Planet Jersey Shore is out there, somewhere. 
Why not make Chakotay hispanic
- Thread starter Trekboy1993
- Start date
Even today they don't, especially in the US. Very few of the US born Latinos I know have Spanish first names.
Fair enough. I, also, know US-born Latinos who don't have Spanish first names. But the names were really only one example of what seemed to me like missed opportunities where Torres's human heritage was concerned. As she was someone who seemed to prefer her human side to her Klingon side, I would have expected her to explore more of that cultural background.
Though, given what a Hollywood mish-mash the show made of Chakotay's Native American heritage, probably just as well they didn't look at B'Elanna's Latino side....
There are some Native Star Trek fans who are understandably less than impressed with how Chakotay's character was handled.
I guess. I'm about maybe one twelfth Maori, and the use of the tattoo I don't find offensive but I tend to view life with a sense of being a mongrel. Time passes and cultures merge and traditions though keeping their essence, change a bit too
Their issue isn't that Chakotay is Native. It's that he's a Heinz-57 Native - a bit of this, a bit of that, and totally made-up "cultural traditions."
I know it could be claimed that his traditions date from a time forward of the 20th century, but that's not the in-universe claim. If they were going to make him Native American, they should have chosen a specific tribe, done their research, added whatever futuristic embellishments to account for the fact that time and technology does tend to change some traditions, and go from there.
There's tremendous differences among the native Americans, and I don't blame them for being annoyed when Star Trek apparently decided that they're all the same, so what difference did it make.
There are some fanfic authors who decided to address this issue, and are writing both Chakotay and B'Elanna as being in touch with their Hispanic roots, sometimes speaking Spanish during off-duty hours. They also have Seven speaking Swedish (since her family comes from Sweden). Of course Seven has no problem following Spanish - at some point the Borg assimilated people who spoke Spanish.
I know it could be claimed that his traditions date from a time forward of the 20th century, but that's not the in-universe claim. If they were going to make him Native American, they should have chosen a specific tribe, done their research, added whatever futuristic embellishments to account for the fact that time and technology does tend to change some traditions, and go from there.
There's tremendous differences among the native Americans, and I don't blame them for being annoyed when Star Trek apparently decided that they're all the same, so what difference did it make.
There are some fanfic authors who decided to address this issue, and are writing both Chakotay and B'Elanna as being in touch with their Hispanic roots, sometimes speaking Spanish during off-duty hours. They also have Seven speaking Swedish (since her family comes from Sweden). Of course Seven has no problem following Spanish - at some point the Borg assimilated people who spoke Spanish.
Mixed ethnic backgrounds. For example: my wife has Italian, French, Irish and Mexican ancestry.
"Heinz 57" can refer either to a type of barbecue sauce or to someone or something that is a mix of many different traits or heritages. For instance, a dog with a mixed heritage (more than two different breeds in its ancestry) is usually referred to as a mongrel, but can also be considered a "Heinz-57".
So in this situation, Chakotay's cultural background is a Heinz-57 mixture of numerous North American tribes, from Navajo to Mayan, to various South American native beliefs, plus anything else the writers tossed in.
They should have picked one and stuck to it.
It's a wild world.
I don't understand the angst. Chakotay was non-specific mongrel.
Chakotay might have been. But that doesn't mean that fans from the real tribes aren't miffed at the spectacular lack of research that went into building this character's backstory and showing various "traditions."
Imagine if they'd shown Uhura as a mishmash of various African tribes and cultures... they didn't do that. Her backstory was that she's Bantu and her first language is Swahili.
Why couldn't Chakotay have been treated respectfully in this respect, as well?
Imagine if they'd shown Uhura as a mishmash of various African tribes and cultures... they didn't do that. Her backstory was that she's Bantu and her first language is Swahili.
Why couldn't Chakotay have been treated respectfully in this respect, as well?
Why should fans feel like they own the character? Not every character is of pure blood or should be.
Angst?
They hired a fake Native to show them what it is to be native.
Tragedy + time = Comedy.
Well you define 'native' then.
Armenia.
Star Trek Voyager's cultural advisor on native American concerns, was a native of Armenia, but claimed to be Cherokee, and pulled all of his Native American advice out of his Armenian ass.
Star Trek Voyager's cultural advisor on native American concerns, was a native of Armenia, but claimed to be Cherokee, and pulled all of his Native American advice out of his Armenian ass.
Okay, this might be a misunderstanding of how many different North American native groups exist(ed). The character of Chakotay is what you get when you take elements of native groups from all over North America, some from South America, throw them in a stew pot and call the result "Chakotay's people" as though ALL native groups have those traditions and customs and legends.
They're not all the same. I don't blame the native fans who roll their eyes at this fake Hollywood mess of a character who is based on a mix of stuff that might as well have been thrown at a dartboard, for all the thought that was put into it.
Who said Chakotay was Cherokee or Armenian for that matter? Honestly it is not good that they had an advisor who misrepresented himself but he did not create the character. I don't know how informed or not his advice was. However Chakotay was not necessarily an example of a tribe that can be specifically identified anyway. In reading about his tattoo his heritage is vague.Armenia.
Star Trek Voyager's cultural advisor on native American concerns, was a native of Armenia, but claimed to be Cherokee, and pulled all of his Native American advice out of his Armenian ass.
"Chakotay explains that he wears the tattoo to honour his father, who wore it to honour his ancestors. (His father died defending his home which was along the Federation/Cardassian border.) The alien leader explains that they knew those ancestors whom the aliens called "the Inheritors" when they visited Earth some 45,000 years earlier and gave them a gift of knowledge after being impressed by their respect for the land. It is this deep race memory which had earlier prompted Chakotay to have a brief mental image of one of his ancestors.
Do you think Irish and Irish Americans feel disrespected by Janeway's memories and background references?
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