Hubley Division, Gabriel Industires, Inc.
The Lone Ranger Rides Again, Hopi Medicine Bundle, 1973
Mixed media
Private collection

Photograph by Blair Clark. © Museum of New Mexico.

Besides implanting the phrase "High-o Silver!" in people's minds whenever the William Tell Overture is heard, the Lone Ranger and Tonto have served as popular representations of the fictional wild West for decades. The use of their image in all types of media and products can create and reiterate false impressions of American Indian cultures.

Inaccurate to the point of absurdity, these Lone Ranger Adventure sets are examples of the commercialism and propagation of the "Cowboy and Indian" culture myth. For better or worse, they are artifacts of history and place in American popular culture. These children’s toys raise issues of cultural representation, reinterpretation, and interaction between Native Peoples and American culture.

Tony Chavarria
Curator of Ethnography
Museum of Indian Arts and Culture