Powhatan biography

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Born Wahunsenacawh circa 1547, Chief Powhatan, father of Pocahontas—one of his many daughters—ruled over six Powhatan tribes in the Richmond, Virginia, area during the early 17th century. His territory was called Tsenacommacah, or Tenakomakah, which is now home to tidewater Virginia, the Chesapeake Bay's eastern shore and possibly southern Maryland. Little is known about Powhatan's life prior to the arrival of English colonists in Jamestown, Virginia, in April 1607. According to legend, after one of the colony's leaders, Englishman John Smith, was captured by Powhatan's younger brother, Opechancanough, in December 1607, Pocahontas saved Smith's life by placing her head upon his own at the moment of his execution. Though he is believed to have viewed the English as potential allies early on, Powhatan later had a change of heart, and, beginning in 1609—after Smith took off for England—the chief reportedly cut off all trade with the colonists and attacked those who left the Jamestown fort. When the English sent new colonists and supplies to Jamestown in the spring of 1609, it was reported that nearly 80 percent of the original colonists had died.