I’ve certainly known for a long time that Disney’s Pocahontas (1995) is about as inaccurate about the actual history of Pocahontas, or Mataoka, as it could be, but I don’t know that I had ever looked at the specific things we looked at this week. I’m not sure if I would say they complicated my understanding of the topic, but I was definitely startled by the engraving and painting of Mataoka. The engraving wasn’t as startling, it seemed accurate and I found it interesting how unhappy she looks in it—although I’m not sure if women posing for portraits in the early 1600s were just expected to have neutral expressions, I just thought there was something haunting about it.
The painting, however, greatly distorts important aspects of Mataoka’s appearance as portrayed by the engraving: although the painting is in color and the engraving is in black and white, color has clearly been used here to lighten her skin tone; her face looks softer and rounder, maybe to enhance her femininity in a way that would fit English standards; lastly, I think her expression almost looks like a smile in the painting, or, at least, more neutral—almost pacified. These portraits were both used to present an example for European society of an Indigenous woman they were able to “conquer.” I have a better understanding now that Disney wasn’t the first to misrepresent Mataoka so severely—her image was distorted during the course of her (far too short) life, as well.
It’s important to study the complexity of history and expose yourself to multiple different sources of information because involving yourself in only one perspective leads to understanding a topic with a heavy bias, which is dangerous. Indigenous voices are incredibly important, and I think European sources on Indigenous history have their own role, as well—that is to be used to confront historical oppression and encourage change in the way we think and talk about Indigenous history in the present day. I think these sources also prove just how crucial it is that everyone seek out Indigenous perspectives, because there is no shortage of Indigenous knowledge and primary sources, despite the long history of underrepresentation.