New Tonto, familiar feelings for Native Americans

The making of a new "Lone Ranger" Disney movie and the announcement that Johnny Depp is playing sidekick Tonto have reawakened feelings about a character that has drawn much criticism over the years as being a Hollywood creation guilty of spreading stereotypes.

The film is still in production, but Native American groups have been abuzz about it for months, with many sharing opinions online and in a national Native publication running an occasional series on the topic.

"I think we'd all prefer that there would have been an Indian person as Tonto," said Tom Shortbull, president of Oglala Lakota College. "It's always disappointing when movies come out and there aren't Indian actors in the role of Indians."

The casting choice partly revolves around the desire to cast big-name stars, said Marilyn Pourier, who works at Oglala Lakota College and has a son working in the film industry.

"People in the film industry look at selling a movie and making money off it and the top actors to do the job," Pourier said. "It doesn't give the Native Americans a chance to see what they can do and maybe attract a big crowd, too."

Depp told Entertainment Weekly in April that he disliked the subservient role Tonto played in the original Lone Ranger TV series and he agreed to play the character so he could question cinematic stereotypes of Native Americans.

Some Native Americans welcome the new movie, slated for release next summer. Parts were filmed on the Navajo Nation with the tribe's support, and an Oklahoma tribe recently made Depp an honorary member.

In New Mexico, where some of the movie was filmed, the Navajo nation presented Depp, his co-star Armie Hammer, who plays the Lone Ranger, and others with Pendleton blankets to welcome them to their land.

Native American actor and activist Russell Means said the choice to cast Depp means the role will be more nuanced than it could have been.

"Johnny Depp doesn't agree to cheap roles," said Means, who has a Porcupine r! esidence on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. "Had he not taken the role and they chose some other minor actor, it probably would have reverted to a stereotypical role."

But for others, the "Lone Ranger" represents a lingering sore spot one that goes back to the 1950s television version of Tonto, who spoke in broken English, wore buckskin and lacked any real cultural traits.

Shortbull said he watched the Lone Ranger show growing up and did not question Tonto's character until he was older.

"We weren't socially conscious as young Indian people growing up," he said. "As you grow older, you realize it wasn't right, it was putting Indian people in demeaning roles."

In April, producer Jerry Bruckheimer tweeted a picture of Depp in his Tonto costume. His black-and-white face had an intense gaze, and a black bird was attached to his head with plenty of decorative feathers.

Disney representatives declined to comment, but Depp has said the film will be a "sort of rock 'n' roll version of the Lone Ranger" with his Tonto offering a different take from the 1950s television show.

Cheyenne and Arapaho filmmaker Chris Eyre is willing to give the actor a chance.

"Based on Johnny Depp as an artist, and him going all the way and making this film happen, in my book (he) deserves some credit," Eyre told Indian Country Today for its occasional "Tonto Files" series. "He wants to change the view of Tonto, and he put his reputation and his career on the line."

The "Lone Ranger" began on the radio in the 1930s. Tonto was played by an actor of Irish descent, according to the Lone Ranger Fan Club.

The show rocketed in popularity and made a seamless transition to television, running on ABC from 1949 to 1957. In 2003, a TV reboot flopped. That version featured a First Peoples actor from Canada playing Tonto.

But the 1950s portrayal of Tonto by Jay Silverheels, a Canadian Mohawk First Nations member, is by far the most recognized.

He was the loyal partner of the crime-fighti! ng range r, often bailing out the masked avenger from treacherous situations.

"Here hat. Me wash in stream. Dry in sun. Make whiter," Tonto says in an early episode setting up his relationship with the Lone Ranger. "Here gun to kill bad men."

That Tonto portrayal has been criticized as being generic and subordinate a character with no individuality and no life beyond helping the Lone Ranger.

Reportedly costing more than $200 million, plus yet-to-be-added marketing costs, Disney's "Lone Ranger" is the type of film that can make or break a studio's summer. It has already been plagued with budget woes. The movie's release date in 2013 was recently pushed back a month.

Having Depp in the cast assures more eyeballs will be on the screen. Depp led the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise and anchored "Alice in Wonderland." Three of those movies surpassed the rare billion-dollar mark at the worldwide box office.