Powhatan - Powhatan and Film

Powhatan and Film

The Powhatan people are featured in the Disney animated film Pocahontas (1995). They also appeared in the straight-to-video sequel Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World (1998). Some of the current members of Powhatan-descended tribes complained about the Disney film. Chief Roy Crazy Horse of the Powhatan Renape Nation said the Disney movie "distorts history beyond recognition."

An attempt at a more historically accurate representation was the drama The New World (2005), directed by Terence Malick, which had actors speaking a reconstructed Powhatan language devised by the linguist Blair Rudes. The Powhatan peoples generally criticize the film for continuing the myth of a romance between Pocahontas and John Smith. Her English husband was John Rolfe, whom she married in 1614.