Matoaka a.k.a Pocahontas

Motoaka is a prime example of how stereotypes and divisions are created.  Motoaka, a.k.a. Pocahontas, a name we are all familiar with, was an example of how myth can create these divisions and stereotypes.  The Pocahontas we all know and seen in the Disney version of "Pocahontas" shows us that she was in history a beautiful women somewhere in her early twenties.  We know that she was the one who saved John Smith from her own tribe.  We know that she was an Indian princess who loved John Smith.  However, that's the MYTH of Pocahontas.  In history, Pocahontas's real name was "Motoaka."  She was a Powhatten princess who was only ten years old when she was kidnapped by the English to be used as a PAWN to establish relations with the Powhatten tribe.  She actually married JOHN ROLFE, not John Smith as she grew a little older.  Later, in history, depictions of "Pocahontas" in art showed her as a beautiful Princess women who was transformed and civilized by the English.  What this did was exonerate the English for their deeds and gave the justification that the Native Americans were barbaric and savage.  That they needed to be civilized and the English showed that it was possible.  Just look at "Pocahontas" who became like us English...

Author's Notes/Comments: 

This is a really important part of the American history because it shows myth in a different way than we think of.  Myth blind us to the truth.  Take "Pocahontas" for example...

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Bryan Adam Tomimbang's picture

An interesting truth about "Pocahontas" and the power of myth.