Photo from Jerry Bruckheimer on Twitter

"Do you think Wes Studi would make a good Tonto? He made a good Apache. Hell, as Magua he made a good Huron/Mohawk, I never was clear what tribe he was supposed to be from, but he sure was bad ass and ugly. Even while he and Russell Means were busy killing other Indians he charged our imaginations about ourselves. Was that the right message? Not one peep from the Indian movie image police. Indianicide? Indianicide wants me, lord I can’t go back there. Well, anyway.

I read a blog earlier and the owner of the blog said she was pissed that Johnny Depp is playing Tonto because she did not believe he was Indian enough for that particular role, what ever the heck that means. The blogger guesses that Tonto was/is Apache and the whole Apache nation should have been consulted about the role, who should play it and what that actor should wear so as to project the right “image” in a politically correct way so as not to make restless the, er, ah, well, Natives. The blogger basically expressed, I am Native and I am restless over this affront to our good nature and reputation."

Get the Story:
Ray Cook: Tontomania—Who Are We’z Anyways? (Indian Country Today 3/15)

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Column: Johnny Depp, 'vague' Indian, plays Tonto on screen (3/8)