I remember years ago when Brummett Echohawk(Pawnee artist) wrote an article in The Tulsa World about when Santa Clause visited an Indian School in Oklahoma. He and his red suit so frightened the kids they ran from him.
The school administrators quickly got an Indian man in buckskins and feathers who then came and gave the gifts to the children. The kids loved him!
Sounds like Tonto.
One of the bad things about nsheltering groups on reservations is that they do not assimilate to the dominate culture.