Kemo Sabe Tonto as a developing construction of the Indian character type. Nicholas William Moll Bachelor of Arts – Professional Writing & Editing (Honours) Submitted in total for the degree of Doctorate of Philosophy Faculty of Education and Arts Federation University Australia PO Box 664 University Drive, Mount Helen Ballarat, Victoria 3353 Australia Submitted in the month of December, 2014 Statement of Authorship ii Summary At the opening of each episode of The Lone Ranger radio series, audiences are invited to “return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear”. From 1933 through to 2013 productions of The Lone Ranger media franchise have continued to extend this invitation. The evocation of the past through The Lone Ranger franchise includes Tonto: the masked man’s Indian1 sidekick. Tonto has remained an element of the franchise since the inception of The Lone Ranger and the development of Tonto presents an intriguing map of changing Indian characterization across the twentieth-century. This study argues that Tonto has developed as the masked man’s foil to incorporate colonial violence and Anglo-American culpability into The Lone Ranger narratives. In doing so, this thesis notes that Tonto’s assimilation within narratives of The Lone Ranger can be read like a parable, presenting a model of appropriate social responses for the interrelation of races through the masked man and Tonto’s partnership. The structure and style of Tonto’s assimilation develops gradually in the franchise over the course of the twentieth-century. Initially Tonto’s assimilation suggested a Romanticized future for the Indian following colonization. However, later productions of The Lone Ranger juxtapose assimilation with extermination. In analysing the development of Tonto, this thesis examines six features of the character. The first three are foundation concepts consisting of the idea of the Indian, the Western genre and franchise theory and 1 Italics have been employed to note the colonial usage of the term, which is detailed later in the Introduction. iii development. The second three are constant facets of characterization comprised of Tonto’s status as an Indian, the recurring theme of Manifest Destiny in The Lone Ranger texts, and the growth of Tonto parallel to activism of the 1960s and 1970s. This thesis contributes to knowledge as the first study of Tonto as an ongoing development rather than a static characterization discussed in broad terms. iv Acknowledgements I would like to offer thanks to the many people who have helped make this thesis possible. To God for gifting me with the inspiration to write and stubbornness to go on. To my wife Stacey Moll who has watched and conversed with me about numerous Westerns over the past few years, proofread numerous documents and supported many eccentricities. And to my three children: Ezekiel, Reuben and Shiloh for understanding the many times their Father couldn’t play with them and the long hours at Pa and Grandma’s. To my in-laws, Stan and Helen, for the countless times they were called upon for babysitting. To Mum and Dad, for believing the only appropriate children’s programs were The Lone Ranger and anything with John Wayne. To my supervision panel for their support, patience and guidance. Doctor Lesley Speed, my Principal Supervisor, has been a consistent source of keen insight and concise feedback. Thanks must also be offered to former Principal Supervisors - Doctor David Waldron for seeing me through the middle and continuing inspiration and Associate Professor Alice Mills for setting me on this path both as supervisor and undergraduate course coordinator. And also to my external associate supervisor Doctor Paul Atkinson for the time he has taken and knowledge imparted. To Doctor John Fisher for sharing his sage advice and wellspring of experience. v To Joe Southern and the rest of The Lone Ranger fan club for embodying the “fanatic” part of being a fan. To the plethora of friends, family and colleagues who have proofread, babysat, chatted, and exercised patience and at times caution. vi Contents Statement of Authorship ............................................................................................. ii Summary .................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................... v Contents ................................................................................................................... vii Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1 Subject Matter .................................................................................................................. 2 Thesis Overview................................................................................................................ 4 Scope of Research ............................................................................................................ 9 Key theoretical approaches ........................................................................................ 15 Existing Scholarly Readings of Tonto .............................................................................. 17 A “Tame” Indian .......................................................................................................... 17 Caricature of racial identity ........................................................................................ 20 A Sidekick .................................................................................................................... 23 Chapter One: Theoretical Framework ........................................................................ 27 The Indian ....................................................................................................................... 28 The Lone Ranger Phenomenon ...................................................................................... 32 Constructed Pasts ....................................................................................................... 35 vii The Functionality of Colonial Characterization .............................................................. 38 Race in Popular Culture .............................................................................................. 49 Stereotype .................................................................................................................. 53 Chapter Two: Native American and Indian ................................................................. 56 Tonto and the legacy of Indian characterization ........................................................... 57 Landscape & Characterization ........................................................................................ 59 The Indian Prior to the Western .................................................................................... 61 The Indian and Emerging Modernity .......................................................................... 66 The Noble Savage ....................................................................................................... 69 The Virginian ............................................................................................................... 72 The Beginnings of the Western ...................................................................................... 76 Film and the early twentieth-century ......................................................................... 82 Chapter Three: The Western Genre ............................................................................ 87 History ............................................................................................................................ 88 Popular Representation of the Nineteenth-Century .................................................. 92 The Myth of the “Wild West” ..................................................................................... 99 Classic to Revisionist ..................................................................................................... 103 The Western Plot ...................................................................................................... 104 Indians in the Western ................................................................................................. 113 viii Chapter Four: The Lone Ranger franchise ................................................................. 122 Specific Characteristics of a Media Franchise .............................................................. 123 Shape of the Lone Ranger franchise ............................................................................ 130 Periodization ............................................................................................................. 138 Identification and Development of Recurring Motifs .............................................. 142 Tonto & Development within the Formula .................................................................. 154 Chapter Five: Tonto as an Indian .............................................................................. 162 Assimilation as Parable ................................................................................................. 163 The Lone Ranger, Tonto and Justice ......................................................................... 171 Contrasting Tonto with Indian .................................................................................