1595

Virginia

March 1617

Gravesend, England

Powhatan-Renapé "princess" who helped the Virginia colonists

Portrait: Pocahontas. Reproduced by permission of the International Portrait Gallery.

" . . . 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...