"Tahnee Princess "Matachanna Shawano Powhatan was daughter of Wahunsunacawh Powhatan, "Chief Powhatan" and Winanuske Nonoma. She was born 1590 in the capital of the Powhatan Confederacy, Werowocomoco Indian Territory. In May of 1607 when she was 17 British ships made landfall on the bank of the James River 25 miles from Werowocomoco. In Apr of 1607, strangers arrived on the shore of the Powhatan River south of Werowocomoco they were not perceived as enemy, rather potential allies against the Spanish. Look outs were posted to watch their activity. The strangers did not wander away from the shore. They set about establishing shelters, and cutting down trees to build the palisade to protect their settlement. Powhatan instructed the people of the Confederacy to approach the strangers with gifts of food. In the winter one of the strangers [John Smith] led a small party out of their village in search of more food. When the party came close to the banks of the Pamunkey River they were captured by Opechancanough Pamunkey, Chief Powhatan's brother in law. To protect the exact location of the capital Werowocomoco, Opechancanough took the prisoners to Tsenacomoco. Chief Powhatan viewed this as an opportunity to negotiate the alliance he wanted. He traveled to Tsenacomoco to determine the intent of the strangers and negotiate the terms of an alliance with the toshshonte "English. Communication between Powhatan and the strangers was limited to hand signals and facial expression. The "meeting" lasted for many hours. In the way of his culture, Powhatan assembled the hierarchy of the Confederacy to witness the ceremonial acceptance of the terms of the negotiations. In return for "two great guns and a grind stone" Powhatan would give Smith Capahowasick, a Powhatan Village on the Powhatan River and "forever esteem him as his son Nantaquoud'. Believing Smith was the "chief" of the village and had the authority to speak for the stranger, he was returned to James Fort in early Jan 1608. Chief Powhatan sent gifts of food to the starving people. Smith's version of his capture and their leader Powhatan prompted the English to give Wahunsunacawh the name of Emperor Powhatan. Christopher Newport the "true" leader of the strangers immediately sent word to Chief Powhatan requesting a meeting. Powhatan sent a contingency headed by his son Nataquous to escort Newport and Smith to Werowocomoco. Newport had been directed by the Company to present Wahunsunacawh with a royal crown and gifts n symbolizing that he would henceforth be a prince in the service of King James I. The crown was rejected by Wahunsunacawh; he was the leader of the Confederacy and served only the Great Spirit, not a man. Negotiations between Newport and Powhatan resulted in the reaffirmed alliance against the Spanish. To seal this alliance, Powhatan gave Newport his servant, Namontack; Newport gave thirteen-year old Thomas Savage to Powhatan. These young men were charged with learning the ways of the "people with whom they would reside" Powhatan send contingencies of his people to teach the strangers how to hunt and farm for themselves. His son Parahunt and daughter Matachanna were often the leaders of the contingency, their younger sister Matoaka who was known as "Pocahontas ".for her insatiable curiosity. The inhabitants of the settlement, now known a James Fort, soon became friends with the children. They were in awe of Parahunt's skills with his bow and arrows. They could not pronounce Matachanna they simply called her Cleopatra as a reference to her beauty. "Pocahontas "was in endless motion between helping her sister plant the fields to playing gopher to retrieve the arrows when the men would miss the practice target. The Powhatan people and the settlers lived in an uneasy peace for the next year. Smith was elected as leader of the village in early 1609 when Newport returned to England. He forced the settlers to grow or hunt their own food. In the autumn of 1609, Smith was injured and forced to return to England, Sir George Percy was appointed leader, He was not willing to settle for the food supplied by the Powhatan and had no interest in planting or hunting for food. To the apprehension of the seasoned inhabitants, the newcomers began to forge for food in the lands outside the palisade. With Percy's blessing they forcibly attacked the Chiskiack villages along the river, killing the men first with their guns, then murdering the women and children to steal their food supplies. Among those killed was Parahunt, Chief Powhatan's youngest son. In response to these acts of violence Chief Powhatan met with the Wiroans "leaders" of the tribes of the Confederacy in Dec 1609 to lay out a plan to purge the reapoke "devil" from the schindhandow "valley". The warriors of the confederacy were directed to drive the Matwau "enemy" back into their compound. With this task completed the warriors surrounded the Fort with instructions to kill anyone who tried to leave. Among the Weroances "Commanders" of the warriors were Parahunt's three older brothers, Opechanko, Mantaquaus and Nantahoack. In the spring of 1610, when the Virginia Company's newly appointed Governor Thomas West arrived only 60 settlers were alive. 