Casting Star Trek: Voyager Reboot
2. Chakotay - Gil Birmingham
Robert Beltran has gone on record several times to voice his dissatisfaction with how Chakotay was handled in Star Trek: Voyager. To be fair, he has a point. From the beginning, the writers attempted to use his Native American character to show a spiritualism in Star Trek still exists, but this was used less and less until it seemed to fizzle out altogether.
Gil Birmingham may be best known to audiences for his role in all five of the Twilight films. Don't let that put you off though - he is an incredibly talented actor. His turn in Wind River would banish any doubt about this.
Chakotay need not be defined by his Native ancestry, yet if it is to be addressed, then it needs to be done in such a way that isn't pandering, nor exploitative. In Voyager, there are episodes which feature the 'spirits' that his people worshipped, who are shown to be aliens. This mixing of alien and human natures is something that deserved deeper exploration.
While Chakotay was relegated somewhat to the odd anecdote about his heritage, there is ample amounts of material to bring forward for him to not only be an essential member of the crew, but have Native American history and experiences on full show, rather than simply teased.