Skip to main content

The True Story of Pocahontas

Disney produced a romanticized and inaccurate portrayal of the life of Pocahontas. 

It is believed that Pocahontas was born around 1595 to a Powhatan chief. Her given name at birth was Matoaka, although she was sometimes called Amonute. “Pocahontas” was a derogatory nickname meaning “spoiled child” or “naughty one.” Matoaka’s tribe was a part of a group of about thirty Algonquian-speaking tribes located in Tidewater, Virginia.
The true story of Pocahontas is a tale of tragedy and heartbreak.






It is time to bust up the misconceptions perpetuated over 400 years regarding the young daughter of Powhatan chief Wahunsenaca. The truth—gathered from years of extensive research of the historical record, books, and oral histories from self-identified descendants of Pocahontas and tribal peoples of Virginia —is not for the faint of heart.

John Rolfe Married Pocahontas to Create a Native  Alliance in Tobacco Production

Disney Pocahontas -Buena Vista/courtesy Everett CollectionMattaponi history is clear that Pocahontas had a son out of wedlock, Thomas, prior to her marriage to John Rolfe. Prior to that marriage, the colonists pressed Pocahontas to become “civilized” and often told her that her father did not love her because he had not come to rescue her.
Pocahontas often tore off her English clothes, because they were uncomfortable. Eventually, Pocahontas was converted to Christianity and took the name Rebecca.






Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Introduction: Coming to the New World Jamestown & Plymouth

I ntroduction: To a New World In 1607 a small group of English travelers lands in Jamestown. Thirteen years later, religious Puritans settle in New England. These men and women are all driven by the promise of a new life; they face the perils of disease, starvation and war with native groups. They are very different, yet in time both grow. One man’s entrepreneurial dream, tobacco, and the backbreaking work of the first African slaves, turn the disease-ridden swamps of the South into a land of opportunity. The hardworking and resourceful Puritans forge the North into a trading powerhouse with shipbuilding at its core. Yet success and wealth prompt British jealousy, taxation, resistance and then war...  This is a journey called History the story of Us, follow along and we travel back in time to uncover some of history's most famous mysteries. After you watch the opening clip, what are you immediate reactions? Would you make the journey? Your task as