creation of a segment of American history than legend.
Around the year of 1595, Pocahontas was born to chief Powhatan, the powerful chief of a federation of Algonquian Indian tribes who lived in the tidewater region of Virginia. She was but one of the many children of Powhatan, who ruled more than 25 tribes.
Her real name was Matoaka, a name used only within the tribe. Her tribe, the Powhatans, believed that harm would come to them if outsiders learned of their tribal name. Therefore, she went by Pocahontas, a nickname given to her meaning "little wanton" for she was a playful, frolicsome little girl. The settlers believed it to mean "bright stream between two hills."
The Powhatans, were not savages as John Smith would later claim in his General Historie of Virginia...&c. Instead, they were a ceremonious people who greeted important visitors in a formal manner with a large feast and festive dancing. Although they did occasionally put prisoners to death in a public ceremony, it was no more savage than the English customs of public disembowelment of thieves and the burning of women accused of being witches.
In May of 1607, English colonists arrived on the Virginia shoreline with hopes of great riches. They established a settlement that they named Jamestown. Little Pocahontas watched as these strangers built forts and searched for food. She eventually became quite familiar with them and brought the near starving settlement food from time to time.
In December of 1607, Captain John Smith led an expedition and was taken captive by the Indians. He was taken to Werowocomoco, 12 miles from Jamestown and the official residence of chief Powhatan. He was treated kindly and a great feast was prepared in his honor, which he would later record in his report, A True Relation, published in 1608. Smith was injured in a gunpowder accident in 1609 and returned to England. Later in 1612, Smith would publish his Map of Virginia along with a detailed account of his friendly encounter with the Indians titled The Proceedings of the English Colonie in Virginia.
As time slowly passed, relations between the natives and the settlers deteriorated. With the help of Japazaws, a lesser chief of the Patowomeck Indians, Captain Samuel Argall kidnapped Pocahontas and held her for ransom in 1612. He sent word to Powhatan that his daughter would be released only when he received the English prisoners held by the Indians, the weapons they had stolen, and some corn. Some time later, Powhatan sent part of the ransom and asked that his beloved daughter be treated well. Argall returned to Jamestown with Pocahontas still as his captive in April of 1613.
Pocahontas remained Argall�s prisoner for one year afterward....
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