Top 10 Historically Inaccurate Details in Pocahontas

The name of the titular character in Disney’s movies may not be the most accurate. Although she’s since become most known as Pocahontas, the historical figure was actually born with the name Amonute. She acquired a few nicknames growing up, including Matoaka and Pocahontas. Upon her conversion to Christianity, she was baptized as Rebecca. There are a few theories as to why she became known as Pocahontas, as well as what it means. One historian suggests her birth name was kept hidden from the European settlers for the girl’s protection, so she was introduced as something else. The name itself has been translated several different ways.

The chief’s daughter had close ties with the people of Jamestown for much of her life. However, tensions between the indigenous people and the colonists led to her being captured and held for ransom during the First Anglo-Powhatan War. She spent a year at a settlement in Virginia called Henricus (hen-RYE-cuhss, like rice), during which time her father failed to return enough stolen weapons to please her captors. She converted to Christianity during this period, and developed relationships with her European captors. Of course, none of this is mentioned in either of the Disney flicks.

Before the First Anglo-Powhatan War, the daughter of Powhatan was often welcomed in the European settlement. She brought gifts of food to Jamestown when the colonizers were starving in the winter. She also learned the English language with impressive speed. The indigenous girl was a symbol of peace between the two communities. However, neither of the Disney films indicate Pocahontas played such a role. She and the rest of her people are feared by the European settlers throughout the first movie. In the sequel, she barely spends any time in Jamestown before making her transatlantic journey.

The premise of Disney’s straight-to-home video sequel is the titular character’s trip to London. It shows her in a foreign land, acting as an ambassador, and being treated like a princess by the British people. While these details line up with historical reports from the time, the film also takes a few liberties with its story. For one, Pocahontas was already married to John Rolfe by the time they made their way across the Atlantic together. The couple brought their infant son, Thomas, on the trip as well. While the end of the animated feature shows Pocahontas boarding the ship to back America, it omits the fact that she succumbed to illness before she could return.

In Disney’s 1995 animated film, the heroine’s love interest is shown returning to London immediately following his so-called rescue. While it’s historically true that the explorer was injured when he left Virginia, it actually happened nearly two years following his initial encounter with the Powhatan people. His injury was the result of a gunpowder explosion, not a gunshot. Following his departure, Pocahontas was told by the colonists that he had passed away. It wasn’t until her own transatlantic voyage that she learned he was alive. Admittedly, something similar happens in the animated feature’s sequel.

Inspired by a figure from historical accounts - though his existence is debated - the indigenous warrior is presented in the Disney film as a romantic suitor of the chief’s daughter. However, accounts report that he was actually the Powhatan woman’s first husband. Notably, Kocoum himself was the brother of the Chief of the Potomac tribe. It’s possible that during his brief time wed to Pocahontas, the pair had a child together. Their marriage would’ve ended when they were separated during the First Anglo-Powhatan War. While Pocahontas was abducted, he may or may not have lost his life. The animated movie also imagines him suffering a fatal blow, but under different circumstances.

While Pocahontas is remembered most for her relationship with John Smith, the historical figure was actually married to another Englishman named John Rolfe. Disney uses their romance as the basis for the 1998 straight-to-video sequel. Despite what the animated film suggests, Pocahontas and Rolfe met while she was being held captive during the First Anglo-Powhatan War. They were wed after she converted to Christianity and took the name, Rebecca. It was possibly a second marriage for both. Their nuptials ushered in a period of peace between the settlers and the Powhatan tribes called the “Peace of Pocahontas.” The couple stayed in Virginia for approximately two years before departing for London with their son.

The 1995 Disney animated movie, along with many other narratives inspired by the life of the Powhatan woman, shows her rescuing John Smith from execution. Supposedly, the historical figure stopped her father from dealing the English explorer a fatal blow by placing her own head upon his. While the incident is the basis of Pocahontas’s legend, many historians question whether it actually happened in that way. After being kidnapped by the Powhatan, it’s possible John Smith misunderstood the ceremony he was involved in as an execution ritual. Alternatively, he could have made the whole thing up in order to gain popularity and ensure peace between the Powhatan tribes and the European colonizers.

Like many movies from the Disney Princess franchise, 1995’s “Pocahontas” features a romance at the center of its narrative. Separated by a rivalry between their people, the titular character and the English explorer have a “Romeo and Juliet” thing going on in the film. However, historical accounts indicate nothing more than a friendship between the two. Instead of meeting romantically in the woods next to a waterfall, they first encountered each other when Smith was captured by Pocahontas’s tribe. To be honest, we’re not that heartbroken about this romance being a fabrication. Reportedly, Smith wasn’t even that great of a person. He exaggerated stories, struggled as a leader in Jamestown, and showed violence towards indigenous people.

The biggest discrepancy between historical accounts and the animated tale is one that makes us kind of uncomfortable. In the 1995 flick, the Powhatan girl is depicted as older than she historically would have been at the time of her meeting John Smith. Although she’s animated to look like a fully developed woman, in reality, Pocahontas would have only been around eleven or twelve years old. Yes, Disney executives made the decision to age her up partially for the sake of building a fictional romance between her and Smith. Supervising animator Glen Keane explicitly stated in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that they set out to make her look sexy. We’re not sure why the heroine of a children’s movie needs to look sexy, but okay…