Chief White Halfoat
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Chief White Halfoat is a fictional character in Joseph Heller's book Catch-22. Halfoat was an American Indian. Before he was drafted into the U.S. Army Air Forces, Halfoat lived in several states. Anywhere he and his family went, oil was found. Soon, every major oil company in the United States was following them. Any time they tried to settle down, they were moved away because oil had been discovered. Eventually, the oil companies started drilling ahead of where Chief Halfoat and his family might go, so they had nowhere to go. He was drafted in the nick of time, as his family did not have anywhere to settle. When the men thought they had discovered oil at the base in Lowery Field, Colorado, Halfoat was immediately kicked out, and sent to Pianosa as Captain Black's assistant, where he shared a tent with Doc Daneeka until he was moved in with Captain Flume.
Chief White Halfoat was also a heavy whiskey drinker who terrorized Captain Flume, beat up Colonel Moodus, and vowed to die of pneumonia, which, in the end, he did. Captain Flume was run out of the tent they shared because Halfoat threatened to slit his throat ear to ear, a threat which was merely a joke on Chief Halfoat's part due to the fact that he could not sleep at night because of Hungry Joe's screaming nightmares.
In the novel, his character personifies Heller's social commentary on anti-American Indian racism.
