Jay Silverheels was a Canadian Mohawk actor known for playing Tonto, the Lone Ranger’s Indian sidekick on the television series The Lone Ranger, which first aired in 1949. Silverheels is one of two Indian actors to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. King describes how the character of Tonto reflected North America’s idealized vision of the “trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly” Indian—a far cry from the violent “savages” of many Western films of the time.
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Jay Silverheels Character Timeline in The Inconvenient Indian
The timeline below shows where the character Jay Silverheels appears in The Inconvenient Indian. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2. The End of the Trail
...star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The other Indian actor with a star is Jay Silverheels , a Canadian Mohawk, who apparently did look “Indian enough” and played Indians. His most...
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