I do really like Chakotay as a character. It’s too bad some asshole had to lie on their resume. We could have had actual native representation
Wait, Chakotay wasn’t legit?
Nope. A person assumed the false identity of a Cherokee named Jamake Highwater in the 60s, and got very famous under that name. He was exposed in the mid 80s, but it didn’t gain much traction so he was hired as a consultant in the 90s for Voyager
Not a lot of traction, indeed. He was outed as a fake 11 years before Voyager aired.
Wild
Wait wait wait, Chakotay was always obvious redface. I just thought it was because that’s what the suits wanted, a little hayawaya. Did they really think all that was grade A authentic indigenous?
It was as 1950’s “magical medicine man” as you can get. For the love of god, he was literally space-tonto.
Chacotay: my people believe in the seven fathers of the great rivers that made the milky way.
Ok fine “for the love of the seven fathers, he was literally space tonto!”
They hired a consultant that was well known in film and they trusted him, but it turned out he was always a fraud.
Oo chee bang bang.
