 chakotay  is a fictional character who appears in each of the seven seasons of the american science fiction television series star trek: voyager. portrayed by robert beltran, he is first officer aboard the starfleet starship uss voyager. the character was suggested at an early stage of the development of the series. he is a native american, the first time that a main character in the star trek franchise has come from that culture. this was an intended move by the producers of the series, who sought to provide an inspiration as with uhura in star trek: the original series for african americans. in order to develop the character, the producers sought the assistance of jamake highwater. despite first being named as a sioux, and later a hopi, chakotay was given no tribal affiliation at the start of the series, something that was later resolved in the episode "tattoo". beltran was not of us native american descent, but is of mexican descent. the character first appeared in the pilot episode of the series, "caretaker". the character continued to appear throughout the series in a main cast role, with his final appearance in the finale, "endgame". he was featured in an ongoing storyline throughout the first and second seasons which featured the betrayal of his lover seska (martha hackett) until her death in "basics". following his experience with disconnected borg in "unity", chakotay was against an alliance with the borg in "scorpion" nearly leading to the death of seven of nine (jeri ryan). despite this, by the end of the series the two characters were in a romantic relationship together. in the voyager relaunch novels set after the vessel's return to the alpha quadrant, chakotay is promoted to captain of the 
Fictional_Native_American_people Fictional_boxers Fictional_characters_introduced_in_1995 Fictional_commanders Star_Trek:_Voyager_characters Starfleet_commanders