Portrait of Pocahontas (Rebecca Rolfe)-Matoaka Al's Rebecca Filia Potentiss: Princ: Powhatani Imp: Virginiae-Ætatis suæ 21. Ao / 1616.-Matoaks aľs (alias) Rebecka daughter to the mighty Prince / Powhatan Emperour of Attanoughkomouck aľs (alias) virginia / converted and baptized in the Christian faith, and / wife to the wor[shipfu]ll Mr. Joh. Ralff.'

Description

Pocahontas (Rebecca Rolfe) (1596-1617) is the main character of a cartoon produced by the Walt Disney Company between 1995 and 1998. The cartoon's subject is the love story between the Native American Pocahontas and the English officer John Smith. According to the best-known story of Pocahontas, a Powhatan princess who lived in the early 17th century, Captain John Smith, one of the English colonists in Jamestown, was captured by Powhatan warriors and about to be executed when Pocahontas shielded him with her own body. He fell in love with her, but Captain Smith returned to England in 1609. A few years later, the colonists returned to Pocahontas's lands and went to war with the Powhatan tribe again, taking Pocahontas hostage. During her time as a hostage, a tobacco farmer named John Rolfe secured her release in exchange for her marriage. She was baptized into Christianity and took the name Rebecca Rolfe. Pocahontas was the first recorded marriage between a Native American and an English citizen. Pocahontas, who had one child from her marriage to John Rolfe, died at the age of 21. The story of Pocahontas, which symbolized the strong and independent spirit of Native Americans and has become legendary over time and has been told in many different ways, highlights the importance of a young woman who bridged two distinct cultures, her own people and the English, representing peace and understanding, embracing social differences and revealing the beauty of coexistence.