Pocahontas

            In this chapter of my Algonquin report I will talk about Pocahontas and I will go through her life and explain why she was an important part of history.
             Pocahontas was born around 1595 as the daughter of Chief Powhatan and one of his many wives. The name "Pocahontas" was not her given name. It was "Matoaka". This name meant "Little Wanton," playful, lively little girl. .
             Pocahontas was thought to have first seen white men in 1607 when Englishmen came to the New World and made the first successful settlement, Jamestown. The one that she found most pleasant was Captain John Smith. .
             There is a whole story that goes along with these two. No one even knows if it is true. It starts off like this Captain Smith was leading an expedition in 1607and got taken captive by some Indians. A couple days later he was taken to the official residence of Powhatan at Werowocomoco, which was 12 miles from Jamestown. According to what Smith said he was offered a feast and welcomed by the great chief. After that he was enforced to lie stretched out on two large flat stones. Some Indians stood over him with clubs as if they would smash his body to pieces if ordered. Then Pocahontas came running in and threw herself over him so they wouldn't harm him. She had saved his life. That is the story most commonly heard of those two people.
             Relations with the Englishmen repeated to be well for the next year or so, and Pocahontas was a common visitor to the colony. She brought messages from her father and attended Indians bringing food and animal furs to trade for hatchets and knick-knacks. She apparently had a high regard for John Smith because a lot of the time during her visits she would talk to him. Sadly things started to degenerate between the Englishmen and the Powhatan tribe. Necessary trading did carry on, but hostilities had become more open. Before she could come and go from the fort at will, but now her visits became less frequent.