We Native Americans have endured our share of indignities: seeing Jeff Chandler (Jewish) and Michael Ansara (Syrian) as the prototypical Hollywood Apaches, not to mention "Iron Eyes" Cody (Italian American) as the "Crying Indian" , in those Keep America Beautiful Ads. But there was always Tonto (Jay Silverheels) And more recently, actors like Wes Studi (Cherokee) and Will Sampson (Muskogee) from dear ol' Oklahoma. On the other hand, Ben Johnson (Cherokee/Irish, also from Oklahoma) played mostly cowboys. Insisting on racial or ethnic authenticity does restrict the pool of available acting talent. I feel for the producers of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado in the face of protests that the operatic singers used weren't authentically Japanese and were performing in "yellowface".(How many Japanese opera singers are there?)
What do you think of the movie A man called horse, Okie? If you've seen it. I recall Dances with wolves being praised for one of the first real accurate portrayals in movies of native americans, but then i got recommended that 70s classic (which i liked a lot)
Roy Orbison was an amazing singer and songwriter and he was from Oklahoma. He's one of my favorites and from my age group. As for real Indian actors, I don't remember the man's name but he was the Cheyenne Chief in Dances With Wolves. He was also one of the main characters in CLEARCUT which was filmed in Canada near Thunder Bay. One of my favorite Native American films was always POW WOW HIGHWAY where the big Indian steals all the cash from the Sheriff Department Evidence Room. He had a old beat up car he called War Pony.
If you count traditional noh as opera, Japanese opera begins in the 14th century. Noh continues to be performed in Japan to this day, as well as more Western styled opera that made its debut in Japan after the Meiji Restoration
I was thinking Gilbert and Sullivan. Noh artists might not quite fit that genre. To be sure, there are excellent Japanese singers of western opera. Yasuko Hayashi and Yoko Watanabe do a great job with Madama Butterfly, and bring authenticity to the role. Still, they are comparatively few in number, and it seems a shame to restrict performances of Gilbert and Sullivan to fit their crowded schedules.