This Thanksgiving, learn the real story of Pocahontas
Pocahontas’s life is often shaped by the colonizers who rewrote her history. This is the real story of the Native American girl whose name meant “joy.”
Stories, like many other things, are often shaped by mistakes in our memories. These inaccuracies are sometimes intentional, as they can be born from someone’s desire to enhance or downplay something that happened to them to achieve a specific outcome. Other times, mistakes are made purely by human error, when someone remembers something differently from how it actually happened. When examining the life of Pocahontas, it becomes clear that her story has often been shaped by both kinds of errors.
As I researched this piece, I found a source that made this even more obvious than it had been previously. The National Park Service’s article, “Pocahontas: Her Life and Legend,” breaks down her legacy in two distinct ways: The Written History and The Oral History. Much of the written version of events detailing Pocahontas’s life hinges on the stories told by white settlers, including the equally famous John Smith. The oral retelling of her life, though, has extensive roots in tribal history. Speaking about what someone did—and what they meant to others—is a deeply sacred act in Native American tribes. Yes, some similarities exist between what the European colonizers said about Pocahontas and how her own people told her story, but it is ultimately the sacredness of her tribe’s tradition that showed me there’s only one real way of explaining the facts.
I have chosen to write the real story of Pocahontas primarily using the sequence of events preserved by Native tribes for nearly 400 years. There are occasions when I have included Smith’s version of her story in an effort to show how the way he spoke about her shaped how we have seen her for centuries. But to do justice to the actual person, and to tell as authentic a story as I possibly can, I have chosen to follow the path that contains fewer mistakes and more honesty.
Let’s go back to the beginning
The child who would grow up to be known as “Pocahontas” was born under a different name: Matoaka, or “flower between two streams,” in the late 1590s. It’s believed that her name was inspired by the fact that her father was Pamunkey and her mother was Mattaponi, and she was born in a Mattaponi village nestled between the Pamunkey and Mattaponi Rivers. Her father, Chief Powhatan (Wahunsenaca), would go on to call her Pocahontas—which means “laughing and joyous one”—after her mother, who was named Pocahontas, died in childbirth. Though Wahunsenaca grieved the loss of his first wife, he found comfort and solace in their spirited child who reminded him so much of her mother. In an effort to make this article as seamless and easy to understand as possible, I’ll be referring to her solely as Pocahontas from here on out, as her mother isn’t mentioned much after this point in her life.
Pocahontas was initially sent to live with her aunts and cousins in a Mattaponi village for several years before being returned to her father in Werowocomoco. Pocahontas’s siblings were much older than she and were already important members of the Powhatan society at this point, which allowed Wahunsenaca to devote more time and attention to his youngest child. The two developed a deep bond that they maintained throughout her life. By most accounts, her brothers and sisters were equally devoted to her, and the family worked to ensure that the cartwheeling, joyful child was well taken care of.
As Powhatan society dictated, she was required to learn discipline and responsibility early in life, and she received training so she could properly contribute to the tribe. Her early years were seemingly peaceful and full of love. That peace would, unfortunately, begin to fluctuate once English settlers arrived in the early 1600s.
The Powhatan and the English settlers
With the arrival of English settlers came an important decision for the Powhatan people: How would they approach and receive these newcomers? The Powhatan Chiefdom was composed of different tribes, each of which had quiakros (priests) who served as historians, doctors, political advisors, spiritual leaders, and enforcers of the tribe’s way of life. These quiakros believed the English could become allies, and that the Powhatan could benefit from trading with them. Wahunsenaca heeded their advice, and a functioning friendship was created in 1607.
It was during this time that one of the most well-known elements of Pocahontas’s lore took place, though not in the way it would go on to be described in the whitewashed version of her history. Captain John Smith claimed that Pocahontas saved his life after he was captured and forced to appear before Wahunsenaca. In Smith’s recollection, he believed he was in danger after a tribal warrior placed his head against a large stone and raised a club over him, seemingly to do the Englishman harm. Smith said that Pocahontas ran over and put her head over his in an attempt to prevent injury or death from taking place. His story was retold throughout generations, eventually becoming ingrained in our perception of history. It was further immortalized when the scene, as he described it, was shown in Disney’s animated “Pocahontas” movie. For years, historians debated whether this had really happened. Though we can never know for sure, Smith probably misunderstood what was really going on, and Pocahontas was likely not even present for the ceremony to begin with.
The National Park Service notes that the most common theory surrounding this particular event is that Smith was involved in an “adoption ceremony” after being captured by Opechancanough, who was Wahunsenaca’s younger brother. Opechancanough paraded Smith from one village to the next to show the Powhatan people that Smith was set to become a tribal chief. This was meant to show respect for the English settlers and to indicate that the English weren’t as different from the Powhatan as they originally appeared. Part of the religious ceremony involved presenting Smith to Wahunsenaca to welcome and initiate Smith into the tribe. Smith apparently misinterpreted this and believed he was about to be executed instead. It’s unclear as to why he mentioned Pocahontas at all, as she would have been a child at the time and thus unable to attend religious rituals.
After the ceremony, Pocahontas and the Powhatan people would have seen Smith as an ally who served as the chief for his own tribe, AKA the English settlers. They all believed he would be loyal to them and to their growing friendship, because such bonds were considered sacred to the Powhatan. And, for many years, this remained true. Tribes sent food and supplies to Jamestown during that year’s winter, and it was during these deliveries that Smith and the other settlers would have actually become familiar with Pocahontas. Since she was Wahunsenaca’s youngest child (and arguably his favorite), she would not have been permitted to travel alone. Pocahontas would have arrived in Jamestown with security in tow, which then signaled to the English that she was more important than the Chief’s other children.
