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Starfleet Personnel Record.
A Native American descendant, this onetime Starfleet lieutenant
commander resigned from his position as an instructor in Starfleet's
Advanced Tactical Training in 2370 to join the Maquis, sparked by his
father's death fighting Cardassians on the tribe's homeworld along the
Demilitarized Zone. Chakotay is a gentle man but resolute, and is one of
the Maquis who are truly in the fight for principle, not mercenary gain
or violent outlet — as was one of his students, Lt. Ro Laren.
Today Chakotay looks to his spiritual Mayan background for inner comfort
— and doesn't mind sharing that belief with others when asked, or even
enduring some good-natured ribbing about it from Torres and Paris, among
others. He uses a spririt guide summoned by his medicine bundle, prays
to speak with his father for guidance, and uses a Mayan-descended
medicine wheel for self-healing. With a mother suffering from ongoing
neck muscle spasms, he is also reportedly an excellent masseuse.
However, he didn't always have such reverence for his ancestors' ways.
His father, Kolopak, was insistent upon finding their peoples' ancestral
home and did so in the Central American jungle in 2344, when Chakotay
was 15. But the young man had already been casting his lot with
Starfleet crews patrolling the border, and stunned his father on that
trip with the news he'd be leaving the tribe to attend Starfleet Academy,
after his newfound aquaintance Captain Sulu agreed to sponsor him, even at his young age. Despite that resistance,
Chakotay did learn many survival skills from his father, such as
building log cabins and fire-starting.
Chakotay's piloting skills trace back to extensive and early Starfleet
Academy training. From a freshman course over adjacent North America, he
went to Venus to master atmospheric storms and had yet another semester
dealing with asteroids in the Sol asteroid belt.
The virtual estrangement between father and son lasted until 2371, when
Kolopak died defending his home in the early days of Cardassian
harassment, even as the final border treaty was being signed. Chakotay
took to wearing his tattoo, a symbol of those jungle descendants, to
honor his father, who wore it also; even his own name is a cherished
gift from his tribe. Later, Chakotay reported considering archeology as a
second occupation, either in the field or in academics.
Chakotay's people, tracing their lineage back past Mayans to the Rubber
Tree People of Central America, resisted the intrusion of more
technological societies until the devleopment of warp drive in the 21st
century allowed them to leave Earth and find their own home for good.
One 20th century forebear he knows of was a schoolteacher in Arizona.
Even today, its members avoid modern devices such as transporters
wherever they can, and he was taught that nothing is personally owned,
save the courage and loyalty in one's own heart. Despite his tribe's
move, the adult Chakotay means Earth when he thinks of "home" — from the
Arizona desert and the Baja California peninsula over to the Gulf of
Mexico.
Known members of Chakotay's Maquis crew include B'Elanna Torres, Lon
Suder, Kurt Bendera, Kenneth Dalby, Mariah Henley, (First Name Unknown)
Ayala, (FNU) Hogan, (FNU) Jackson; Bajoran nationals Seska, Gerron and
Jarvin; and a Bolian, Chell.
With an undercover agent from the crew of Captain Kathryn Janeway
aboard, Chakotay's craft disappeared in the Badlands a week before
Janeway's new U.S.S. Voyager itself was lost on SD 48307.5 and presumed
destroyed.
File Update: Delta Quadrant Addendum
Appended by Capt. Kathryn Janeway, U.S.S. Voyager
The former Maquis leader has had his share of pains before: the
revelation that Tuvok was Janeway's spy; the death of Kurt Bendera in a
Kazon battle, after he'd helped in out in a brawl on Telfas Prime; and
the defection of his former lover, Seska — whom he's further shocked to
realize was a Cardassian spy all along in his Maquis crew, and who
continues to manipulate that guilt.
Despite such trials, and his Maquis sympathies, Chakotay's own moral
courage rings out as strongly as mine when the chips are down — and it
is to his credit that he has accepted my command and enforced the
embracing of Starfleet ways among his old crew fully and with vigor,
including assuming equal discipline — and, I've heard, a right cross if
necessary. And I am especially indebted that he convinced me to gamble
on his nominee for chief engineer — although I must take the blame in
overriding my convictions in seeking an alliance with the Trabe or Kazon
as he'd suggested.
The convictions of both his people and Starfleet served him well when
keeping his life and dealing with the Kazon boy Kar and his elders — and
putting his own safety on the line to fake his death, saving Kar's
naming honor. He apparently has more than one medicine bundle made up,
or else he thought to take it with him in the rush to beam out with Kar.
Chakotay had seemed to be on the way to mending fences with Tom Paris
when our ruse that couldn't include the commander had to be hatched to
trap our Maquis informant to Seska; I know he was not only annoyed at
the act but miffed that he was left out of the loop, but it did further
the performance beautifully.
Checkout review update, Kathryn Janeway, SD 50100:
Seska is dead. Having secured our vessel once and for all from the
recent short-lived Kazon take-over, I note not only Chakotay's heroics
in securing our planetside position with the suspicious but sentient
natives, but also his mixed mood in learning that Seska's child,
presumed to be his, proved not to be. I only trust that Seska's demise
will allow the commander to leave this phase of his life behind without
guilt and manipulation.
Personal addenda, Level 1 classification, for SFC eyes only:
I write this after having spent six weeks quaratined alone with the
commander on an immunizing Class M planet under threat of carrying a
viral epidemic to the crew. While personal log are not the purview of
this file entry, I feel compelled to comment on Chakotay's survival
skills and his commitment to easing our personal burdens alone, before
we had any hope of seeing our ship again. We likely have a long journey
ahead of us, and I feel somehow invigorated that he and I have fostered
such a smooth relationship. Where our personal feelings lie beyond that
is an issue that must not interfere with crew safety and security, but
there are times when I believe the commander, despite his best effort,
gets downright jealous or giddy. -KJ
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