Pocahontas, << POH kuh HAHN tuhs >> (1597?-1617), was the daughter of Powhatan, the chief of the Powhatan tribe. Pocahontas was a childhood nickname that meant playful one. She was also known by the names Matoaka and Amonute. The Powhatan tribe lived in Virginia during the early 1600’s, around the time English colonists established their first permanent settlements in America. Pocahontas became famous for a story in which she allegedly saved the life of the English settler John Smith. However, many historians doubt that Smith’s tale is true.
English settlers established their colony at Jamestown in Powhatan territory in the spring of 1607. By the end of that year, the settlers were facing starvation, and John Smith went to trade for corn with the natives. The Powhatan captured Smith and held him several weeks for questioning. In the report Smith sent back to England shortly after his release, he said that Powhatan welcomed him kindly and asked him many questions. But many years later, after Pocahontas had died, Smith asserted that she had pleaded for his life when her father wanted to kill him. Historians who question the tale point out that Pocahontas would have been 10 years old at the time. Smith’s account implied that she was older.
In 1608 and 1609, Pocahontas visited Jamestown several times on errands for her father. She then married a Powhatan warrior. But in 1613, the English kidnapped Pocahontas. They intended to use her as a hostage in negotiations with the tribe.
While in captivity, Pocahontas was tutored in English and Christianity. The colonist John Rolfe may have been one of her teachers. For a year, she did not convert to Christianity. In the spring of 1614, the English took her upriver on a warship to her father’s village in an effort to obtain concessions from the Indians. Rolfe, who had fallen in love with Pocahontas, proposed marriage in an attempt to calm the tense situation. Powhatan agreed to the marriage in the interest of making peace. A few days later, Pocahontas publicly converted to Christianity, took the name Rebecca, and married Rolfe. The couple had a son, Thomas Rolfe. 
Pocahontas went with her husband and child to London in 1616. The Virginia Company of London—the group that had founded Jamestown—thought her visit would help raise funds for their venture. In addition, Pocahontas wanted to gather information about England for her people. However, she died of an unknown respiratory illness in March 1617. Thomas Rolfe was educated in England and later went to America, where he became a prominent settler.