Over the next few years, the relationship between the Powhatan and the English began to steadily decline as the English increasingly demanded more food and supplies from the Powhatan that the tribe couldn’t provide due to warm weather droughts. Pocahontas’s visits stopped during this time as she was advancing through her tribe’s traditional coming-of-age and courtship ceremonies. During her huskanasquaw (the name given to the coming-of-age ceremony for girls), Pocahontas’s name was officially changed. According to the National Park Service, her huskanasquaw was kept as private as possible, as the local quiakros were becoming increasingly fearful of the English’s fascination with the young girl. They believed the English may have been planning to kidnap her. Which, eventually, they did.
Pocahontas got married and started a family before tragedy struck
A powwow celebration was held following Pocahontas’s huskanasquaw, and it’s believed that she met her future husband, Kocoum, at the courtship dance that took place during the powwow. The two eventually married after a designated period of courtship, and the union was met with great approval from her father, Wahunsenaca. Kocoum was a beloved member and fierce warrior of the Potowomac tribe, and Wahunsenaca believed his daughter would be safe because of this, especially as whispers of a potential kidnapping still lingered.
Pocahontas and Kocoum went to live in his village, and the two had a son. Then, years’ worth of fear came to fruition when Pocahontas was kidnapped in 1613. Captain Samuel Argall demanded that Chief Japazaw of the Potowomac tribe (who was Kocoum’s brother) give Pocahontas over to him unless Chief Japazaw wanted to face an English attack. Chief Japazaw consulted his tribe’s quiakros before he sent word to Wahunsenaca to alert him about what was unfolding. Eventually, Chief Japazaw agreed to Captain Argall’s demand on the condition that Argall release Pocahontas shortly after she was brought on board his ship. However, Argall immediately went back on his word and sailed away with Pocahontas. He sent someone to kill her husband, Kocoum, but their son’s life was spared as he was being cared for by another woman in the Potowomac tribe at the time of the attack.
Argall brought Pocahontas back to Jamestown, and her father paid a ransom for her in the form of weapons and English prisoners. The English once again went back on their word and continued to hold the now 15-year-old captive. (Some reports indicate she may have been 16 at the time). Wahunsenaca was advised by his quiakros to retaliate against the English, but the chief wanted to maintain peaceful negotiations, as he believed this was the only way to secure Pocahontas’s safety and survival. Pocahontas herself was approaching the situation with a similar mindset—she submitted to whatever her captors demanded of her, which included learning English and being exposed to their religion through Reverend Alexander Whitaker.
Throughout this period, Pocahontas was reportedly told that Wahunsenaca no longer cared for her, which eventually led her to experience a nervous breakdown. Her sister, Mattachanna, and Mattachanna’s husband, Uttamattamakin, were brought to Jamestown to help ease Pocahontas’s spirits. It was allegedly during this time that Pocahontas told Mattachanna that one of the Englishmen had raped and impregnated her, and it was this pregnancy that forced the settlers to move her from Jamestown to Henrico. While there, Pocahontas gave birth to a son, Thomas.
Her life in captivity worsened prior to her death
Pocahontas remained captive through 1614, during which she was continuously told that her father no longer loved her—an idea that was reinforced every time a negotiation between the English and the Powhatan for her freedom fell through. She was then converted to Christianity, and the settlers began referring to her as “Rebecca” instead. She married John Rolfe in April of that year, which historians believe she may have done willingly in an effort to protect Thomas, and to hopefully reinstate the bond that once existed between her people and the English.
In 1616, Pocahontas, Rolfe, Mattachanna, Uttamattamakin, and several other representatives from the Powhatan went to England to help further their newly reestablished alliance. They remained for a year and embarked for the shores of Virginia once again in March 1617. Her son, Thomas, remained in England to be raised by Rolfe’s family. While aboard the ship from England, Pocahontas and Rolfe were invited to have dinner with Captain Argall. Not long after the dinner ended, Pocahontas became grievously ill and suffered convulsions. Mattachanna and Rolfe attempted to provide aid, but it was too late. Pocahontas died aboard the ship and was later buried in Gravesend.
Mattachanna and her husband, Uttamattamakin, believed that Pocahontas had been poisoned during the dinner, as she was in seemingly good health up until that meeting with Captain Argall, though nothing was ever proven. After receiving this news from Mattachanna, Wahunsenaca fell into a deep, lifelong depression. He was relieved of his duties as chief and later died in April 1618. Upon his death, whatever peaceful relationships remaining between the Powhatan and the English settlers dissolved completely.
Her legacy lives on
Despite the fact that the oral history of Pocahontas’s life and the written version often vary on key events, there is one overarching similarity between the two: Both emphasize how kind, brave, and free-spirited she was throughout her short life. Pocahontas was beloved by her family and her tribe. She, in many ways, sacrificed herself in order to protect them. Four hundred years after her death, the Smithsonian Channel wanted to ensure that these qualities lived on throughout history. They created the documentary “Pocahontas: Beyond the Myth” to showcase what really happened, and spoke with members of the Pamunkey tribe to create a depiction of her that was true to how she really was.
There are many things we will unfortunately never know about her, but what we do know is this: Pocahontas was clever—she served as both a translator and an ambassador for her people, and she remained steadfast in her loyalty to them even as she was being broken down by her colonizing captors. She deserves to be understood through the lens of her tribe, her people, her history, and not through the lens of the white men who took those things and sought to remake them in their own image instead.
Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our web site. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of photos and graphics.
