While that impression can have positive aspects, it’s mostly skewed people’s perceptions. “She could leap from great heights and wore little clothes. “Disney created her as a being that’s not recognizable as human,” says Easley, who’s part of Oklahhoma’s Wyandotte Nation. It’s Easley’s job to make her much more dimensional than the Disney-fied version most people know. Honoring Matoaka’s trials and triumphs comes with a great deal of responsibility. It adds another layer of levity and harmony that exists with the tragic nature of the play.” It is believed that Pocahontas was born around 1595 to a Powhatan chief. However, this depiction is a far departure from the actual events that occurred, and from the real life of Pocahontas. Pocahontas started decorating her skin with tattoos. bravery Pocahontas showed when saving John Smith’s life, and the tragic ending when John Smith returned to England for medical treatment. She might also wear one-shouldered fringed deerskin dresses when encountering visitors. European settlers arrived at Jamestown On, European settlers arrived in Virginia to establish the Jamestown colony. She began to dress like a Powhatan woman, wearing a deerskin apron and a leather mantle in winter, since she was of high status. Here is the real story of Pocahontas, the famed Native American princess. We have a river sequence where we have a beautiful piece of blue fabric that comes out that echoes the Disney scene, but our scene is rooted in Matoaka’s land and its beauty. Pocahontas, who was about fourteen, had reached adulthood and marriageable age. “It’s a kinesthetic experience, connecting with the space and our bodies. “How I’ve been directing it is very rooted in indigenous storytelling,” says Moses, a member of Oklahoma’s Seminole and Mvskoke nations.

This production is an opportunity to lift some of that weight. Morrison, Moses and lead actress Maddie Easley grew up primarily around non-Native American people and felt the weight of being the first Native American person with whom people interact. Historians also suggests Pocahontas saw her one-time rumoured love Captain Smith while in England she’s said to have shunned and ignored him and wanted. She married British settler John Rolfe in 1614. It began with a traditional ceremony meant to create a shared experience. Despite the Disney-ified story, Pocahontas, whose real name was Matoaka, never loved nor showed any real affection for Captain John Smith. To tell this story, the cast and crew went through cultural sensitivity training. Tara Moses directs the Pocahontas production at Serenbe Playhouse.

The real pocahontas