I think it also has a lot to do with the native american's in that movie not really being based on anything other than the idea of native americans

I think that movie marks the turning point in our culture where we started to confuse cartoons for reality. All Disney cartoons are caricatures of whatever culture their story emerged from, it's how cartoons are best presented. They are exaggerations of life, exaggerations of ideas. Pocahontas was about the idea of native americans, not an accurate historical drama, because it was for kids and families. Kids think in broad strokes of emotion, which is why cartoons work so well for them. Today we impose adult cynicism and complexity upon cartoons, which is why nearly every one of them, new or old, has become politicized.