In 1607, an English expedition lands on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay, and John Smith investigates the coast and soon crosses paths with Pocahontas. A tense moment arises when Sir Edwin Wingfield kills a bald eagle, sparking a near conflict with Powhatan warrior Kocoum, while Opachisco, a trusted Native guide, explains that the English have entered the Powhatan Confederacy. The settlement is named Fort James.
At the main Powhatan village, Kocoum and his father, Mochiqua, warn against trusting the Europeans. Pocahontas urges her father, Chief Powhatan, to trade with the newcomers for firearms. He agrees, but restricts attacks and orders restraint. A meeting between English and Powhatan delegates leads Captain Newport to offer metal goblets as a gift. [Kocoum] rejects them and presses for guns, but Newport insists that such weapons go only to a chief. The standoff sours the mood and leaves everyone wary of the other side.
Wingfield then orders the expedition to pan for gold in the James River, yet their efforts yield nothing. Sickness sweeps Fort James, prompting Smith, [Opachisco], and three others to travel inland to trade for medicine. While they are away, Powhatan warriors ambush and kill the others, sparing only Smith. Wingfield accuses Smith of orchestrating the attack to “go native” and hoard gold.
Smith is brought to the Powhatan village, beaten, and sentenced to death. During the execution, Pocahontas intervenes and claims him as her captive. She tends to his wounds, and the two grow closer, eventually falling in love. Smith sends Pocahontas’s younger brother, Japazaws, to the fort with a message describing his whereabouts, but Wingfield intercepts the letter and lies to Newport that Japazaws was sent to steal guns. Newport declares Smith a traitor.
Back at the fort, Smith is arrested and Pocahontas pleads for his release. When the stolen letter is recovered, Newport realizes he has been duped. Wingfield is removed from the fort’s ruling council, and Smith is freed.
The English deliver firearms and ammunition as a gift to Chief [Powhatan], but Mochiqua later confesses to the chief that the box is packed with rocks. Pocahontas accuses Mochiqua of swapping the ammunition to tarnish the English, and the Chief recognizes how the lure of firearms is sowing division within his people.
Wingfield and Kocoum seize Pocahontas, and Japazaws alerts Smith. In the ensuing confrontation, Smith kills a Powhatan and Pocahontas shoots Wingfield dead. Kocoum returns to urge war, but Pocahontas challenges him to a trial by fire; he loses and is executed. The Chief halts the planned war but still seeks Smith’s death. Pocahontas pleads for mercy, while Newport reports that Wingfield died of fever to avert further bloodshed. Chief Powhatan offers a truce on the condition that Smith return to England, and he reluctantly agrees, boarding a ship as Pocahontas and Japazaws watch Smith sail away.
