Hollywood star Edward Norton just found out that Pocahontas was his great-grandmother
Edward Norton, an actor and director in Hollywood, has consistently dismissed rumours that he is related to Pocahontas as “family lore.”
An examination of Norton’s family tree revealed that Pocahontas, one of the most famous Indigenous women in history, is his 12th great-grandmother in a new episode of the PBS show Finding Your Roots.
Pocahontas is more well-known in the United States, although she is also called Matoaka.
In the new film Glass Onion, Norton plays a character who is visibly taken aback when his family’s long-held claims are confirmed by host Henry Louis Gates.
Norton shook his head and mumbled, “Oh my God.” As example, “How could you possibly determine that?”
Show host since its inception in 2012, Gates explained to Norton how the discovery was made through a “paper trail” followed by genealogists. Pocahontas and John Rolfe were married on April 5, 1614, in Jamestown, Virginia, he said, citing historical records.
Gates chimed in with the fact that Shakespeare had passed away in 1616 in order to put the spectacular paper trail into perspective.
There is “no doubt,” according to Gates, that Norton is related to Pocahontas.
This, Gates claimed, “This is about as far back as you can go,”
“It makes you realise what a small piece of the whole human story you are,” Norton said.
In or around 1596, Pocahontas was born. She was Wahunsenaca’s (Chief Powhatan’s) daughter. Wahunsenaca was the mamanatowick (top chief) of the Powhatan Chiefdom. According to the United States National Park Service, the Powhatan Chiefdom was home to some 25,000 indigenous people from 30 different Algonquian-speaking tribes.
Capt. John Smith, according to his diaries, claims that she lay her head on top of his to prevent his death. However, historians disagree on whether or not this really took place.
Later, Pocahontas was kidnapped and brought to an English village, where she eventually met Rolfe. She made the decision to change her religion and was subsequently baptised. Pocahontas and Rolfe went to England shortly after their wedding. Her body was discovered in Gravesend, England. A son named Thomas Rolfe was born to them.