340 people had died from starvation. The investors considered that negotiations with the" iniocassockes", savages, brought no tangible results and that it was time to impose a true colonial rule. He had been given instructions from the Company to use the military skills learned in his battles with the Irish against the iniocassockes, Powhatan. His mission was to "declare war, defeat the enemy, establish "colonial rule" and win at all cost, Thus began the "War" against the Powhatan people. Nine villages along the Powhatan "James" River were over taken or destroyed. Once the warriors were killed the women and children were slaughtered. This extreme violence came to an end in late 1613 when Samuel Argall kidnapped "Pocahontas".
Gate's plan was for Chief Powhatan to give more land for the colonist and release the prisoners in exchange for "Pocahontas". During the negotiations Gate's proposed and arranged marriage between himself and "Cleopatra". Powhatan's response to his proposal was to give Matachanna to his cousin Opechancanough Mangopeesomon Powhatan in an arranged marriage. Opechancanough and Matachanna were married at Werowocomoco in early 1614. "Pocahontas" was held hostage on the ship George during the continued negotiations. On 15 Apr 1614 "Pocahontas" voluntarily married John Rolfe, to join the Powhatan Confederacy and the British together. Her efforts were successful, the Powhatans and British Colonist lived in peace for a time. Matachanna and Opechancanough's twins, son Nectowance daughter Chalakatha "Pride" Powhatan were born in Feb 1615 in Werowocomoco Indian Territory. In early spring of 1616 The Virginia Company determined they needed more money to support Jamestown. They directed the current Governor of Jamestown, Sir Thomas Dale to bring John Rolfe and his family to England. Their plan was to hold a Lottery to have the opportunity of the English to meet a real "Indian". Powhatan negotiated with Thomas Dale to allow the couple to have a twelve member security and support group to travel to England as escorts and protectors for "Pocahontas" and her family. He appointed his nephew Tomocomo Pamunkey as his Representative in any negotiations and decisions regarding the relationships with the English. His daughter Matachanna was charged with the physical protection and supporter of her sister. She left her children in the care of her husband as she traveled to England. John Smith sent a letter to Matachanna and "Pocahontas" thru Queen Anne requesting an audience. The "Princesses" refused. Their interactions with him in the Colony had made them aware of his duplicity. They had seen his "History" of life in the Colony. Read his arrogant version of his accomplishments in outwitting the Powhatan. The fabrication he had written in his descriptions of the attire or "lack of" and sexual behavior of the people of the Confederacy. They had seen the fraudulent drawings he had commissioned depicting their father and immediate family as savages. They sent a powerfully worded refusal to his request. On 18 Mar 1617 the Ship George left the dock at London sailing up the Thames Estuary bound for the Plymouth Port. At the assistance of "Pocahontas" the ship was well stocked with the English Tea she had become so addicted to. She insisted on having a cup of tea to settle her so she could sleep. Before the ship reached Gravesend in Kent, she fell ill and died. atachanna had the grave task of traveling to Werowocomoco to tell her father of "Pocahontas" death. She described the suspicion that she was murdered by the English by poison in her tea, and the decision to leave his grandson Thomas with his uncle in England for his safety. Wahunsunacawh Powhatan died from smallpox 01 Apr 1618 in Pamunkey River Indian Territory. The leaders of the Confederacy elected his cousin Opichapam Powhatan, Chief of the Powhatan Confederacy 04 Apr 1618. Opichapam Powhatan was the older brother of Matachanna' husband