In the Disney version of her life, Pocahontas is a brave Native American princess who saves the English settlers. Her true story is just as powerful.
Princess Matoaka was born around 1596. Her father, Chief Powhatan, gave her the nickname Pocahontas. She had to be a bit of a spitfire to get her dad's attention. He had 100 wives and many children.
Pocahontas saved John Smith's life on two occasions. He later wrote that Pocahontas's "wit and spirit" were unequaled. During the hard winter of 1608, Pocahontas brought the settlers fish, venison and other food.
Later, she married John Rolfe, a planter. Theirs was the first marriage of an Englishman and a Native American woman. Rolfe, Pocahontas and their son, Thomas (shown at left with his mother in a painting), visited London. She never returned home. She fell ill aboard a ship bound for Jamestown, in March 1617, and died. She is buried in Gravesend, England.