What, someone's actually going to defend me?
First of all, I want to defend her against something I’ve seen said about her (it wasn’t in that article, I’m not sure where it was, but I know I’ve seen it) that is just blatantly unfair and untrue.
Nakoma is responsible for Kocoum’s death
Okay, Thomas is the only one directly responsible for Kocoum’s death. If you really want to get into it, you can go way past Nakoma. Nakoma told Kocoum about Pocahontas because she was worried for her. Nakoma was worried for her because Pocahontas didn’t explain to Nakoma about her relationship with John Smith. So you could say it was Pocahontas’s fault that Nakoma went to Kocoum in the first place. Also, Thomas probably wouldn’t have shot had he not been threatened by Ratcliffe. And even if he had, he probably wouldn’t have been able to get an accurate shot without the direction from John. And if you REALLY want to get into it, Kocoum’s death was King James’s fault for sending the Englishmen to the New World, which you could then blame on the Spanish explorers before them, which you could blame on Columbus for landing in America, which you could them blame on Queen Isabella for her mission to find a faster route to India. My point isn’t that Kocoum’s death is Isabella’s fault, but that you can play the blame game forever. Kocoum’s death was not the fault of a person, but of circumstance- again, a circumstance Nakoma had no part in creating.
Now, if you checked out that article, you would see that the number one complaint against Nakoma is that she’s a bad friend. Baloney. Nakoma is an incredible friend for these reasons:
1. She doesn’t stop being friends with Pocahontas after Pocahontas is betrothed to Kocoum
This one is really personal to me. My former “best friend” had a crush on my boyfriend, and slowly stopped talking to me. Not only did she do that, but she would message him for hours every night while she was still supposed to be my best friend. My boyfriend and I ended up breaking up, and when the two of them started dating, she decided everything was fine between us again. Nakoma doesn’t do that at all. She does the opposite of that. She protects Pocahontas when she thinks she is in trouble. She could have taken Pocahontas running off with John Smith as an opportunity to try to steal Kocoum away from Pocahontas, but she respects that he is betrothed to Pocahontas (whether Pocahontas likes it or not.) In fact, that could have given her even more motivation to try to get him away from her. But Nakoma is every bit the friend to Pocahontas she was before, even going to Kocoum to ask him to protect Pocahontas knowing he would be especially protective of her.
2. She only wants what’s best for Pocahontas
Nakoma was genuinely worried for Pocahontas’s safety. All she knew was The white men are bad and Pocahontas is going to meet a white man. That meant that she assumed Pocahontas was in danger. As I said before, Pocahontas never explained that John Smith wasn’t a bad person to her. Nakoma made her conclusions based on her knowledge, and her conclusion was the understandable one that Pocahontas was in danger with John Smith. That was why she went to Kocoum, she just wanted to protect Pocahontas. Also, she didn’t go to Kocoum at first- she tried reasoning with her at first, but then Pocahontas went out AGAIN and she went to Kocoum because she didn’t see any other option. She did whatever she had to do in order to protect Pocahontas. Which brings me to my next point.
3. She cares more about the safety of Pocahontas than her friendship with Pocahontas
It takes a true friend to put the safety of a friend over their friendship. Anyone who says that Nakoma is a bad friend for telling Kocoum about Pocahontas and Smith has obviously never been in the situation where they have had a friend who was doing something self-destructive. Anyone who has knows what a difficult struggle it is. Nakoma made the incredibly difficult decision to possibly put her friendship in jeopardy in order to protect Pocahontas. Nakoma cared about Pocahontas so much that she did what she had to do to protect her even if it meant Pocahontas might not want to be friends anymore. This is another situation I’ve been in, and while she still wanted to be friends, it was a very difficult situation. Nakoma shows great strength and selflessness in her decision to go to Kocoum, and shows that she is a great friend to Pocahontas.
That’s not all I love about Nakoma. There are lots of other reasons I love her:
She cares about her people
Nakoma was worried about her people. She didn’t only care about Pocahontas leaving with John Smith because she was worried about Pocahontas, but also because she was worried it would put her people in danger. This added another dimension to her decision to tell Kocoum about Pocahontas. Nakoma really cares about others.
She tries to correct her mistakes
Nakoma accepts responsibility for the death of Kocoum (even though it isn’t her fault,) John Smith being taken prisoner, and all of Pocahontas’s problems. Nakoma finds a way for Pocahontas to be able to speak to John, and sees that John isn’t a threat. She realizes that Pocahontas loves John and he shouldn’t be a prisoner. She help Pocahontas be able to speak to him one last time. It isn’t something huge, but Nakoma still tries to do something to make up for her (innocent) mistakes.
Her personality
I really like Nakoma’s personality. I loved her when I was little when Pocahontas jumped off the cliff and she would say “showoff.” I like the way she tries to be all mature and act grown up, but then Pocahontas spits the water in her face and she just lets go and has fun. I also like how she gets excited and cheers with everyone, she has a community spirit. I also like how unsure she seems to be. That’s really realistic and makes her struggle seem all the more real.
Basically, I love Nakoma because I relate to her in profound ways that make me love her. I love the stakes she has to deal with and the courage and strength with which she deals with them. I am able to both relate to her and at the same time admire her. Nakoma is one of my favorite Disney characters and I wish that she got the love she deserves.
*I didn’t mean to insult Pocahontas or anything, she’s my second favorite princess and I love her and Nakoma the same*
