Disney's 1995 film Pocahontas depicts a sweeping romance between a beautiful Indigenous woman and the dashing English explorer John Smith. It's a gorgeous movie. It's also almost entirely fiction.

When Pocahontas first encountered John Smith in late 1607, she was approximately 10 to 12 years old. Smith was 27.

The Real Pocahontas

Her actual name was Amonute, though she also had a more private name, Matoaka. "Pocahontas" was a childhood nickname meaning something like "playful one" or "ill-behaved child."

She was one of Chief Powhatan's many children—he had dozens from multiple wives. As a young girl, she would have been part of a large, complex political family navigating the sudden arrival of English colonists in their territory.

What Actually Happened

The famous "saving" of John Smith is itself disputed. Smith didn't write about Pocahontas rescuing him until 1616—17 years after it supposedly happened—and only after she had become famous in England. Many historians believe he invented or embellished the story.

What we know for certain:

Pocahontas visited Jamestown as a child, sometimes bringing food
She was captured by English colonists in 1613 at age 17
During her captivity, she converted to Christianity and was baptized "Rebecca"
She married tobacco planter John Rolfe in 1614—not John Smith

A Short, Tragic Life

In 1616, Pocahontas traveled to England with her husband and infant son. She was presented to English society as an example of the "civilized savage"—a living advertisement for colonization.

She never made it home. In March 1617, as her ship prepared to leave England, Pocahontas fell gravely ill. She died at approximately 21 years old and was buried in Gravesend, England. The exact location of her grave has been lost.

Why Disney Changed Everything

An animated romance between a 27-year-old man and a 10-year-old girl was never going to work. So Disney aged her up, made Smith younger and handsomer, and invented a love story from scratch.

The real history is darker, more complicated, and says far more about colonialism, power, and the stories we choose to tell than any Disney film ever could.

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