Pocahontas

For as long as she can remember, Kathy Morgan has heard about being a direct descendant of Pocahontas."My grandmother told us and always talked about it," she says. "[And] her grandmother told her." Another relative had a book on Pocahontas. "And my great-great-great-grandfather is in it," Mrs. Morgan says.Not surprisingly, the computer software engineer, wife and mother of two from Cockeysville is delighted by the interest in Pocahontas as Disney is bringing the tale of the Indian princess to the big screen.

JAMESTOWN, VA. My daughter, Isabelle, loves great stories -- especially the ones that are full of gloom. Her favorite movie scene is from Cinderella, when the main character's stepsisters rip apart her lovely pink dress just before the ball, followed closely by one from The Little Mermaid, when Ariel despairs after her father destroys all the knick-knacks the young mermaid collected from the forbidden human world.

You've seen the movie. You've read the book. And now you can catch Pocahontas on stage. Children's Playhouse of Maryland presents the musical at the Conference Center at Sheppard Pratt Health Systems Saturday through March 9. Parkton resident Nina Kauff- man portrays Pocahontas, the Native American princess who lived among the Algonquian tribe in the Tidewater region of Virginia in the early 17th century. Dan Patrylak of Parkville takes on the role of Captain John Smith, one of the Englishmen who landed in Jamestown and was befriended by Pocahontas.

THE NEW WORLD / / New Line Home Video / / / $27.98 In his remarkable The New World, writer-director Terrence Malick creates the best kind of latter-day "trip movie." He expands the heart and the mind through the eye. His vision of the founding of the Virginia colony at Jamestown in 1607 and the evolution of its savior, Pocahontas, from Indian princess to British tobacco-grower's wife, is both disorienting and revelatory, and, in the end, quite wonderful. Malick surrounds his players in a dense sensory environment, with the happy result that a viewer can experience a shift in history with the skin-prickling directness of a change of season.

THE NEW WORLD / / New Line Home Video / / / $27.98 In his remarkable The New World, writer-director Terrence Malick creates the best kind of latter-day "trip movie." He expands the heart and the mind through the eye. His vision of the founding of the Virginia colony at Jamestown in 1607 and the evolution of its savior, Pocahontas, from Indian princess to British tobacco-grower's wife, is both disorienting and revelatory, and, in the end, quite wonderful. Malick surrounds his players in a dense sensory environment, with the happy result that a viewer can experience a shift in history with the skin-prickling directness of a change of season.

As history, "Pocahontas" is bunk. As a dramatic animated feature, however, it's undeniably absorbing and engrossing.I leave the complete exegesis of its crimes against truth to the experts, real and phony. What matters for most of us is that the film is simply beautiful: moving, complex, brilliantly animated. As much as any Disney product of late, it seems to aim to go deeper than mere cartooning.It deals with such issues as colonialism, environmentalism, racism, despoliation, war and betrayal.

Virginia archaeologists digging on a York River farm say they have found tantalizing clues to buttress their belief that they've found the 17th-century stronghold of Powhatan, paramount chief of the Virginia Tidewater Indians, and home to his daughter Pocahontas. Hundreds of pottery shards, stone arrowheads and bits of copper found since the dig, which ends today, can be dated to the period around the arrival of English settlers at Jamestown in 1607, archaeologists said. More importantly, the dig has uncovered a 25-foot segment of a long, curving pair of parallel ditches - perhaps part of a defensive structure and a hint that this was Werowocomoco, Powhatan's headquarters, and not an ordinary Indian village.

The New World presents the founding of the Virginia colony at Jamestown in 1607 and the evolution of its savior, Pocahontas, from Indian princess to British tobacco-grower's wife, as a trip though a time tunnel. It's both disorienting and revelatory, and, in the end, quite wonderful. In his sometimes maddening and resolutely idiosyncratic manner, the writer-director, Terrence Malick, sensitizes viewers to rough-hewn textures, the living filigree of flora and fauna, and the different ways opposite communities of English and Indians take in everything from strangers to sunlight.

Before famed director Terrence Malick picked Q'Orianka Kilcher to play Pocahontas in his new movie, the young actress knew the American legend only as the raven-haired babe piloting her canoe through the Disney animated feature. Kilcher is, after all, only 15. Now, after shooting The New World with Colin Farrell (who plays colonial explorer and Pocahontas romancer John Smith), she says she feels a deep kinship with her character. "John Smith was an explorer of new worlds," Kilcher says.

Finally! After weeks of waiting, we have a movie to go with the mugs, books and backpacks, and a chance to answer the summer's biggest question. Is "Pocahontas" sexist?Of course it is. Life is sexist. For those keeping score, "Pocahontas" is less sexist than its recent Disney predecessors, and no more sexist than, say, "Romeo and Juliet," "Pride and Prejudice" or "The Bridges of Madison County," which it closely resembles (a man and a woman from different worlds fall in love, see the obstacles and, after a brief fling, nobly renounce each other)

The New World presents the founding of the Virginia colony at Jamestown in 1607 and the evolution of its savior, Pocahontas, from Indian princess to British tobacco-grower's wife, as a trip though a time tunnel. It's both disorienting and revelatory, and, in the end, quite wonderful. In his sometimes maddening and resolutely idiosyncratic manner, the writer-director, Terrence Malick, sensitizes viewers to rough-hewn textures, the living filigree of flora and fauna, and the different ways opposite communities of English and Indians take in everything from strangers to sunlight.

