In the wake of his tragic death, Jonathan Joss has been most remembered for his role as John Redcorn in King of the Hill, but he also deserves recognition for playing Chief Ken Hotate in Parks and Rec, the leader of the Wamapoke tribe and concerned Pawnee citizen who Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) works with and respects. Despite only appearing in five episodes, Joss’ Ken Hotate is a memorable part of the show for the audience and his former castmate. Regarding the actor’s death, Nick Offerman told People, “The cast has been texting together about it all day, and we’re just heartbroken. Jonathan was such a sweet guy, and we loved having him as our Chief Ken Hotate. A terrible tragedy.”
Ken Hotate usually appears in his capacity as an advocate for the Wamapoke, but Parks and Rec also shows him to be a shrewd businessman who runs the Wamapoke Casino. But when it comes to the population of Pawnee, Hotate is unique. The town is filled with hilarious characters that occasionally show up to create obstacles for the Parks crew, but Ken Hotate was one of the best. There’s Marcia (Darlene Hunt) and Marshall (Todd Sherry) Langman, Dennis (Jason Mantzoukas), and Joan Callamezzo (Mo Collins), who never let Leslie’s plans proceed smoothly, but Ken Hotate stands out from the rest because not only is he calm as he explains his issues (at least to start), but he helps Leslie as much as she helps him. Plus, he is always having a laugh to himself. With so many fascinating qualities, Jonathan Joss’ Ken Hotate never failed to entertain.
‘Parks and Rec’s Ken Hotate Is Respectful but Firm
Perhaps what first strikes the audience about Ken Hotate is that he comes to Leslie with his problem directly. Introduced in the Season 3 episode, “Harvest Festival,” Ken Hatote raises an issue with the festival being held on his people’s sacred burial grounds for the Battle of Indian Hill, which he calmly tells Leslie rather than jumping to accuse her as so many others do. Leslie explains that not only is it the only place in town big enough for their event, but anywhere she changed it to would also be offensive because of Pawnee’s vast mistreatment of the Wamapoke. As chief, it is his job to hold the local government accountable, but he demands respect for his people while treating Leslie with the same.
However, he will not be messed with, and when Leslie holds her position about the Harvest Festival, Ken Hotate takes matters into his own hands, making up a curse that he believes will ruin the Harvest Festival, which works as the press eagerly looks for things to go wrong. Of course, he eventually makes a deal with Leslie, agreeing to “remove” the curse in exchange for a Wamapoke history exhibit at the entrance to the festival. Yes, the so-called curse presents a problem for Leslie and her team as they try to stop the media from spreading the lie and tanking their hard work, but Ken Hotate is seeking fair treatment for his tribe, and that is a good reason for his passion. He is also quick to compromise when Leslie appeals to him, showing that, though Ken Hotate doesn’t let others push him around, he is a good and reasonable person.
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Ken Hotate Helps Leslie in ‘Parks and Rec’
Leslie and Ken Hotate have a good working relationship as well, which cannot be said of many of Parks and Rec‘s recurring characters. When thinking of the members in this group, the names that often come up, like Jeremy Jamm (Jon Glaser) or Tammy Swanson (Megan Mullally), are always causing trouble, but Ken Hotate helps Leslie. Yes, he creates a complication for the Harvest Festival by spreading the rumor of the curse, but he also saves the festival when the power goes out. The Wamapoke Casino is the only place in Pawnee with a generator big enough to fix the issue, and Hotate not only agrees to lend his generator to Leslie’s cause, but he puts talk of the curse to rest by performing a phony ceremony to placate people.
Ken Hotate also defends Leslie in Season 5, Episode 10, “Two Parties.” When Jeremy Jamm makes a play for lot 48, which Leslie has marked out for a park, she buries Wamapoke artifacts on the land to delay the building of Jamm’s Ponch Burger project. Leslie feels bad and confesses to Hotate, who doesn’t reveal Leslie to Jamm. While he admits that the artifacts were not originally there, he accuses Jamm and Pounch Burger of going back on their deal and threatens to pull his casino’s contract with Pounch Burger for their underhanded ways, giving Leslie a fair chance to make her park. This shows Hotate to be an ally for Leslie and an honorable man. Ken Hotate offers more help to Leslie than he complicates her life, and that is a rare thing.
‘Parks and Rec’ Gives Ken Hotate a Sense of Humor
There is a lot to say about Ken Hotate, but the thing that stands out the most about him is his sense of humor. As Leslie says, he “plays white people like a fiddle,” often getting a private joke out of the way people react to his race. This is why he claims to curse the Harvest Festival, saying, “There are two things I know about white people: they love Matchbox Twenty, and they are terrified of curses.” Even when he puts on a fake ceremony to lift the curse, he speaks in his native language about how no one understands what he’s saying and ends the spectacle with “Doobee-doobee-do.” He also gets a little extra revenge in his meeting with Jeremy Jamm by convincing him to put on a traditional Wamapoke headdress before telling him it is offensive.
Yet perhaps the best example of Hotate’s humor is the very public slogan for his casino, “Slowly taking back our money from white people one quarter at a time.” Parks and Rec never makes fun of Ken Hotate and the Wamapoke culture. Instead, Hotate is in on the joke (sometimes just by himself) as he uses his culture to his advantage, teasing the other characters for the way they interact with him because of their stereotyped perceptions. Joss may have only appeared in a few episodes, but with his unique character and humor, he made Ken Hotate a highlight of Parks and Rec.
Parks and Rec is streaming on Peacock in the U.S.
