Beyond Disney: A 1616 portrait of Pocahontas shows how English colonizers saw Indigenous Americans

Pocahontas became widely known through a 1995 animated film that presents her early life with fictional elements such as speaking with a willow tree, befriending animals, singing “the colors of the wind,” and a romance with Captain John Smith. Smith was an English colonist who arrived in Jamestown soon after its founding in 1607. Pocahontas’ father, Wahunsonacock, also called Powhatan by colonists, was the paramount chief of the Powhatans living around Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. Only one portrait from her lifetime survives, contrasting with the Disney image. Wahunsonacock controlled many Powhatan communities through alliances and strategy. Pocahontas likely met Smith around age 10 or 11 in late 1607 when he was held by her father. In 1613 the English captured Pocahontas during the first Anglo-Powhatan War, and in 1614 Wahunsonacock secured her freedom and approved her marriage to John Rolfe.

"The 1995 film created an enduring visual image of Pocahontas, and contained some details drawn from the historical record, though plenty is pure fiction. Smith was, in fact, one of the English colonists who arrived in Jamestown, Virginia, soon after its founding in 1607. Pocahontas' father Wahunsonacock - whom colonists and Disney called Powhatan - was the paramount chief of the Powhatans, who lived in communities along the edges of Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries."

"Only one portrait of Pocahontas from her lifetime exists - a sharp contrast with the Disney-drawn image most Americans know. And it speaks volumes about how the English saw colonization."

"Wahunsonacock was the most consequential political figure in early Virginia, the land Powhatans knew as Tsenacommacah. Through personal alliances and shrewd stratagems, he controlled perhaps 30 communities along the shores of Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. Pocahontas, also known as Matoaka and Amonute, was probably about 10 or 11 years old when she encountered Smith in late 1607."

"At that moment he was a captive of her father, who, Smith later wrote, was about to have him killed. Though scholars believe Wahunsonacock was likely putting Smith through a ritual adoption, the colonist claimed Pocahontas saved his life. In 1613, the English took Pocahontas captive during a conflict known as the first Anglo-Powhatan War. After obtaining his daughter's freedom in 1614, Wahunsonacock approved her marriage to John Rolfe,"

Read at The Conversation