This column mentions content that may be upsetting for some readers, such as kidnapping, violence, and rape. Proceed with caution.  

This is the first installment of a series of columns. I aim to take the polished, sanitized versions of the stories and events that Disney adapted and discuss their origins.   

The first film is Pocahontas. Many might know the Disney films, where Pocahontas, daughter of Native American chief Powhatan, saved the life of colonial settler John Smith, then in the second film went to England and married John Rolfe. As always, the truth seems to be much worse.  

Pocahontas was born with the name Amonute and privately went by the name Matoaka. Pocahontas was a nickname given to her by her tribe as it meant ‘playful one’ which reflected her young personality. There is some discrepancy between the stories told and recorded by English colonialists at the time and told by the oral history of the Mattaponi and Powhatan tribes, but the baseline of events remains the same. When English colonisers settled in Werowocomoco, Pocahontas’ town in Virginia, the level of sustained peace was initially stable. There are colonial recounts of John Smith being saved from capture by Pocahontas, and in trade for guns, he was offered protection as an honorary member of the tribe. The truth to this account is debated, and oral history states that the ‘rescue’ was more a welcoming into the tribe after a fight broke out.  

Meanwhile, relations became taut. European settlers became demanding and eventually this led to an escalation of violence over many years.   At the age of 16 Pocahontas was married to a member of her tribe, Kocoum, and had one son. Then, Pocahontas was kidnapped by British captain Samuel Argall and taken to England. She was raped and gave birth to a son named Thomas. She married John Rolfe though the exact date or year is not known but presumably was after Thomas’ birth. She was converted to Christianity and given the name Rebecca.  

In present day, Pocahontas is considered one of the first Murdered and Missing Indigenous women. Her story was no Disney fairytale.