Biography of Pocahontas For more than two centuries since the death of the Indian princess Pocahontas, legends and stories of romance have been imbedded into our minds, but her dramatic life was more important to the creation of a segment of American history than legend. Around the year of 1595, Pocahontas was born to chief Powhatan, the powerful chief of a federation of Algonquian Indian tribes who lived in the tidewater region of Virginia. She was but one of the many children of Powhatan, who ruled more than 25 tribes. Her real name was Matoaka, a name used only within the tribe. Her tribe, the Powhatans, believed that