History UsefulNotes / Pocahontas

** Pre-Disney, Pocahontas was almost invariably portrayed wearing a single-feather headband, an accessory not actually used by the Powhatans. Disney seems to have killed off this trope, as the once-ubiquitous feathered headband is absent from nearly all post-1995 depictions of her.

* BraidsBeadsAndBuckskins: In most visual media, her attire will be some variation on this. The Disney version somewhat tones this down, but it still gives her a buckskin dress, which is not accurate for her people. Of course, as noted above, having her be "dressed" the way she was in real life is a difficult proposition.

* ''Pocahontas: Princess of the American Indians'' is an Italian animated TV series, created in the wake of the Disney film. It involves Pocahontas traveling around the Americas to meet other Native American tribes and learn their ways. Although produced by Creator/MondoTV, the animation was outsourced to UsefulNotes/NorthKorea of all places, where it was done by Creator/SEKStudio, the same people who save us ''Animation/SquirrelAndHedgehog''. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB9rfBSexTc Here is a review of the series.]]

Pocahontas (c. 1596 -- 21 March 1617) was a Native American woman who was renowned for supposedly rescuing the English explorer Captain John Smith in 1608 and was a peacekeeper between the English settlers and the First Nations. She was TheChiefsDaughter to Wahunsenacah of the [[LordCountry Pohwatan Confederacy]], an alliance of Algonquian First Nations in Virginia. Her name was a nickname that meant "[[CheerfulChild playful]]" or "mischievous," and her personal name was "Matoaka".

[[caption-width-right:350:Portrait of Pocahontas as Lady Rebecca, 1616]]

* The Disney version inspired a number of [[TheMockbuster Mockbusters] released around the same time:

* Creator/GoldenFilms created [[WesternAnimation/PocahontasGoldenFilms an animated film]] loosely based on her life, released in 1995, [[TheMockbuster the same year as Disney's version]]. Other animated mockbusters inspired by the Disney film include ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfPocahontasIndianPrincess'', ''WesternAnimation/YoungPocahontas'', and two more titled simply ''Pocahontas''. There was also ''Pocahontas: The Girl Who Lived in Two Worlds'', animated with StopMotion rather than drawings.

According to Captain John Smith's ''Generall Historie of Virginia'' (1624), in 1608, while helping to establish the settlement of Jamestown, Virginia, he was captured by the natives and was set before a stone altar to be killed. Just before his head was about to be bashed, Pocahontas [[ProtectedByAChild saved his life by holding his head in her arms]]. While it was considered heroic, many historians [[UnreliableNarrator are skeptical about the story]], which is not found in Smith's detailed personal narrative written at the time. In 1613, Pocahontas was captured by Capt. Samuel Argall and was taken to Jamestown. There, she was converted to Christianity and adopted the name Rebecca. In 1614, with her father's approval, she married a tobacco planter named John Rolfe. [[labelnote:Sorry, shippers]] As much as you love the [=PocaSmith=] pair, RealLife can be one big [[ShipSinking ship sinker]]. Plus, if you ship the real Pocahontas with Smith, it would count as [[PaedoHunt totally creepy]] by modern standards, as the real life Smith was in his late twenties and Pocahontas was pre-teen at the time she saved him.[[/labelnote]]

[[AltarDiplomacy Eight years of peace]] between the Native Americans and the English followed the marriage.

Pocahontas (c. 1596 -- 21 March 1617) was a Native American woman who was renowned for supposedly rescuing the English explorer Captain John Smith in 1608 and was a peacekeeper between the English settlers and the First Nations. She was TheChiefsDaughter to Wahunsenacah of the [[LordCountry Pohwatan Confederacy]], an alliance of Algonquian-speaking Indians in Virginia. Her name was a nickname that meant "[[CheerfulChild playful one]]", and her personal name was "Matoaka".

According to Captain John ''Smith's Generall Historie of Virginia'', published in 1624, in 1608, while helping to establish the settlement of Jamestown, Virginia, he was captured by the natives and was set before a stone altar to be killed. Just before his head was about to be bashed, Pocahontas [[ProtectedByAChild saved his life by holding his head in her arms]]. While it was considered heroic, many historians [[UnreliableNarrator are skeptical about the story]], which is not found in Smith's detailed personal narrative written at the time. In 1613, Pocahontas was captured by Capt. Samuel Argall and was taken to Jamestown. There, she was converted to Christianity and adopted the name Rebecca. In 1614, with her father's approval, she married a tobacco planter named John Rolfe. [[labelnote:Sorry, shippers]] As much as you love the [=PocaSmith=] pair, RealLife can be one big [[ShipSinking ship sinker]]. Plus, if you ship the real Pocahontas with Smith, it would count as [[PaedoHunt totally creepy]] by modern standards, as the real life Smith was in his late twenties and Pocahontas was pre-teen at the time she saved him.[[/labelnote]]

