Universität Rostock
Institut für Anglistik/Amerikanistik
PS: The Creation of a Myth: The Lewis and Clark Expedition and Sacagawea

Pocahontas and Sacagawea - The Creation of a Myth

Antje Brinckmann

Table of Contents

1. Introduction ... 3

2. Definition Myth ... 4

3. Pocahontas ... 4

3.1. The Historical Pocahontas ... 4
3.2. Mythical Pocahontas: ... 6
3.3. Film Analysis Disney’s Pocahontas (1995) ... 10

4. Sacagawea ... 14

4.1. Historical Sacagawea: ... 14
4.2. Mythical Sacagawea: ... 16
4.3. Film Analysis: The Far Horizons (1955) ... 20

5. Conclusion ... 24

References ... 25

Pictures: ... 27

1. Introduction

“Myth is the hidden part of every story, the buried part, the region that is still unexplored because there are as yet no words to enable us to get there. Myth is nourished by silence as well as by words.” (Italo Calvino (1923 - 1985). “The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie - deliberate, contrived, and dishonest - but the myth - persistent, persuasive, and realistic” (John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917 – 1963).¹
Since mankind exists there had always been stories, legends and myths in every culture, which were orally transferred from generation to generation. Often it was not possible to retrace what was true and what was lied since facts where added, others were omitted or forgotten.
In the following paper I will analyse a myth that played an important role in the American history. It is about the legends of Sacagawea and Pocahontas, two Native Americans whom is still talked about today and who helped to ensure the survival of the American colonies and to discover and explore the west of the USA in the 17th and 19th century.
I will mainly refer to the dissertation “The Role of Pocahontas and Sacagawea in the Creation of New American Mythology” by Jill Peters and discuss some main ideas. On the basis of this paper I will expose fact and fiction concerning Sacagawea’s and Pocahontas’s life.
In order to get a better understanding of the topic my paper will at first be commenced by a definition about what myth means.
The second passage will contain an overview about Pocahontas’s life. Here the historical and mythical Pocahontas concerning her background as well as the devised facts shall be presented.
The film “Disney’s Pocahontas” shall be one example to show how Pocahontas is made mythical.
In the third paragraph I will do the same analysis with Sacagawea and give an overview of the different myths referring to her. I will use the film “The far Horizons” as one example for myth-making.

The final passage will deal contain a conclusion.

2. Definition Myth

There are many definitions of this term but no one is sufficient to give an exact explanation since there are so many kinds of stories to which the expression myth is applied. I chose the one from the Oxford English Dictionary.
The OED 2 explanations for this term which developed in the Mid-19th century and derives from the Greek word “muthos” meaning tale or story. ² Just the 2nd is relevant for my topic:

“Something that many people believe but that doesn’t exist or is false; e.g.:
- It is time to dispel the myth of a classless society (= to show that it does not exist)
- contrary to popular myth women are not worse drivers than men.”³

3. Pocahontas

3.1. The Historical Pocahontas Background

Pocahontas was born around 1595/96, (* 1617) as the daughter of the chief Powhatan (Wahunsonacock) of the Algonquin tribe Powhatan in the present-day Virginia. This tribe was a mighty federation of probably 9000 people consisting of different tribes like Chesapeake, Delawaren or Potomac. Their houses were made of, rushes, bark and poles and they grew crops, especially maize, fished and hunted. ⁴ Pocahontas was originally called Matoaka, but was nicknamed with Pocahontas which means “the playful one”. She is said to have been the favourite daughter of her father who still had 40 other children.⁵
In 1607 the first Virginia Company colonists including Captain John Smith arrived in Virginia and settled at Jamestown. That was probably the first time Pocahontas saw white men. In 1613 while visiting friends Pocahontas was captured by Captain Samuel Argall to get ransom from Powhatan. They arrived at Jamestown on April 13. But Powhatan who already had a new favourite daughter did not really go into the demands as fast as he could have. Pocahontas was in capture for several months and was taught in the English way of life and Christianity since the English wanted to show that their way of life was better than the Native’s one. Later she converted to Christianity. In 1614 she was baptized “Rebecca”, at the same time she married the twenty-eight-year-old widower John Rolfe. Through this marriage peace was brought between the Powhatans and the English since Powhatan was getting old and tired of fighting.

[...]

1 http://www1.bbiq.jp/quotations/myth.htm : 12.08.06
2 http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861632231/myth.html: 01.09. 2006
3 Oxford English Dictionary: ( taken from electronic translator SEIKO GR-T7000 Dictionary)
4 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powhatan: 01.09.2006
5 Encarta 2006, headword: Pocahontas