In 1887, the Governor of Virginia, Wyndham Robertson, published a genealogical book with the very short name of "Pocahontas, alias Matoaka, and Her Descendants through Her Marriage at Jamestown, Virginia, in April, 1614, with John Rolfe, Gentleman".
The book was published during a time of conflict between American historians. During the reconstruction period that followed the Civil War, Northern historians began questioning and debunking the romantic story of Pocahontas and John Smith. Robertson, a former slaveowner and Southern aristocrat, argued that because the most important of the First Families of Virginia were descended from Pocahontas, that Pocahontas herself must be important.
It's a shaky claim, but the book was the first publication of Pocahontas' descendants, despite naturally excluding the mixed-race children of slaves and their masters.
But who exactly was Pocahontas? And why is she held in such high regard by her descendants?
There are two stories of Pocahontas from two different perspectives; the white colonial and the Native American. Seeing as though both conflict, and to avoid any biases, I will tell both stories as accurately as I can relate them. But first, these are the facts we know for definite about Pocahontas.
Pocahontas was born around 1596, likely in the village of Werowocomoco, the capital of the Powhatan tribe. Her father was Wahunsenacawh, leader of the Powhatan.