Powhatan << `pow` uh TAN or pow HAT uhn >> (?-1618) was a Native American leader who built the Powhatan Confederacy of tribes in what is now Virginia (see Powhatan [Native American people]). He is also well-known as the Native American leader in the famous story about John Smith and Pocahontas. Smith was a soldier who had helped establish the first permanent English colony in North America, at Jamestown in what is now Virginia. Powhatan was ready to kill Smith when Pocahontas, Powhatan’s favorite daughter, stopped him and saved Smith’s life. No one knows if this story is true.
Powhatan at first sought to use the colonists as allies against Indigenous (native) enemies and as sources of weapons and trade goods. But the colonists’ rude behavior and demands angered him. Powhatan attacked the colony repeatedly. In 1613, the English kidnapped Pocahontas. The following year, she married John Rolfe, a settler, and peace was made.
Powhatan’s real name was Wahunsonacock. But he was called Powhatan after his favorite village, which was near present-day Richmond, Virginia.
