A powerful new project created by a team of Indigenous creators presents an alternative audio track to a film made about Pocahontas, correcting the stereotypes and historical … read moreinaccuracies that perpetuate a romance between an “Indian Princess” and a dashing European explorer. Instead, “Missing Matoaka” tells the much darker true story about one of the first documented missing and murdered First Nations woman. The project was developed for Indigenous arts and culture publication MUSKRAT Magazine by BBDO Canada. The Indigenous team of creators includes Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee-Cree writers from Chippewas of the Thames and the Michel Band, Poundmaker Cree and Métis voice talent, with a member of Oneida Nation of the Thames overseeing creative development. The project brings to life the real story of Pocahontas (whose original name was Matoaka), doing away with the historical whitewashed storyline about a romance between the British explorer John Smith and a buxom young Indigenous woman. This false narrative was established 10 years after these events by John Smith himself, and the falsehood has been embellished and perpetuated ever since, especially in film. Over 10 films have been made about Pocahontas and all have participated in furthering the stereotype. This depiction continues to shape a false narrative about Indigenous women being more sexually available and “less worthy” than their non-Indigenous counterparts. This has manifested itself into some chilling real-world statistics, including the fact that Indigenous women are 12 times more likely to be murdered or go missing than any other demographic group, 16 times more likely to be slain or to disappear than white women, and the fact that four out of five Indigenous women will experience violence in their lifetime. In its place is an educational—and more accurate—story about the abduction, assault and murder of Indigenous girls and women. It is intended to set the record straight on several harmful misconceptions and stereotypes surrounding the story of Pocahontas/Matoaka.
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