I am a huge fan of ancestry, genealogy, and DNA studies. I’ve spent the past five years researching my family tree, and I am simply fascinated at all the genealogical research info I have discovered and stumbled upon. As I continue to research the tree, I am no longer the little kid who sees the gifts under the Christmas tree for the first time (to use an analogy of bright-eyed excitement), but I am still in love with my family tree. Still. Time has only grown that love; it has not erased or depleted it.

But with that said, the longer I work on my family tree, building my labor of love, I am shocked at some of the reactions and responses from others who also share a similar love and interest. In one recent case, I was told by a cousin that some genealogical groups or gatherings actually believe that Edward Norton is the official modern-day representative of Native American connection. They say that, if you are not related to Edward Norton, you are not related to Pocahontas, the real, living, breathing, Native American woman who European John Rolfe married.

To them, Edward Norton is the official standard on the Pocahontas connection; without Edward Norton, they say, you might as well hang up your chances of ever being able to document or officially prove your Native American ancestry.

Fortunately for them, that just isn’t true.

who is edward norton?

All of this discussion first begs the question, “Who is Edward Norton?” So many have no clue of who he is, so the discussion of Edward Norton as an official Pocahontas connection has some confused. First off, before going into a discussion of Edward Norton and Pocahontas, it’s important to provide some information on Edward Norton and who he is.

Edward Norton is a famous actor. Some of you may have watched more starring the actor than I have, but he played in movies such as The Incredible Hulk, Birdman, and The Grand Budapest Hotel, Moonrise Kingdom, and Pride and Glory. What reading I’ve done says that he grew up in a rather wealthy family and graduated from Yale University. He pulled himself up by the bootstraps in his acting career, and has won some awards for acting. Maybe you know Edward Norton in a more familiar way; you’ve watched movies of his and are familiar with his work. I know more about some celebrities he’s related to than I know about him. That is to take nothing away from his work; it’s just to state the truth about my lack of familiarity with him.

In any case, Edward Norton is a documented, direct descendant of Pocahontas, a 12th-great grandson of the woman who has become the subject of a famous animated movie production with her name as the title. Yes, I’m talking about the real living and breathing Pocahontas, with the name Matoaka who became Rebecca Rolfe after she married John Rolfe. I’m talking about the daughter of the Nansemond Indian Chief Powhatan, whose brother, Robin Tucker took over as chief after their father died. Yes, THAT Pocahontas is the center of this discussion.

Edward Norton is directly related to the Native American with whom Hollywood has been so fascinated. And so, he’s likely to be a topic of many discussions because his ancestry is documented. His family tree is documented so well that he can prove he came from Pocahontas. He has documented Native American ancestry. He may not have a lot of recent Native ancestry, but it doesn’t get much larger in life than being a direct descendant of a Native American princess who is still a huge historical topic to this day.

Edward Norton’s relation to Pocahontas is indisputable. Well, there are those who can dispute it but how will they dispute it when the documentation lends one to the conclusion (that is, Edward Norton is a direct descendant of Pocahontas)? The issue comes in, however, when one says that Edward Norton is the only official Pocahontas connection we have in the current day and time.

To assume that, however, is to assume that 1) Edward Norton is the only one who has documented ties to Pocahontas and 2) that there are no other living descendants. Surely both of these claims are problematic.

Not the only one: edward norton is not the only pocahontas descendant alive today

This may come as a surprise, but so be it: Edward Norton is not the only Pocahontas descendant alive today. There are others.

And Edward Norton isn’t the only Pocahontas descendant to have ever lived.

For example, Edith Wilson, wife of former President Woodrow Wilson, is also related to Pocahontas: she is a 7th-great granddaughter of hers. Polar Explorer Richard Bird and former Virginia Governor Harry Byrd are 9th-great grandsons of Pocahontas. You can Google this information and find it; it’s not that hard to find. Don’t take my word for it: research it yourself if you don’t believe me.

