Powhatan "Princess"

European Connections.

The daughter of Wahunsunacock, chief of the Powhatan people, Pocahontas ("the Playful One") is remembered as the first native woman to marry an Englishman in the North American colonies. Her connection to the Europeans arose in the context of Native American foreign relations. In the autumn of 1607, when the newly arrived colonists at Jamestown were starving, the Powhatan chief sent corn to help them. The Powhatans viewed the English as potentially powerful allies although Capt. John Smith and the other colonists felt so powerless that they considered all native peoples as threatening.

Smith.

In December 1607 Smith was captured during an exploratory expedition. The Powhatans staged a mock execution ceremony (designed to dramatize native power and friendship) by pretending to cut off Smith's head. At the crucial moment, Pocahontas, then age twelve, intervened, throwing herself on Smith's body. Smith and the other Virginians...