Who is Tonto?

Tonto is one of the main characters from the 1950s television program The Lone Ranger. In the program, Tonto is a Native American companion and sidekick to the titular character, the Lone Ranger, who is a masked vigilante. Tonto, played by the Native actor Jay Silverheels, is considered by many modern Natives to be an insulting stereotype of the culture. With the catchphrase "kemo sabe," Tonto often was portrayed as a foolish partner that struggled to speak properly. (Ke-mo sah-bee originates from the Ojibwe word gimoozaabi, which is sometimes translated as "good friend.")
Notably, Sherman Alexie, the author of "What It Means To Say Phoenix, AZ," expressed a dislike of the character. In a Los Angeles Times article titled "I Hated Tonto," Alexie writes, "I was just one little Indian boy who hated Tonto because Tonto was the only cinematic Indian who looked like me." Alexie also uses the image of Tonto (and the Lone Ranger) for the title of a collection of short stories titled The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. This title, which is also the title of one of the author's short stories, acts as a metaphor for the two different ethnicities portrayed in the program. The Lone Ranger symbolizes the white man, while Tonto symbolizes the Native. When Alexie suggests they fistfight in heaven, he suggests there is a significant strain on the relationship between the races. While in the program the two were friends, Alexie suggests that there is an unsatisfactory relationship with Natives in America.
When, in the 2013 Verbinski-directed remake of The Lone Ranger, Johnny Depp was cast as Tonto, there was a significant outcry when it was suggested that the character was heavily whitewashed by casting a non-Native actor. It's also worth noting that in Spanish "Tonto" roughly translates to "fool," and in Spanish dubs of "The Lone Ranger," the name Tonto is translated to Toro, or "bull."
http://www.old-time.com/misc/kemo.html

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-jun-28-ca-64216-story.html