Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 18, 1995 TAG: 9506160025
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: F-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB DART COX NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: JAMESTOWN LENGTH: Long
``Apparently Pocahontas clothing is already out,'' said Karen Aneiro, an authentically costumed historic interpreter who personifies the popular perception of Pocahontas.
``A little girl with blue eyes and braided blond hair wearing a beaded headband, pink shorts and a Pocahontas T-shirt came running up to me the other day saying, `Pocahontas, I knew you'd be here.' Of course, I told her I'm not really Pocahontas.''
The historic interpreters tell it the way it really was here on the banks of the James River.
History draws the tourists to this Tidewater Virginia island where the British established their first permanent colony in 1607. Accuracy and authenticity are the foundations of the re-created Jamestown Settlement, Powhatan Indian village and replicas of the three sailing ships that brought Captain John Smith and 103 other adventurers to Virginia.
Located a mile or so from where archaeologists are digging for artifacts at the actual original settlement, the attractions include a museum and living exhibits of what life was like in the first English colony and neighboring native American community. The Jamestown Settlement is about a 15-minute drive from the historically recreated town of Colonial Williamsburg.
``We don't act out parts. Basically, we're just teachers,'' explained Aneiro, who is a graduate student at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg when she isn't wearing buckskins and educating visitors at the re-created Jamestown.
With the movie coming out, a new generation of tourists wants to know all about Pocahontas, she said. Pocahontas is part of the ongoing story of Jamestown, however, so no special events are planned in connection with the movie.
The romantic, Disneyfied epic of a brave and beautiful daughter of an Indian chief dramatically saving the handsome leader of the Jamestown settlement is considerably different than the version told by historians.
The 11-year-old Pocahontas would have been naked when she visited Jamestown, because Powhatan children rarely wore clothing at the time the English first settled Virginia, said Linda Elenhour, another historical interpreter.
And rather than being tall, blond and heroic as in the Disney movie, ``John Smith was short, dark, swarthy and not very well liked,'' she said.
Matokaka was the given name of the favorite daughter of Powhatan, leader of the Algonquian-speaking tribes of coastal Virginia. She was nicknamed ``Pocahontas'' or ``the playful one.'' The young Indian girl did befriend Smith, leader of the settlers, and visited Jamestown often with food and information - but she was a preteen at the time.
The dramatic account of how Pocahontas saved Smith from execution by her father in 1607 was provided by the captain himself in a book he wrote after returning to England several years later. However, his earlier writings did not mention her role, and some historians believe Smith might have added romance and suspense to boost his book sales.
In 1613, four years after Smith's permanent return to England, the settlers kidnapped Pocahontas and held her hostage in Jamestown. Living among the colonists, she converted to Christianity and took the name Rebecca. She married John Rolfe, a pioneer tobacco planter in Virginia. They had a son named Thomas.
In 1616, Pocahontas accompanied her husband on a trip to England. The only known authentic portrait of her was painted then. While waiting to return to Virginia the next year, she fell ill and died at about the age of 22.
The story of Pocahontas is told in an exhibit at the Jamestown Settlement museum. The Jamestown Settlement is adjacent to the original site of Jamestown, which is administered jointly by the National Park Service and the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities.
There, archaeologists believe - at long last - that they have found a portion of the original James Fort.
``We've found John Smith's Jamestown,'' said Bill Kelso, head archaeologist at the dig, which is sponsored by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities.
He marveled that more than 40,000 artifacts have been found thus far - including a helmet he said looks almost exactly like the ones in Disney's ``Pocahontas.''
Remarkably, Kelso said, the archaeologists found a raccoon skull and surmised that it must have been domesticated - then they discovered that the animated movie also features a pet raccoon.
In addition to the ongoing dig, visitors to the Jamestown Island Historical Park can see the foundations of later buildings in the expanded settlement and tour another museum. There are statues of Pocahontas and Smith and The Old Church Tower, built in 1639 and the only 17th Century structure still standing on the island.
Driving around the island also provides a glimpse at the natural environment that the first settlers encountered. Admission to the National Historical Park is $8 per car.
Disney's movie-makers visited Jamestown Island in planning their animated epic, said Debby Padgett, a spokeswoman for the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation. ``But we have nothing to do with developing the story line.''
The historic interpreters of the re-created Jamestown Settlement - who themselves blend entertainment with history - are excited about the interest in Pocahontas that the Disney studios have inspired. But they hope that moviegoers will view the feature for what it is and come to Jamestown for the facts.
``We're teaching history,'' said Elenhour. ``They're selling entertainment.''
by CNB