Powhatan (Native American leader)

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Wahunsenacawh, Powhatan
Powhatan, detail of map published by English colonizer John Smith (1612)
Born	c. 1547 Tsenacommacah
Died	c. 1618 (aged 70–71) Colony of Virginia, British America
Resting place	Pamunkey Reservation, King William, Virginia, United States
Occupation(s)	Leader of the Powhatan people of Tsenacommacah, an alliance of Algonquian-speaking people
Children	Pocahontas and others
Relatives	Opechancanough (brother) John Rolfe (son-in-law)

Powhatan (c. 1547 – c. 1618), whose proper name was Wahunsenacawh (alternately spelled Wahunsenacah, Wahunsunacock, or Wahunsonacock), was the leader of the Powhatan, an alliance of Algonquian-speaking Native Americans living in Tsenacommacah, in the Tidewater region of Virginia at the time when English settlers landed at Jamestown in 1607.

Powhatan, alternately called "King" or "Chief" Powhatan by English settlers, led the main political and military power facing the early colonists, and was probably the older brother of Opechancanough, who led attacks against the settlers in 1622 and 1644. He was the father of Matoaka (Pocahontas).