I remember at a trivia night a few months ago, many people mixed up Pocahontas and Sacajawea.
There's a Simpsons episode that makes exactly this joke (with Lisa playing the part of Sacajawea, and Lenny and Carl playing the parts of Louis and Clark.
I know I'm a bad poet, but I'm a good man. All I ask is that... is that you try to see me—
William ,'Conversations with Dead People'
Natter 59: Dominate Your Face!
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
Sean K - Jun 25, 2008 6:45:23 pm PDT #4905 of 10003
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty
§ ita § - Jun 25, 2008 6:55:31 pm PDT #4906 of 10003
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
Yeah "the name Pocohontas is recognised almost all over the world" is a wee bit of overstatement.
Interestingly enough the native Americans in the doc had no trace of an accent that distinguished them from the white people, and while they looked different, they looked different differently than I was expecting, if that makes sense. I was surprised. I've never been sure what's responsibile for the appearance that there's one native American accent, and that it spreads into Canada too.
meara - Jun 25, 2008 7:01:24 pm PDT #4907 of 10003
Maybe you're used to more of the more populous tribes, ita? And/or the ones in the central/southcentral US? The ones on the East Coast aren't populous/seen a lot in popular culture, necessarily. (Not that I have any idea if those were the ones being shown, but I'm hazarding a guess, if it was about Pocahantas....)
Susan W. - Jun 25, 2008 7:42:40 pm PDT #4908 of 10003
Good Trouble and Righteous Fights
Huh. I knew the Pocahontas story, but that was mostly because I spent one summer reading every one of this series of kids biographies at the local library. (It was an odd series. Generally about 90% of the book was about the person's life as a kid, and then a few pages about what they did as adults. Also, every one was exactly 200 pages. If the text itself didn't get to 200, then there would be timelines or lists of places they lived or other stuff like that thrown onto the end to make it to 200.)
My library had these, too! For some reasons the ones about Robert E. Lee, Sitting Bull, and Tecumseh are the ones that stuck in my head, but I must've read at least a dozen of them.
Shir - Jun 25, 2008 7:42:43 pm PDT #4909 of 10003
"And that's why God Almighty gave us fire insurance and the public defender".
Hold on, sarameg. It's Thursday morning here already, and I wish I could trade time zones with you today.
Kathy A - Jun 25, 2008 7:50:48 pm PDT #4910 of 10003
We're very stretchy. - Connie Neil
(It was an odd series. Generally about 90% of the book was about the person's life as a kid, and then a few pages about what they did as adults. Also, every one was exactly 200 pages. If the text itself didn't get to 200, then there would be timelines or lists of places they lived or other stuff like that thrown onto the end to make it to 200.)
This sounds like the series at my grade 3-5 school that I zipped through back in the mid-70s. They even had a "biography" for Virginia Dare, in which they made up an entire life for her after the Lost Colony disappeared, complete with an explanation for "CROATAN" carved on the tree.
§ ita § - Jun 25, 2008 7:52:40 pm PDT #4911 of 10003
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
The ones on the East Coast aren't populous/seen a lot in popular culture, necessarily.
I had had no idea.
Hil R. - Jun 25, 2008 7:52:49 pm PDT #4912 of 10003
Sometimes I think I might just move up to Vermont, open a bookstore or a vegan restaurant. Adam Schlesinger, z''l
My library had these, too! For some reasons the ones about Robert E. Lee, Sitting Bull, and Tecumseh are the ones that stuck in my head, but I must've read at least a dozen of them.
The ones that I remember most are Helen Keller (because I was obsessed with her anyway), Herbert Hoover, and Mary Mapes Dodge. Also Abe Lincoln. I think I read all the ones that the library had, which was probably at least 40 or so.
Amy - Jun 25, 2008 7:53:39 pm PDT #4913 of 10003
Because books.
Are these the little orange cloth-bound books, with silhouettes as illustrations? I had my mom's (including a Virginia Dare one!) and loved them. I think she had Jane Addams, Dolley Madison, Mary Todd, and Clara Barton.
Shir - Jun 25, 2008 7:54:07 pm PDT #4914 of 10003
"And that's why God Almighty gave us fire insurance and the public defender".
Dear Universe,
Please make sure I'll get a ride to the show I'm about to see tonight with my friend. It will make everything better, and much more important, easier.
Sincerely,
She Who Doesn't Even Want To Start Looking At The Maps And Schedules Of The Buses And Taxi She'll Need To Get To The Venue And Back, And Would Love To Wear The New Crush Dress