A response to The Best (Only) Native Character:

A correspondent questioned the premise of this posting—that John Redcorn is the best (only) Native character on TV:

>> [T]here is also John Redcorn's son Joseph. I think he counts as a second Native American character. <<

Yes, well...Joseph is a spinoff of John Redcorn, he doesn't get that much screen time, and he's only part Native. He's worth a one-sentence mention, maybe.

One key factor is that Joseph doesn't think of himself as an Indian. He's half white and half Indian but, through ignorance, believes he's white. He doesn't know John Redcorn is his biological father.

If Joseph identified himself as white on a Census form, he arguably would be white. Because people of mixed blood can choose which race they identify with, and have done so throughout our history. Joseph clearly identifies with his surrogate father, the WASP-y Dale Gribble.

Given all these factors...no, I don't think Joseph deserves a mention. He's Indian by half-blood only, and that's not enough.

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