Many people are well aware that the Disney movie "Pocahontas" was quite inaccurate. Some historians are more upset over the inaccuracies than others. In my US History in Films class, we watched the movie and discussed the “problems” as well as why Disney may have produced the movie this way. Although I won’t go into why Disney created the movie this way, here are ten facts that you probably didn’t know from the movie or your average high school education.
1. No one actually called her Pocahontas. She went by other names, including Amonute (Ah-mah-new-tay) and Matoaka (Ma-toe-ah-kah), which were her private and public names.
2. Pocahontas was nowhere close to being the next-in-line to her Chief father. She was one of the 30+ children Chief Powhatan had.
3. She was also not his favorite child as many “accurate” sources report. She had over 30 siblings or halfsiblings to compete with for the chief’s attention.
4. John Smith was not very popular with the colonists at Jamestown. In fact, when he had a gunpowder explosion accident and was sent back to England to recover, he wasn’t really missed in Jamestown.
5. John Smith wrote several works about his time in Jamestown. Each one was different and none of them were written while he was living in Jamestown. Many of the stories contradicted each other and had inaccuracies. It’s possible that Smith and Pocahontas never even met. After all, what would a 35 year explorer need a 10 year old girl who doesn’t speak English for?
6. John Smith and Pocahontas did not meet in the forest as depicted in the movie. If they even met at all, it was while Smith was a prisoner of her tribe.
7. Pocahontas moved somewhat west with her father before she was 15. At this point she became married to another Native American, named Kocoum (aka where the name of her almost-betrothed warrior comes from).
8. By the time Pocahontas was 16, she was a political captive in Jamestown, where she was held as ransom due to the on-going Native-colonist conflict. The colonists treated her quite well, clearly aware she was the chief’s daughter. This is where she met John Rolfe, who was teaching her English and trying to convert her to Christianity.
9. In March 1614, Pocahontas and Rolfe were married and the colonists and Natives managed to work out a truce.
10. The Rolfes lived near Jamestown for almost two years before visiting England with their son, Thomas. There, they run into John Smith who had been rumored dead. It is said that Pocahontas was upset as Smith although it is not known why exactly. Pocahontas died on this trip and was buried in England.