These are but 4 Pocahontas descendants who have lived. Do you really think these are the only four documented in history? Their family connections to Pocahontas are documented and published, but there are others whose ancestries may not be published.

What some may not know is that I share kinship with Edward Norton through at least two ancestors. I am not a direct descendant of Pocahontas like Norton is (she is his grandmother; she is not a grandmother of mine), but Pocahontas is related to me and I am related to her. Through DNA and documented history, I am directly related to her brother and a daughter of his. Pocahontas was not the only one in her family to marry European; other relatives did as well, and I am related through those relatives. In fact, cousins have come up through DNA that date back to that European family (that married into Pocahontas’s family), and my own documented family tree dates me back to a European-Native marriage in the same family.

I could give more details, but I don’t need to. The reason? I’m not trying to square shoulders with Edward Norton. I don’t care to be a celebrity, have never coveted the position or title or fame. I know what I know, and that is good enough for me. At the same time, however, I wanted to note here that I am an example of someone who is related to Pocahontas. And I am not alone; there are so many others that writing a volume or two to list the relatives wouldn’t be enough to detail or list them all.

The point of it all is this: don’t just assume that Edward Norton, Edith Wilson, or even the Byrd brothers (all of whom I’m related to, by the way) are the only documented, biological descendants of Pocahontas. They are not. They may be the only published lines to Pocahontas, but they are not the only ones in existence. Others may be hidden, but Pocahontas has more living relatives than you would believe. And Edward Norton is but one of those descendants.

Edward Norton, if you wanna meet your cousins and fellow Pocahontas descendants, know that they are out there.

norton relations can still be unrelated to pocahontas

There is the possibility of being doubly or even triply related to Edward Norton. However, even if someone is related to Norton, they may still be unrelated to Pocahontas. The reason? They may not be related to every person in the family line from Edward Norton back to Pocahontas. In order to prove direct kinship to Pocahontas through Norton, one would have to be related to every parent, grandparent, and great-grandparent all the way back to Pocahontas herself.

This means that you can be related to Edward Norton but go back to a relative in Norton’s tree that isn’t related to Pocahontas. If you count back from Norton’s parents all the way back to his 12th Great-Grandparents, you will see that Norton has, at most, 2 + 4 + 8 + 16 + 32 + 64 + 128 + 256 + 512 + 1024 + 2048 + 4096 = 8,190 relatives that go back to the same generation as Pocahontas (assuming that there are no overlaps of any kind). That means that you can be related to some of those 8000+ ancestors and still not be related to Pocahontas. Edward Norton is related to Pocahontas through his father (also named Edward Norton), but you could be related through his mother and her parents (who are not related to Pocahontas).

In such a situation, you could claim kinship to Norton but still could not claim a relationship to Pocahontas. But the same can be said for any historically famous individual. Relationship to one does not guarantee relationship to another.

what we can say for sure

When it comes to ancestry and genealogy, let’s say this: if you are related to Pocahontas, then you are related to Edward Norton (he is a direct Pocahontas descendant); however, you can be related to Edward Norton and still not be a Pocahontas descendant.

With that said, I think it is a bit too much to give these genealogical absolutes to help people determine their Pocahontas ancestry. At the end of the day, someone may know next to nothing about Edward Norton but still find they are related to Pocahontas. I am related in at least two ways to Edward Norton, through two ancestors. Long before I knew I was related to him, I had already gotten DNA evidence and a family tree that intersects with his. He and I are related through Pocahontas, but not in the same exact way — and not through the same exact ancestor. She is his grandmother; she is my great-aunt.

The best way to investigate one’s family tree is to start with the relatives one knows and work his or her way back. We should encourage everyone to find out more about their family. I understand that discovering famous relatives is an exciting thing to do (it’s still exciting for me), but the goal is to find your roots, your family, your tribe.

Even if that tribe doesn’t lead to Pocahontas.