For a start, Pocahontas was, frankly, a less than handsome woman. (I’ve attached a picture so you can judge for yourselves, I’d also like to add an apology for this – she is not a pleasant sight)
Pocahontas on Sailor Simon
The 'Beauty' and her son, Thomas
Born in 1595 (give or take a few years), she was in fact the daughter of Chief Powhatan, a powerful Indian Chief in Virginia USA – Disney got that right!. At the tender age of just thirteen, she met the handsome John Smith, an English Colonist whom she did not fall in love with. (I can see your face of concern, thirteen? Trust me, it gets a lot juicer!) The scene in which Pocahontas lays her head upon his to save him from death, was one of their firstmeetings. Smith was captured in 1607 after poking around the Chickahominy River.
Upon arrival in Werowocomoco (I’m sorry for all these bizarre spellings), John Smith was imprisoned for a year and sentenced to death. It wasn’t until much later, in 1616 when he finally plucked up the courage to talk about his deathly experience and the woman whom had saved his life in a letter to Queen Anne.
So again, I’m sorry to demolish the idea that John Smith first saw Pocahontas through a natural waterfall, hopping along stepping stones with the wind blowing her excessive hair, her natural beauty radiating like oil from a North Atlantic Refinery. As romantic as that is, I just can’t let you be fooled by our beloved Walt Disney.
Sadly, in 1609 a gunpowder explosion seriously injured John Smith and he returned to England. The colonists told the Native Americans that Smith had died (Pocahontas didn’t epically run through the wilderness, alongside a ship to a geological over-hang to say goodbye in a romantic Native sign). Within the next six years, Pocahontas would in fact marry John’s closest friend John Rolfe – she doesn’t waste much time moving around British circles. In March 1613 Pocahontas was tricked into boarding an English ship and held at ransom until her father released the English prisoners he was holding captive. It was during her stay in captivity that she met the widowed John Rolfe. Nothing says romance like a tied up, reluctant Native woman, but I guess it was her personality he fell for.
On April 5th 1614, at the age of just 19, Pocahontas married John Rolfe:
“Pocahontas’s feelings about Rolfe and the marriage are unknown”
This is the best quote ever. In 1615 their first and only son Thomas was born. Now to the part when 14th Century England try to take over the world, again! The English knew the easiest way to colonise these ‘savages’ was to unite them under one belief – Christianity. Oddly, they did not like the idea and great hostilities grew between the rivalling groups. It was up to Pocahontas to resolve the matter and in June 1616 John Rolfe and his ‘lovely’ bride, landed on British soils.
This is the part where all romance, beauty and passion in the story of Pocahontas is lost. Firstly, her name was changed to ‘Rebecca’ – lovely, but not quite as epic as Pocahontas! She was entertained by many aristocratic families around the United Kingdom and settled in Brentford, Middlesex (not quite the luscious green valleys of pine, natural cascading waterfalls, and heightened peaks of Virginia) Many in England saw her as illegitimate royalty, others thought of her as simply ‘curious’ – in fact, Pocahontas was to society, an albino penguin – different, obscure in a society where individuality wasn’t popular.
So sadly, Pocahontas didn’t look around the river bend or follow the colours of the wind to romance with the illusive John Smith. In fact she settled down with her husband in England. Living in England however, did not appeal to Pocahontas’ free spirit and she begged Rolfe to return to Virginia, taking her back with him. So, towards the end of 1617 the pair embarked on the journey back to the natural setting where their romance had began. But the journey would be doom for one of our star-crossed lovers. The ship had only gone as far as Gravesend (ironic) on the River Thames when Pocahontas became gravely ill and died. Her final words, however, give us the Hollywood ending that Disney had always desired:
“All must die in the world, but tis enough that the child may liveth.”
John Rolfe: twice widowed, on a journey back to the land in which he fell in love with a native ‘beauty’. Pocahontas: the daughter of a chief in a land of unimaginable natural beauty. Two lovers, who’s paths crossed, not by accident, but by fate. To this day, Pocahontas is the first Virginian (and woman for that matter) to speak English under Christianity – a woman. Germaine Greer, sit down! The story, unfortunately isn’t of a radiant beauty falling for a charming English Colonist. More a less than handsome ‘princess’ and Mel Gibson’s best friend. Pocahontas: as seen on Jezza Kyle since 1595.
POCAHONTAS
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