She gave birth to a son Thomas in 1615, and the following year the family went to England. Pocahontas was a sensation in London and entertained [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfStuart King James I and VI]], his queen, and his court at Whitehall, where she was given royal honours. To Pocahontas, all these honours pale in comparison to her desire to return to her homeland but, unfortunately, illness struck her while she was preparing to return to Virginia (either tuberculosis, pneumonia, or smallpox were suspected), and she succumbed to it in the spring of 1617.[[note]]This page was launched at midnight, Eastern Standard Time, at the 400th anniversary of her death.[[/note]] She was buried in the chapel of the parish church in Gravesend. Her son Thomas returned to his mother's homeland and became an important settler; many prominent Virginians, such as the First Ladies [[UsefulNotes/WoodrowWilson Edith Wilson]] and [[UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan Nancy Reagan]], claim to be his descendants.

* AdaptationalModesty: Prior to becoming Rebecca Rolfe, the real Pocahontas went around [[NationalGeographicNudity naked or close to it]]. In almost all visual media, she's covered up enough to meet Western standards of modesty. Of course when it comes to [[ImpossiblyLowNeckline Jacobean court dresses]]...

* ''Pocahontas: Princess of the American Indians'' is an Italian animated TV series, created in the wake of the Disney film. It involves Pocahontas traveling around North America to meet other Native American tribes and learn their ways. Although produced by Creator/MondoTV, the animation was outsourced to UsefulNotes/NorthKorea of all places, where it was done by Creator/SEKStudio, the same people who save us ''Animation/SquirrelAndHedgehog''. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB9rfBSexTc Here is a review of the series.]]

* ''Pocahontas: Princess of the American Indians'' is an Italian animated TV series, created in the wake of the Disney film. It involves Pocahontas traveling around North America to meet other Native American tribes and learn their ways. Although produced by Creator/MondoTV, the animation was outsourced to UsefulNotes/NorthKorea of all places, where it was done by Creator/StudioSEK, the same people who save us ''Animation/SquirrelAndHedgehog''. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB9rfBSexTc Here is a review of the series.]]

%% This page was launched at midnight, Eastern Standard Time, on the 400th anniversary of her death.

* ''Film/TheNewWorld'', a 2005 film directed by Creator/TerrenceMalick and starring Creator/QoriankaKilcher as Pocahontas, and the film focusing on her life and her role on Jamestown. Fun fact - Creator/IreneBedard who voiced her in the Disney version plays her mother (and Christian Bale, who plays John Rolfe, had voiced Thomas in the Disney version).

* AdaptationalModesty: Prior to becoming Rebecca Rolfe, the real Pocahontas went around [[NationalGeographicNudity naked or close to it]]. In almost all visual media, she's covered up enough to meet Western standards of modesty.

* Creator/GoldenFilms created [[WesternAnimation/PocahontasGoldenFilms an animated film]] loosely based on her life, released in 1995, [[TheMockbuster the same year as Disney's version]]. Other animated mockbusters inspired by the Disney film include ''The Adventures of Pocahontas: Indian Princess'', ''WesternAnimation/YoungPocahontas'', and two more titled simply ''Pocahontas''. There was also ''Pocahontas: The Girl Who Lived in Two Worlds'', animated with StopMotion rather than drawings.

* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: In older works, Pocahontas is "good" because she sides with the "civilized" Europeans over her own "barbarous" people. Newer works try to tone down this implication, and portray her more as a peacemaker.

* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: In older works, Pocahontas is "good" because she sides with the "civilized" Europeans over her own "barbarous" people. Newer works try to tone this down, and portray her more as a peacemaker.

Pocahontas (c. 1596 -- 21 March 1617) was a Native American woman who was renowned for supposedly rescuing the English explorer Captain John Smith in 1608 and was a peacekeeper between the English settlers and the Powhatan Confederacy. She was TheChiefsDaughter to Wahunsenacah of the [[LordCountry Pohwatan confederacy]], an alliance of Algonquian-speaking Indians in Virginia. Her name was a nickname that meant "[[CheerfulChild playful one]]", and her personal name was "Matoaka".

