Matoaka (Pocahontas) - Notable Native Americans
Matoaka (Pocahontas) Matoaka (Pocahontas) was the daughter of Powhatan, the paramount chief of a network of tributary tribes in the Tsenacommacah, encompassing the Tidewater region of Virginia.
Pocahontas was captured and held for ransom by English colonists during the First Anglo-Powhatan War of 1613. Married at the time to Kocoum of the Patawomeck Nation, he was subsequently killed in the battles against the English.During her captivity, she was encouraged to convert to Christianity and was baptized under the name Rebecca. She married the tobacco planter John Rolfe in April 1614. In 1616 she sailed with her husband-at the encouragement of the Virginia Company to England, where she met English royalty. She was taken to promote the idea that Native Americans could be examples of Christian conversion.
Sometimes seen as a princess or peacemaker - and often inaccurately romanticized - her life was much more complicated than traditional narratives portray. She dies around the age of 21 in England shortly after boarding a boat to return home. She has many living descendants.
