Pocahontas

As the young daughter of a powerful Powhatan leader, Pocahontas befriended the English settlers in Jamestown, Virginia. Although she helped them survive their difficult first years, and she may have saved settler John Smith’s life, they took Pocahontas captive. After her release, Pocahontas married an English settler and journeyed to England. Although she was just twenty-one years old when she died, Pocahontas changed American history through her compassion and friendship. 

The first year the English arrived, the Powhatan people helped them survive through winter. Soon after, the Powhatan and the English were fighting. However, Pocahontas was curious by the English, so she helped the settlers many times. Without Pocahontas’s intervention, the Powhatan and English would have fought each other because the English did not respect the Powhatan people, and “they demanded corn even when the Powhatans had none to trade.” John Smith “wanted to capture Powhatan [the chief] and steal his corn.” The English also captured some of the Powhatan people, including Pocahontas. “The friends she had helped so many times were holding her for ransom. They wanted Powhatan to trade English prisoners and guns for his daughter.” Pocahontas finally agreed to marry an English man, allowing the Powhatans and English to live peacefully. However, that peace ended when Pocahontas died.  

As an On My Own Biography, Pocahontas will appeal to early elementary readers because of the book’s format. The text is oversized, and each page has a large full-color illustration. The illustrations will help readers understand the text and showcase the period’s clothing and houses. The author acknowledges that much of the information cannot be verified because the Powhatan did not write, so many of the stories were told by the English.  

Readers interested in Pocahontas will enjoy the simple story that takes the reader on a walk through history. To learn more about influential Indigenous women, read She Persisted: Maria Tallchief by Christine Day and Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer by Traci Sorell. 

Sexual Content  

• None 

Violence  

• The Powhatan took Captain John Smith prisoner. “Powhatan ([Pocahontas’ father] talked about killing the prisoner . . . Then two large stones were brought in. John Smith’s head was placed on them. Powhatan’s men raised their clubs.” Pocahontas saved John Smith’s life. However, the book acknowledges that the event may have been a story John Smith made up.  

Drugs and Alcohol  

• None

Language  

• None

Supernatural 

• None 

Spiritual Content  

• When Pocahontas was taken prisoner, a minister taught her “about the Christian religion.” Later, she was “baptized as a Christian. She was given a new name, Lady Rebecca. Rebecca’s teachers boasted that she had given up her belief for theirs. But no one knows what she thought.” An illustration shows Pocahontas being baptized.