Years later-after no one was able to dispute the facts-John Smith wrote about how she, the beautiful daughter of a powerful native leader, rescued him, an English adventurer, from being executed by her father. Pocahontas was the favorite daughter of Powhatan, the formidable ruler of the more than 30 Algonquian-speaking tribes in and around the area that the early English settlers would claim as Jamestown, Virginia. Pocahontas was her nickname, which depending on who you ask means “playful one' or “ill-behaved child.” Born about 1596, her real name was Amonute, and she also had the more private name Matoaka. To start with, Pocahontas wasn’t even her actual name. Pocahontas might be a household name, but the true story of her short but powerful life has been buried in myths that have persisted since the 17th century. Whether the story happened the way Smith tells it-or even at all-is up for debate as the new Smithsonian Channel documentary explains. Pocahontas wasn't even a teenager when John Smith claims she saved him from execution.

Pocahontas (character)