Before famed director Terrence Malick picked Q'Orianka Kilcher to play Pocahontas in his new movie, the young actress knew the American legend only as the raven-haired babe piloting her canoe through the Disney animated feature. Kilcher is, after all, only 15. Now, after shooting The New World with Colin Farrell (who plays colonial explorer and Pocahontas romancer John Smith), she says she feels a deep kinship with her character. "John Smith was an explorer of new worlds," Kilcher says.

Virginia archaeologists digging on a York River farm say they have found tantalizing clues to buttress their belief that they've found the 17th-century stronghold of Powhatan, paramount chief of the Virginia Tidewater Indians, and home to his daughter Pocahontas. Hundreds of pottery shards, stone arrowheads and bits of copper found since the dig, which ends today, can be dated to the period around the arrival of English settlers at Jamestown in 1607, archaeologists said. More importantly, the dig has uncovered a 25-foot segment of a long, curving pair of parallel ditches - perhaps part of a defensive structure and a hint that this was Werowocomoco, Powhatan's headquarters, and not an ordinary Indian village.

GLOUCESTER, Va. - Archaeologists digging on a farm above the York River believe they have found Werowocomoco, principal village of the Indian chieftain Powhatan, who controlled the Virginia Tidewater when the English established the Jamestown colony in 1607. It was at Werowocomoco that Powhatan's daughter, Pocahontas, purportedly intervened with her father to spare the life of Capt. John Smith, Jamestown's military leader. That story may be more myth than reality, historians say. But there is no doubt about the importance of Powhatan and Werowocomoco (pronounced weh-ro-wuh-KO-muh-ko)

You've seen the movie. You've read the book. And now you can catch Pocahontas on stage. Children's Playhouse of Maryland presents the musical at the Conference Center at Sheppard Pratt Health Systems Saturday through March 9. Parkton resident Nina Kauff- man portrays Pocahontas, the Native American princess who lived among the Algonquian tribe in the Tidewater region of Virginia in the early 17th century. Dan Patrylak of Parkville takes on the role of Captain John Smith, one of the Englishmen who landed in Jamestown and was befriended by Pocahontas.

It's that time of year again -- when skiers and other winter outdoor enthusiasts head to east-central West Virginia, where snow is almost a guarantee. In Pocahontas County, a combination of mountainous terrain and elevations over 4,000 feet provides ample snow for a variety of activities in beautiful natural surroundings. Cheat Mountain, home of Snowshoe Mountain Resort, enjoys a 180-inch average annual snowfall. Elsewhere in the county, you can hike, cross-country ski or snowshoe on West Virginia's longest rail-trail or snowmobile through a national forest.

For months I've been looking forward to the release of Walt Disney's animated musical ''Pocahontas.'' The idea of a heart-warming family musical based on the early history of English colonization in Virginia is nothing short of amazing. It is as though the Muppets or the Ice Capades were to do a version of ''Aguirre: The Wrath of God.''From 1607, when the Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery sailed up the James River, until 1646, the English colonists were in an almost constant state of war with the Algonquin federation called the Powhatans after the father of Pocahontas.

Baltimore Sept. 2-7: Affordable Meetings trade show. Convention Center, Howard and Pratt streets. Estimated attendance: 200. Contact: Ken Esthus, 202-789-0089 Sept. 8-15: Atlantic Cable Show convention. Convention Center, Howard and Pratt streets. Estimated attendance: 4,000. Contract: Yancy Dobson, 202-463-7905 Sept. 11-14 Pocahontas Foods USA trade show. Convention Center, Howard and Pratt streets. Estimated attendance: 600. Contact: Jo Edgerton, 804-364-5383

Baltimore Sept. 2-7: Affordable Meetings trade show. Convention Center, Howard and Pratt streets. Estimated attendance: 200. Contact: Ken Esthus, 202-789-0089 Sept. 8-15: Atlantic Cable Show convention. Convention Center, Howard and Pratt streets. Estimated attendance: 4,000. Contract: Yancy Dobson, 202-463-7905 Sept. 11-14 Pocahontas Foods USA trade show. Convention Center, Howard and Pratt streets. Estimated attendance: 600. Contact: Jo Edgerton, 804-364-5383

In Baltimore County Cellular phones sought for assault, violence hot line TOWSON -- The Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Hotline of Baltimore County is seeking donations of cellular telephones for victims of domestic violence. The phones, which will be used only in emergencies, will be programmed not to allow incoming or outgoing calls, except to 911. Information: crisis hot line at 410-828-6390. Medical center to sponsor heart-risk screening event TOWSON -- St. Joseph Medical Center will offer a free heart-risk screening from 8 a.m. to noon Feb. 12 as part of National Heart Month.