Pocahontas and Sacagawea - The Creation of a Myth

The Creation of a Myth

Studienarbeit aus dem Jahr 2006 im Fachbereich Amerikanistik - Kultur und Landeskunde, Note: 2,3, Universität Rostock (Anglistik/Amerikanistik), Veranstaltung: Proseminar, 20 Quellen im Literaturverzeichnis, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: '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.