Pocahontas is such a fascinating figure, I forgot how much I loved American history until revisiting this one. This is the only contemporary image of a young Pocahontas, commissioned by the Virginia Company after her visit to England with her husband John Rolfe in the early 1600s. Engravings aren’t typically the most flattering forms of art, and this one makes her look much older than her 20 years. But I do think her true likeness is definitely in there - you can still see her Native American features. Her features line up very distinctly with the descriptions of the Powhatan - that they had very strong cheekbones and jaws. They were also said to be naturally more pale than other Native American groups, but that they got very tan in the sun, with long straight black hair and black or brown eyes (H.C. Rountree)
For the 1600s version of Pocahontas, I researched how Powhatan women typically dressed and how they adorned themselves. Like many Native American cultures, the Powhatan wore clothing, adornments and tattoos that were based on age as well as gender. It’s hard to tell exactly what tattoos Pocahontas would have had in her own time, so I’ve used a tattoo pattern that was fairly common. Powhatan women wore deerskin dresses or aprons, and they were often decorated with shell beads. They wore necklaces and other jewelry to suit the occasion, and would wear their hair long and free, or in a single long braid. I really, really love this version of Pocahontas.
The true story of Matoaka, known more commonly by her nickname Pocahontas is one that has become bogged down by myth throughout the centuries. The traditional narrative we all know goes that John Smith, an English colonist from the Jamestown settlement, is captured by the Powhatan tribe, who plans to execute him. But the young Pocahontas, being the chief’s favorite child, lays her head down upon John Smith’s right before he is to be executed, and with this one act, creates peace between their peoples. But there are quite a few reasons to doubt that this event ever happened.
The truth of the story of Pocahontas is that she became something of an ambassador between the Powhatan and the English colonists. She would have only been around 11 or 12 when all of this was taking place. Unfortunately, Pocahontas was captured by the English after tensions rose between the two factions, and she was held at an English camp for several years. Here she improved her English and converted to Christianity. She does eventually marry the Englishman John Rolfe, who by all accounts does appear to love her, and they travel to England together. Unfortunately on her way back home, she becomes ill before their ship even reaches the ocean, and they have to turn back. She dies in England of an illness, possibly smallpox or dysentery, at the young age of 21.
I didn’t have room to write her full history here, so make sure to check out the full video on what Pocahontas looked like and her true history on the YouTube Channel (youtube.com/c/RoyaltyNowStudios).
Research assistance by Anna Moore, historian.
Left Image Credit: Virginia Company portrait, by Simon Van de Passe, National Portrait Gallery, Public Domain of the United states.
