Pocahontas

My Tenth Great Grandmother

Little Snow-Feather.  Pocahontas was an Indian Princess, daughter of Powhatan, powerful Chief of the Algonquian Indians in the Tidewater Region of Virginia.  Pocahontas, like all other Powhatans, had two names.  Pocahontas, the name given to her by her father, was translated by the English to mean "Bright Stream Between Two Hills" but in the Powhatan tongue it's meaning was "Little Wanton" or "The Naughty One."  Her secret name, known only among her own tribesmen, was Matoaka, "Little Snow Feather", a name conjuring up an image of a slim, amber-skinned girl enveloped from neck to knee in a mantle of woven snow-white feathers plucked from the breast of a wild swan.  Such a mantle, worn by Pocahontas in winter with moccasins and leggings of finely dressed white skins would have given her people ample reason for calling her Matoaka."

The true story of Princess Pocahontas has a sad ending.  In 1612, at the age of 17, Pocahontas was treacherously taken prisoner by the English while she was on a social visit and was held hostage at Jamestown for over a year.  During her captivity, a 28 year old widower named John Rolfe took a special interest in the attractive young prisoner.  As a condition of her release, she agreed to marry Rolfe, who the world came to know as commercializing tobacco.  Pocahontas, daughter of Chief Powhatan, was baptized and christened "Rebecca" in England and later married John Rolfe in April 1614.  Shortly after that, they had a son, whom they named Thomas Rolfe.  In the spring of 1616, Rolfe took her back to England.

A year later, Rolfe, his young wife and their son set off for Virginia in March of 1617, but "Rebecca" had to be taken off the ship at Gravesend because of illness.  She died there on March 21, 1617 at the young age of 21 of tuberculosis.  She was buried in a churchyard in Gravesend, England.  Chief Powhatan died the following spring in 1618.

Chief Roy Crazy Horse - Powhatan Nation - 1995

This painting of Pocahontas was painted by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris c. 1921 and is owned by William E. Ryder who is also a descendant.  Ferris painted this portrait of Pocahontas from the Simon van de Passe metal engravings.  This portrait was done in the true appearance of Pocahontas.

Tricket