Negotiating Peace with the Indians

English interpreter Thomas Savage, gesturing at center, negotiates with two of Pocahontas's brothers (at right) in this engraving from Theodor de Bry's Americae (1634). Pocahontas, a daughter of the paramount chief Powhatan, was captured by the English in 1613, and is shown here surrounded by English guards as the interpreter converses with the Indians. In A True Relation of such occurrences and accidents of noate (1608), John Smith recounted how an English delegation presented Powhatan with "a Boy of thirteen yeares old, called Thomas Salvage," who was described to the Indian chief as being the son of Captain Christopher Newport. Savage learned the Indian language while staying with Powhatan, and his skills were critical in negotiating an end to the First Anglo-Powhatan War (1609–1614).

Description courtesy of Encyclopedia Virginia.