Who should Apache Chief have been?

Loyal reader (and close personal friend) Fullur asked the question in the headline. It is a fair question with an answer that, unlike most of my posts, will probably have no jokes, no light heartedness, none of the stuff so typical of me. This is a question that affects not just portrayals of Native Americans but also of other ethnic groups even today.
I have talked before about how media portrayals of a group creates expectations. The comedy premise of the Fresh Prince of Bel Air was that "black people" were "out of place" in Beverly Hills...the rich and white bastion of elitism. To live in Beverly Hills the requirements, as presented on that show, are to be white, rich, white, snobbish, rich, white and elitist, as long as your elitism was properly grounded in being rich and white.
Other episodes played off similar stereotypes such as when Uncle Phil hustles some pool sharks. He should not, per the show's set-up, know anything about playing pool. He was the "Uncle Tom", the "white black man" who bought into the system and became a successful judge, therefore less black. He took on the culture and trappings of being a white man without ever losing his blackness.
The entire show lampooned these "Uncle Tom"s who bought into the system. The heroes were the stereotypical skirt-chasing, jive talking huckster Will Smith and his buddy the shiftless, dishonest, yet ultimately comedic hero Jeff.
How does this relate to Apache Chief? Getting there. Bear with me.
By creating the media space where yes, black people COULD live in Bel Aire, they were OUT OF PLACE. They were funny because THEY DID NOT BELONG. And that, on many levels, is itself inherently racist.
Many people will argue it was justified by the presence and important roles of Black actors. While the movie I am about to recommend is profanity laden and has some other questionable portrayals, and despite the fact it is a Spike Lee effort, I believe people truly interested in moving beyond surface reactions should watch Bamboozled (2000) for a look at this. How much control did he have? And just because he took the part, does that justify the look?
So by creating, whether for comedic (Fresh Prince) or serious (Head of State) purposes, the belief and understanding in media portrayals that a certain person or set of people belongs in certain places or acts in certain ways we have prescribed behavioral patterns for them that subsequently many people internalize and come to belive.
Apache Chief was one such character. Despite being in a show in 1978 he spoke pidgin (nonsense like "Uggh. Me Apache Chief. Want be your friend."), dressed in inaccurate garb, and somehow behaved just like an Apache Chief from, say, 1878 should have behaved...at least, we would say so...wielding tomahawks, listening to the ground, having mystical connections to birds of the air.
The real irony is he was included as part of a cultural awareness program. Why not show true Native American culture?
By 1978 the Apaches were actively involved in legal action to prevent the government from trading 2500 acres of non-arable land for 15,000 acres of irrigated, actively farmed Apache land for a dam. They had other litigation in place and were actively involved in community development products.
Now, naturally in the context of a super-hero cartoon, it would be ridiculous to have a lawyer in a suit and tie roaming around shouting, "Stop, vile villain, or I shall strike the with injunctions, subpoenas and writs of habeus corpus that shall tie up your assets in court for many years thus preventing you from financing your dastardly criminal escapades!"
It would not, however, have been unreasonable to have him speak in articulate fashion rather than pidgin. How many Apaches spoke fluent English at that time? Yet from media depictions you would think they actually DID greet everyone with an upraised hand and "How. Me Apache Chief."
Apache Chief could have been depicted in traditional Apache garb, NOT used their sacred pipe as his power source to shrink and grown, not shown a completely invented depiction of Native Americans as being one with the land, and in short, have entered the modern age.
Shows like the Super Friends have helped maintain the illusion that time froze for Native Americans when the gatling guns mowed down so many unarmed murder victims at Wounded Knee. They do not still dress iun beaded buckskins with long black braids bearing eagle feathers and speaking at best broken English. As pathetic of a movie as Desert Heat was, the character portrayed by Danny Tejo was still a huge leap forward even if it still left much to be desired.
So how would I like to see Apache Chief portrayed today if the Super Friends were to make a come back? How about as an intelligent, modernly dressed man of intellect and ability who has no more and no less natural relationship to nature than anyone else who takes an interest in the world around them. When we can depict everyone in an accurate light then we will indeed have taken a step forward.