Opechancanough. When Governor Thomas Gates, in Jamestown, learned of Wahunsunacawh's death he ordered his mercenaries to resume their attacks on the outlying villages with the goal of destroying the "natives" and claiming the lands for England. Opichapam, Chief Powhatan, intensified the attacks on Jamestown and surrounding British settlements. War was once again the way of life. Matachanna lived in Werowocomoco with her husband Opechancanough and their children. The British had set their sights west of James Fort not venturing north. For two years Matachanna and Opechancanough lived a peaceful life, he took no active interest in the "cat and mouse" with the British, minor skirmishes one day, bringing food and supplies the next. Tensions reached an all time high between the British and the Powhatan in late spring of 1620. Like Wahunsunacawh, Opichapam believed that the British "Company" was the Matwau "enemy "of the Powhatan. He considered the colonist that simply wanted to make a home for their families in this "new world" as friends. He continued to honor the Peace Treaty that had been in place for six years. Opichapam was murdered in the summer of 1620. Opechancanough was elected Chief Powhatan by the leaders of the Confederacy. No matter how much Matachanna tried to reinforce the belief that "not all British were evil, just as all Powhatans were not savages", he could not see beyond the murder of his older brother and the slaughter of the women and children in the villages. He was biding his time, and gathering his forces for what was to be a fatal blow to the British and their elimination from his homeland. On 22 Mar 1622 he began what is known historically the Jamestown Massacre. Matachanna's brother Mantaquaus Powhatan was killed in the battle. Opechancanough never returned to Werowocomoco, he did not want to bring the British to the village where his wife and children lived. He released his wife Matachanna from their marriage bond and never returned to the capital. He and his warriors lived on the run from the British hiding in the woods and caves of the area, attacking the British randomly. Matachanna married Opechan Stream Cornstalk, Chief of the Pamunkey Tribe 1624 in Werowocomoco. Opechan was the son of Running Stream Cornstalk and Pauwiske Morning Scent Flower. He was born 1570 in Werowocomoco, Orapax Indian Territory. Matachanna and Opechan lived in relative peace and security in Werowocomoco. Opechan accepted Chalakatha and Nectowance raising them as if they were his own. The couple had three children born there. Their oldest son Hokolesqua Opecham Stream Cornstalk was born in 1625. Their daughter Nicketti was born in 1628. Their youngest son Tottopottomoy Cornstalk was born in 1635. In early 1636 Chalakatha was given to Thomas Pasmere Carpenter, a young British soldier; by her parents Opechancanough and Matachanna. The marriage ceremony was conducted by her stepfather, Opechan, at Werowocomoco. Thomas aligned himself with the Pamunkey. When Nectowance turned 16 in the spring of 1636, he joined Opechancanough in the war against the British In 1641 Thomas Rolfe returned to Virginia to claim his father's property and his inheritance from his grandfather Wahunsunacawh. Where there were no issues preventing his claim to his father's plantation, Varina Thomas had to meet with his Uncle Opechankeno and Aunt Matachanna to claim his inheritance from his grandfather. The rules of the Colony at that time prohibited communication between individuals and the Powhatan people unless approved by the Governor. Thomas sent the following request to Governor William Berkley. "Dec 17th, 1641—Thomas Rolfe petitions the governor to let him see Opechankeno to whom he is allied and Cleopatra, his mother's sister" There is no written documentation of the permission; however it is known that Thomas did later claim 200 acres of property to expand his plantation. When this transaction was complete Thomas cut his ties with his Powhatan relatives and enlisted in the British Army. On the first day of April 1644 Opechan and Matachanna, gave their daughter, "Tahnee" princess Nicketti Cornstalk to John in a marriage ceremony at Werowocomoco, Orapax Indian Territory. When Governor John Harvey learned of the marriage, he "labeled" John as a traitor. In his anger he ordered a raid on Werowocomoco in retaliation. Just days after the wedding the British soldiers invaded Werowocomoco, killing 44 and injuring many more. Among the dead were Matachanna and Opechan and her Cousin Chief Tomocomo Pamunkey and his wife Nonoma Apachano.