Pocahontas
1595
Virginia
March 1617
Gravesend, England
Powhatan-Renapé "princess" who helped the Virginia colonists
" . . . I will bee for ever and ever your Countrieman. . . . "
Pocahontas.
The story of Pocahontas, a Powhatan-Renapé "princess," is one of the earliest and most deeply rooted legends of American history. According to the legend, Pocahontas saved John Smith (see entry), one of the founders of the Virginia Colony, from being executed by her father, Powhatan (see entry). If the story is true, Pocahontas may have decisively influenced the course of English settlement in the New World (a European term for North America and South America). Her friendly and generous relationship with Smith and the English settlers helped preserve the colony through the long winters when the colonists were threatened with starvation. With the benefit of hindsight, many Native Americans have criticized her for preventing Powhatan from killing off the colonists. Had she not done so, they say, the English might never have colonized North America and many Native American cultures might have been preserved from extinction (no longer existing). On the other hand, Americans of European descent regard Pocahontas as a savior of their own race and a fore-mother of the United States.
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