I was always fascinated by Pocahontas because growing up I watched the Disney movie “Pocahontas.” However, I was too young to understand that Disney romanticized the story and there was never any romance between the real Pocahontas and John Smith. In fact, all of the movie is really historically incorrect and I have no idea why they would make it in the first place. Learning about the real Pocahontas was exciting and left me with unanswered questions. The last time I had heard about Pocahontas was in U.S. history class in my junior year of high school. I don’t remember much because my teacher didn’t go into much detail about her story. I remember learning that Pocahontas was a nickname but I couldn’t remember her actual name. It wasn’t until Dr. Jennifer was going through the slides that it all seemed to “click” and came back to me when I saw the name Mataoka on the projector. Her story is complex but it’s important to grapple because what happened to her must be remembered and taught in schools. Unfortunately, there’s movies like Disney’s “Pocahontas,” that give false information. That week I learned that Pocahontas became ill and died at a very young age (about 21 years old). This was very sad to hear because she went through a lot at a young age (kidnapped, held captive, taken away from her family, and having to assimilate to a new culture) and didn’t get to live a long “happy” life. It was as though she was an object all along and not a person. She was used as a symbol for the colonial settlement of Jamestown. Comparing and contrasting the two portraits of Pocahontas was very interesting. When I saw the first portrait I was in disbelief because I couldn’t believe I was looking at a portrait of Pocahontas. The painter lightened her skin and utilized color to downplay her Native heritage. The person responsible for that portrait did an awful job because they provided false information overall. Even the inscription of the painting mentioned that she married an English colonist but they wrote her son’s name rather than her husband’s. She married John Rolfe and had a child named Thomas Rolfe.
Apologies for the late submission!
Hi Leni! I also had a very similar experience growing up with the Disney version of Pocahontas, and I don’t think it was until high school (or really college) that I heard the “real” story of Pocahontas. I think it is easy to assume that the stories we were told had at least some truth to them, but there is something especially appalling at how inaccurate the Disney version of Pocahontas is. This week I also enjoyed engaging with the other imagery and artwork depicting Pocahontas– I think we had a very productive conversation about these constructions in class as well!