16 Facts About the Real Pocahontas

16 Facts About the Real Pocahontas

Shannon Quinn - September 28, 2018

16 Facts About the Real Pocahontas
Children would run around naked (left) and were cared for by their mothers in the village (right). Credit: Powhatan Museum

15. No One Knows Who Her Mother Actually Is

There is no written record of Pocahontas’ mother, except to say that they both had the same energetic, playful personality and nickname. According to custom, The Chief Powhatan would sleep with many wives. When one wife became pregnant, she would go back to live in one of the 30 tribes where she came from and give birth to the chief’s child. After giving birth, she was expected to breastfeed the baby. Once the child was weaned, they were brought back to the Chief Powhatan to live together with their half-siblings. After doing her duty, she was allowed to marry another man, have a relationship, and raise more children without being expected to go back to the Chief Powhatan.

However, since Pocahontas’ mother is never described, many historians believe that she may have died in childbirth. Or, she may have still been alive, and just chose not to visit the daughter that she gave away.

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