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We all love hearing stories from our ancestors. In recent years many of us have even tried DNA kits to learn more about our past; however, not most of us have discovered that we are related to a legendary figure. That happened to actor Edward Norton, a direct descendant of Native American heroine Pocahontas.
During an appearance on the PBS’ Finding Your Roots — a show about ancestral histories of celebrity guests — Norton, who thought it was just a family rumor, learned that, in fact, he has Powhatan blood. “Pocahontas is indeed your 12th great grandma,” historian Henry Louis Gates Jr. told him.
Mr. Gates traced Norton’s ancestry and discovered his 12th great-grandparents were John Rolfe and Pocahontas. “You have a direct paper trail,” Mr. Gates said. “No doubt about it.”
According to the expert, John, who was not Native American but a colonist, and Pocahontas were married on 5 April, 1614 in Jamestown, Virginia. A few years later, in March 1617, Pocahontas died in Gravesend, England. John Rolfe then died around March 1622.
To Norton’s surprise, his connection to Pocahontas wasn’t the only thing he would learn about his past. Mr. Gates left him speechless after revealing that his ancestors enslaved people.
According to the historian, Norton’s third great-grandfather held “seven human beings in bondage,” including a middle-aged man, a 37-year-old woman, and five girls between 4 to 10 years of age.
“What’s it like to see that?” Mr. Gates asked, to which Norton replied, “The short answer is these things are uncomfortable. Everybody should be uncomfortable with it.”
“It’s a judgment on the history of this country and it needs to be contended with,” he added. “When you read ‘Slave, age 8’, you just want to die.”