TIL: Pocahontas and Shakespeare were alive at the same time and died only a year apart.

Why is Pocahontas famous? Who was Pocahontas?

Pocahontas was one of the first Native Americans to visit Britain. She married an Englishman. She helped her people make friends with colonists who had come to America from Britain. When did she live?

Pocahontas was born in 1595. Elizabeth I was queen of England at that time. Pocahontas met James I, who became king in 1603 after Elizabeth died. Pocahontas lived at the same time as the famous writer William Shakespeare. Why is she famous?

Pocahontas tried to keep the peace. She was brave, because she left her home to cross the ocean to Britain. A famous story tells how Pocahontas saved an Englishman named John Smith from being killed by her father. It's a good story, even if it may not be true. Back to top

Life in an Indian village Where did she live?

Pocahontas lived in the eastern part of what is now the United States. In 1607, English explorers made a colony here. They called it Virginia. Pocahontas was a Native American. Her people were hunters and farmers. They hunted deer for food in the forests. They went fishing. They grew maize and other crops. Indians and Native Americans

Native Americans are sometimes called American Indians. When Christopher Columbus first sailed to America in 1492, he called the people he met 'Indians' because he thought his ships had landed in 'the Indies' in Asia. Who was her father?

Pocahontas was like a princess. Her father was leader of a tribe, the Powhatan. He was an important chief, who led other tribes in Virginia. His real name was Wahunsonacock, but he was known to the colonists as Powhatan. Pocahontas had 3 names

- Matoaka, or in English 'little snow feather'

- Amonte, her parents' name for her

- Pocahontas, or 'lively or naughty one' What was her home like?

Pocahontas lived in a wooden 'long house'. Long houses were made of wood and bark. Inside was a fire in the middle of the floor. A long house was big enough for several families to share. An Indian village had several houses, with a fence around them all. Children in the village

Pocahontas and her friends played in the village and in the forest. Boys learned to hunt with spears or bows and arrows. Girls learned to cook, make baskets, and make clothes from animal skins. Children played games, such as football and lacrosse. Children didn't wear adult clothes until they were about 7. Back to top

Meeting the colonists As a teenager, Pocahontas met the colonists from England, They had built a fort and village they called Jamestown (after King James I). The Native Americans at first welcomed the strangers. Pocahontas learned to speak some English words. Trade

Her people traded with the colonists. She carried messages from her father to them. The Native Americans showed the colonists how to hunt and grow food. They showed them maize. They ate bread made from maize flour. Pocahontas and Captain Smith

The most famous story about Pocahontas was told by John Smith, leader of the colonists. When Pocahontas was about 12, she saved his life. After a quarrel, Powhatan took John Smith prisoner, and was going to kill him. He raised his war club. Then Pocahontas ran forward. She begged her father not to kill the Englishman. Powhatan set him free. John Smith told this story in a book, after Pocahontas was dead. No one knows if it is true. Who was John Smith?

John Smith was born in England in about 1580. He left his father's farm to be a soldier. He had many adventures. Once he was captured by Turks and made a slave, but escaped to Russia! Later, John Smith went to America. He became captain (leader) of the settlers in Jamestown. They faced many dangers: disease, starvation and fights with Native Americans. Smith was not kind to the Native Americans, so they didn't like him. He later went back to England, where he died in 1631. Back to top

Pocahontas may have married when she was 14. Many Native American girls did marry at about this age. For three years the Jamestown colonists did not see her. An English writer about the Virginia colony said she married an Indian chief. Perhaps he died. War with the colonists

In 1613 Pocahontas was back in Jamestown. She was now 17 or 18. The colonists and Native Americans had started fighting. Pocahontas was invited onto an English ship. The colonists kidnapped her and held her hostage. They hoped to exchange Pocahontas for English prisoners and guns taken by her father. Pocahontas ends the war

While she was a prisoner, Pocahontas became a Christian. She was given a new name, Rebecca. She met an English colonist, John Rolfe. He had started to grow tobacco, to sell and make money for the colony. In 1614, Pocahontas and John Rolfe married. They had a son, Thomas. Their marriage helped stop the fighting between the Native Americans and the English. Back to top