Actor Edward Norton learns Pocahontas is his 12th great-grandmother
Global News
In an episode of 'Finding Your Roots,' Edward Norton discovered he is related to Pocahontas, one of the most widely portrayed (and oft misrepresented) Indigenous women in history.
Hollywood actor and filmmaker Edward Norton always thought his connection to Pocahontas was nothing more than “family lore.”
In a new episode of the PBS show Finding Your Roots, an investigation into Norton’s genealogy discovered that Pocahontas, one of the most widely portrayed (and oft misrepresented) Indigenous women in history, is his 12th great-grandmother.
Although Americans commonly know her as Pocahontas, she is also known as Matoaka.
Norton, who stars in the new film Glass Onion, was visibly shocked when host Henry Louis Gates confirmed his family’s long-held claims.
“Oh my God,” Norton whispered while shaking his head. “How could you possibly determine that?”
Gates, who has hosted the show since its 2012 premiere, told Norton that a “paper trail” led genealogists to the discovery. He explained that existing documents showed that Pocahontas and John Rolfe were married April 5, 1614, in Jamestown, Va.
To put the impressive paper trail into perspective, Gates added that William Shakespeare died in 1616.
