Opechancanough - Notable Native Americans
Opechancanough was the supreme Chief of the Powhatan Confederacy from about 1618 until his death. He was the brother of Chief Powhatan and the uncle of Pocahontas. In the earlier part of his life he was a warrior and war chief. Although he was known as being strongly opposed to European settlements, he did not hold this position at the beginning of European arrival. In September 1607 he was one of the Powhatan sub-chiefs who gave food to the starving Pilgrims at Jamestown. He is also famous for having captured Captain John Smith . In 1618 -after becoming the de facto ruler of the entire Powhatan Confederacy, he began planning a long-term strategy to expel the English from his territories. He and his people had watched the English grow more greedy, commit atrocities and usurp more and more land without asking. Opechancanough led the Powhatan in the Second and Third Anglo-Powhatan Wars, where at least 1/3rd of English people living in New England were killed. He represents the first Chief to create a concerted effort to rid the land of outsiders, which continued across the modern United States throughout the next two and a half centuries.