Pocahontas (c. 1596 -- 21 March 1617) was a Native American princess who was renowned for supposedly rescuing the English explorer Captain John Smith in 1608 and was a peacekeeper between the English settlers and the Powhatan tribe. She was TheChiefsDaughter to Pohwatan of the [[LordCountry Pohwatan confederacy]], an alliance of Algonquian-speaking Indians in Virginia. Her name was a nickname that meant "[[CheerfulChild playful one]]", and her personal name was "Matoaka".

Pocahontas (c. 1596 -- 21 March 1617) was a Native American princess who was renowned for supposedly rescuing the English explorer Captain John Smith in 1608 and was a peacekeeper between the English settlers and the Powhatan tribe. She was TheChiefsDaughter to Pohwatan of the [[LordCountry Pohwatan confederacy]], an alliance of Algonquian-speaking Indians in Virginia. Her name was a nickname meant "[[CheerfulChild playful one]]", and her personal name was "Matoaka".

* AgeLift: Very rarely, if ever, is she portrayed as being a preteen when she met John Smith.

* Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}'' is the first thing that comes in mind for many. It features the historical liberties that were already commonplace in previous adaptations of the story, such as Pocahontas being age-lifted and having a fictional romance with John Smith. Disney's main innovations on the traditional Pocahontas story were to portray their affair as ForbiddenLove, and adding in a plotline in which they must PreventTheWar between their respective peoples. Additionally, the (probably fictional) story about Pocahontas saving John Smith is meant to be their first meeting, but Disney has them meet differently so that Pocahontas saving John Smith can be TheClimax.

* ''Film/TheNewWorld'', a 2005 film directed by Creator/TerrenceMalick and starring Creator/QoriankaKilcher as Pocahontas, and the film focusing on her life and her role on Jamestown.

She gave birth to a son Thomas in 1615, and the following year the family went to England. Pocahontas was a sensation in London and entertained [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfStuart King James I and VI]], his queen, and his court at Whitehall, where she was given royal honours. To Pocahontas, all these honours pale in comparison to her desire to return to her homeland but, unfortunately, illness struck her while she was preparing to return to Virginia (either tuberculosis, pneumonia, or smallpox were suspected), and she succumbed to it in the spring of 1617.[[note]]This page was launched at midnight, Eastern Standard Time, at the 400th anniversary of her death.[[/note]] She was buried in the chapel of the parish church in Gravesend. Her son Thomas returned to his mother's homeland and became an important settler; many prominent Virginians, such as the First Lady [[UsefulNotes/WoodrowWilson Edith Wilson]] and [[UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan Nancy Reagan]], claim to be his descendants.

She gave birth to a son Thomas in 1615, and the following year the family went to England. Pocahontas was a sensation in London and entertained [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfStuart King James I and VI]], his queen, and his court at Whitehall, where she was given royal honours. To Pocahontas, all these honours pale in comparison to her desire to return to her homeland but, unfortunately, illness struck her while she was preparing to return to Virginia (either tuberculosis, pneumonia, or smallpox were suspected), and she succumbed to it in the spring of 1617.[[note]]This page was launched at midnight, Eastern Standard Time, at the 400th anniversary of her death.[[/note]] She was buried in the chapel of the parish church in Gravesend. Her son Thomas returned to his mother's homeland and became an important settler; many prominent Virginians, such as the First Lady [[UsefulNotes/WoodrowWilson Edith Wilson]], claim to be his descendants.

* Disney's ''Disney/{{Pocahontas}}'' is the first thing that comes in mind for many. It features the historical liberties that were already commonplace in previous adaptations of the story, such as Pocahontas being age-lifted and having a fictional romance with John Smith. Disney's main innovations on the traditional Pocahontas story were to portray their affair as ForbiddenLove, and adding in a plotline in which they must PreventTheWar between their respective peoples. Additionally, the (probably fictional) story about Pocahontas saving John Smith is meant to be their first meeting, but Disney has them meet differently so that Pocahontas saving John Smith can be TheClimax.
** The DirectToVideo sequel, ''[[Disney/PocahontasIIJourneyToANewWorld Journey to a New World]]'', follows her as she travels to England, meets [[UsefulNotes/JamesTheFirst King James I]], and falls in love with John Rolfe. Although it gets away from the fictional romance with John Smith, the sequel introduces plenty of historical inaccuracies of its own. Rather than being kidnapped by the English, Pocahontas volunteers herself as a diplomat as part of an entirely fictional storyline about persuading the King not to start a war with the Powhatans. She has a romance with John Rolfe, but it never gets as far as marriage. She is Westernized a little, but fails to convert to Christianity or adopt the name Rebecca. In fact, she actually ''rejects'' Westernization by the end of the movie. The movie ends with her and Rolfe heading off on a voyage back to America, [[HappilyEverBefore the voyage on which she died in real life]].