Chakotay

Chakotay is a fictional character who appears in each of the seven seasons of the American science fiction television series '' Star Trek: Voyager''. Portrayed by Robert Beltran, he was First Officer aboard the Starfleet starship USS ''Voyager'', and later promoted to Captain in command of the ''USS Protostar'' in '' Star Trek: Prodigy''. The character was suggested at an early stage of the development of the series. He is the first Native American main character in the ''Star Trek'' franchise. This was a deliberate move by the producers of the series, who sought to provide an inspiration as with Uhura in ''Star Trek: The Original Series'' for African Americans. To develop the character, the producers sought the assistance of Jamake Highwater who falsely claimed to be Native American. Despite first being named as a Sioux, and later a Hopi, Chakotay was given no tribal affiliation at the start of the series, something that was later resolved in the episode "Tattoo".

The character first appeared in the pilot episode of the series, "Caretaker". The character continued to appear throughout the series in a main cast role, with his final appearance in the finale, "Endgame". He was featured in an ongoing storyline throughout the first and second seasons which featured the betrayal of his lover Seska (Martha Hackett) until her death in "Basics". Following his experience with disconnected Borg in "Unity", Chakotay was against an alliance with the Borg in "Scorpion", nearly leading to the death of Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan). Despite this, by the end of the series, the two characters were in a romantic relationship. In the ''Voyager'' relaunch novels set after the vessel's return to the Alpha Quadrant, Chakotay is promoted to Captain of the ship but the relationship with Seven is ended.

Reviewers of Chakotay were critical of the stereotypical nature of Chakotay's Native American heritage. This led to comparisons with Tonto from ''The Lone Ranger'', and that the inclusion of "Hollywood" versions of vision quests and meditation techniques were contrary to the character's in-universe tribal background. However, he was praised as a role model for Native American science fiction and called "ground-breaking", as well as the most prominent example of a Native American character within this genre.

Concept and development

The inclusion of a Native American character in ''Star Trek: Voyager'' was suggested at an early stage in the development of the series. The producers were looking for an ethnic background which had not been seen before as a main character in the franchise. It was hoped that a Native American character would prove to be an inspiration in the same way that the appearance of Uhura in ''Star Trek: The Original Series'' later inspired Whoopi Goldberg and other African Americans. Poe (1998): p. 174 Executive producer Jeri Taylor said, "It seemed to us that Native Americans needed that same kind of role model and that same kind of boost ... the future looks good, you have purpose, you have worth, you have value, you will be leaders, you will be powerful. That was one character choice we had early on." Taylor's notes from the early production in July 1993 describe the character as "First Officer – a human native American male, a 'Queequeg' person who has renounced Earth and lives as an expatriate on another planet. A mystical, mysterious man with whom the Captain has some prior connection, not explained." Poe (1998): p. 176 A month later, this description was expanded with the line, "This man has made another choice – to re-enter the world of Starfleet." Poe (1998): p. 189 Chakotay was not the first Native American character to appear in the franchise, with "The Paradise Syndrome" in the third season of ''Star Trek: The Original Series'' showing a group of displaced humans following a Native American–like culture.

The producers aimed to develop some conflict between the members of the crew to produce a scenario similar to the Bajoran / Starfleet relationship seen in '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'', but wanted the characters to share the same ideals. To do this, the Maquis were created – a group of Federation colonists from the Cardassian border in a disputed territory who were joined by some Starfleet officers who joined them to fight for their rights. Poe (1998): p. 201 The producers had the Maquis introduced in other ''Star Trek'' series before ''Voyager'' in four episodes; two in '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' and two in ''Deep Space Nine''. It was a deliberate reference to the political situation in the West Bank. Poe (1998): p. 200

In developing Chakotay, the producers sought the assistance of Jamake Highwater, Poe (1998): p. 199 a writer of more than 25 books of both fiction and nonfiction related to Native American myths and traditions. Highwater was a controversial choice of advisor, having been exposed by Hank Adams and Vine Deloria, Jr. as taking a fake Native American ancestry to sell books. Vizenor (1994): p. 181 Around September 21, 1993, Highwater gave seven pages of notes to producers regarding Chakotay's backstory, but his tribal ancestry was unresolved. Poe (1998): p. 206 By the end of that month, Michael Piller drafted the first version of the writer's bible for the series in which the character was named "Chakotoy". Poe (1998): p. 208 By the time Piller wrote the first draft of the story that eventually became the ''Voyager'' pilot "Caretaker", the character was known as "Chakotay" and been made a Sioux. By the third draft of the story, submitted at the start of November, he had become a Hopi, but by the following February, he once again had no tribal affiliation. Poe (1998): p. 221

Winrich Kolbe

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