Pocahontas

Pocahontas (1595–1617), Native American who strove to improve relations between Native Americans and English settlers in Jamestown, Va. The daughter of chief Powhatan, she is credited with saving the colonist John Smith's life just as her father was about to execute him. When fighting broke out between Native Americans and colonists, she was captured by the English. During her captivity, she fell in love with John Rolfe. She became a Christian and married him in 1614. In 1616, she accompanied Rolfe to England, where she was favorably received. She died of smallpox the following year and was buried in England.