What name did Pocahontas takes after converting to Christianity?

Answer 1

Pocahontas (c. 1595 - March 21, 1617) was a Native American woman who married an Englishman, John Rolfe, and became a celebrity in London toward the end of her life. She was a daughter of Wahunsunacock (also known as Powhatan), who ruled an area encompassing almost all of the neighboring tribes in the Tidewater region of Virginia.

In March, 1613, she was tricked into captivity by some English colonists who intended to ransom her for some English prisoners held by Chief Powhatan, along with various weapons and tools that the Powhatans had stolen. Powhatan returned the prisoners, but failed to satisfy the colonists with the amount of weapons and tools he returned, and a long standoff ensued.

During the year-long wait, Pocahontas was kept at Henricus, in modern-day Chesterfield County. Little is known about her life there although colonist Ralph Hamor wrote that she received "extraordinary courteous usage." An English minister, Alexander Whitaker, taught her about Christianity and helped to improve her English. After she was baptized, her name was changed to Rebecca.

Answer 2

At the time Pocahontas was born, it was common for the Algonquian-speaking Virginia Indians to be given several personal names, given at different times, the names carried different meanings. It was not uncommon for American Indians to have more than one name at the same time, to have secret names that only a select few knew, and to change their names on important occasions. Early in her life she was given a secret name, Matoaka, but later she was also known as Amonute. Pocahontas's Christian name, Rebecca Rolfe, may have been a symbolic gesture to Rebecca of the Book of Genesis who, as the mother of Jacob and Esau, was the mother of two "nations". Pocahontas, as an American Indian marrying an Englishman, may have been seen by herself and by her contemporaries as being also, potentially, the mother of two nations.