Wonder Woman of the Week: Pocahontas

Perhaps one of the most misremembered historical figures of US history, Pocahontas has been romanticized and dramatized as a savior of early English settlers to modern-day Virginia and an ally of the foundation of what would become the United States. The true Pocahontas was neither however, but the real Pocahontas was a powerful figure and lived an incredible- albeit short- life. The best estimate for Pocahontas' birth is 1596 into a confederation of nations unified through a loose leadership under her father Powhatan. When English settlers arrived in 1607, Powhatan and his people began a timid and caution relationship with the English- both sides working carefully to avoid violence. That however was not as easy as either side would have liked, and armed conflict quickly arose between the two factions.

While still only a child, the English kidnapped Pocahontas in 1613 and held her as ransom in an attempt to broker a ceasefire with her people. During her captivity, the English encouraged (which likely means forced) Pocahontas to Christianity- when she adopted the name Rebecca. At seventeen years old, Rebecca married English tobacco farmer John Rolfe and had a son the following year- Thomas Rolfe. In 1616, Rebecca and her family traveled to England where she met with royalty and took part in regal ceremonies as a representative of her people. While treated more like a zoo animal than as a person, Pocahontas still made a valuable early impression on the English- humanizing (though still from a dehumanizing perspective) Indigenous Peoples of the Americas- setting the stage for the future of English-Native American relations.

Rebecca Rolfe died on her return voyage back to the Virginia colony at the age of twenty-one, but her son Thomas' descendants would carry on Pocahontas' legacy. Mythologized versions of Pocahontas aside, the very real Pocahontas' political voyage to England set a major standard for the future of Indigenous Americans. The Pamunkey Nation- the descendant nation of the confederation united under Pocahontas' father- became the first federally recognized tribe in Virginia and still reside in Virginia today as the ancestors of Powhatan and Pocahontas. Additionally, several contemperary US historical figures are descendants of Pocahontas through her son Thomas- including First Lady Edith Wilson.