The Indian Princess

The female "good Indian" was the opposite of the squaw in the settler's beliefs.  Beautiful, pure, kind - just like Pocahontas who aided the whites in their campaign to overwhelm the Native Americans and take their land.

Usually the daughter of the chief, her character was seen as the embodiment of national pride and people uniquely American.  Pocahontas adopted white styles of clothing and a white name, of course, and early pictures of her depicted a white woman with a ruff around her neck and a fan in her gloved hand.

White women settlers hoped to encounter an Indian princess who would come to the aid of their own families.  What confusion this must have caused in view of the common stereotype of the Native American.  Indian Princesses took on the legend of a Cinderella or a Superwoman who would rise out of the native tribes to save the white man...Is it any wonder the misunderstandings and misconceptions that followed the pioneer women westward?

Next time...Indians on the Trail