Do you see the Maquis differently today?

[DonIago]

I still like to believe at least some of the Son'a really were more interested in saving their lives than in just screwing over the Baku. Unfortunately their leader goes completely irrational during the events of the film.

It infuriates me that the movie never involves any sort of summit between the Son'a, Baku and Federation, because the lack of such a discussion just makes everyone look stupid.

 

[WarpTenLizard]

While I'll always love the Maquis for being fun space rebels with cool outfits, I have come to view them far less sympathetically as an adult.

As a Jew who grew up watching news about the Israel/Palestine conflict, I see parallels to the extremists of BOTH nations in the Maquis. They are like the extremist Israeli settlers who refuse to leave Palestinian land, even when the IDF orders them to, because "muh homeland," making a delicate situation worse for everyone else. And of course they are also comparable to Palestinian extremists.

But at least the Israelis and Palestinians actually have considered the place a Holy Land for centuries; the Maquis are doing all this for a planet they basically just colonized, within the last 10 to 20 years!

And while I like the character of Chakotay and his Maquis backstory, making Native Americans of all ethnic groups being so heavily involved in this specific conflict feels like a really bizarre move, on the part of the show's writers.

 

[at Quark's]

And while I like the character of Chakotay and his Maquis backstory, making Native Americans of all ethnic groups being so heavily involved in this specific conflict feels like a really bizarre move, on the part of the show's writers.

That particular angle was invented by TNG (episode Journey's End), where I thought the idea in itself wasn't bad, even though you can argue about the execution. But I think that in that instance, the combination Native American/Maquis is a much more central component of the story, I don't really see such a strong connection in Chakotay's case. To me he just is a Maquis that also coincidentally happens to be a Native Indian with his 'animal guide' background and whatever, even though there are some episodes exploring Chakotay's history and his connection to his 'homeland').

 

[Charles Phipps]

Native Americans fighting for their land is a very visually interesting and important message to the viewers that the Federation is on the wrong side.

 

[TommyR01D]

To me he just is a Maquis that also coincidentally happens to be a Native Indian with his 'animal guide' background and whatever, even though there are some episodes exploring Chakotay's history and his connection to his 'homeland').

The main problem I have is that Chakotay was rarely given any personality or character development that wasn't about "my people".

 

[at Quark's]

The main problem I have is that Chakotay was rarely given any personality or character development that wasn't about "my people".

True, in that sense he was very much a 'token minority', unfortunately. Which, I think, is a shame. They could have built him out to an interesting character, much like Kira, with shared and sometimes conflicting loyalties (both fiercely loyal to Bajor and to Sisko, even without him being the Emissary, and such).

 

[Sci]

To be clear, the Native American settlers in "Journey's End" were never canonically established to have become Maquis. That was one Federation colony that faced the same problems other Federation colonies faced, and which resolved the issue by agreeing to renounce Federation citizenship and live under Cardassian rule. But that's not necessarily how every colony dealt with the problem.

 

[at Quark's]

To be clear, the Native American settlers in "Journey's End" were never canonically established to have become Maquis. That was one Federation colony that faced the same problems other Federation colonies faced, and which resolved the issue by agreeing to renounce Federation citizenship and live under Cardassian rule. But that's not necessarily how every colony dealt with the problem.

Which makes it in fact, quite likely that particular group didn't belong to the Maquis, unless of course something changed between that TNG episode and the Maquis uprising. But it still might have "seeded" the idea of there being (a significant number of) Native Americans in the Maquis in subsequent Trek.