We’re living in a time when what most people know about Indians is incomplete or entirely false. Even “well known” events in Native American history like the story of Pocahontas are largely misunderstood.

The National Museum of the American Indian exists to fill in these gaps, stand up to longstanding stereotypes, and showcase the contributions Native cultures have made to American history and contemporary life.

Pocahontas was a real person, but her story has largely become fiction. And while she played an important role in our shared American story, the tales of her involvement with English settlers have long been shaped to serve more political purposes.

2017 marks the 400th anniversary of the death of a young Powhatan woman who—in the words of NMAI curator Cécile R. Ganteaume—“lived and died in the maelstrom of the British–Powhatan encounter in the early 17th century.”

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE REAL POCAHONTAS

Thank you for supporting the National Museum of the American Indian.

Sincerely,

Kevin Gover

Kevin Gover (Pawnee)
Director