'The Lone Ranger' Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer, Both Stars Related To Real Life Freedom Fighters: Slave Elizabeth Key and Cherokee Chief Kanagatucko

There was a bit of grumbling when Johnny Depp was announced as the actor to play Tonto in Disney's upcoming adventure flick "The Lone Ranger," versus an actual Native American actor. However it turns out that one member of the film's cast does have some interesting Native American ancestry. Only, it's not Depp. It's co-star Armie Hammer. 

Ancestry.com released some findings on both of the actors and discovered that they each had some some interesting history in their genes. As mentioned before, Hammer turns out to be a descendant of the Cherokee Chief Kanagatucko. 

Kanagatucko (meaning "Stalking Turkey" in the Cherokee language) was renowned for his peacekeeping abilities during his time in charge, from 1753 to 1760. Expert Fred Gearing described the chief in his book Priests and Warriors: Social Structures for Cherokee Politics in the 18th Century: "When Cherokees had differences among themselves, Old Hop (the chief's nickname from the English) had a great capacity to bring them together. Typically, he avoided making decisions himself... He was extremely cool-headed and patient with the more precipitate of the Cherokees around him. In short, Old Hop was the near-perfect embodiment of the Cherokee ideas about proper leadership behavior, that is, unusually circumspect."

Depp might not be Native American, but his ancestry is just as impressive. Depp's eighth great-grandmother was Elizabeth Key, the first slave to sue for her freedom and win in the American colonies. Key successfully lobbied for her freedom in 1656 in Virginia, the state where Depp's relatives have hailed from since the early 17th Century. 

We sort of wish Ancestry.com would reveal our family backgrounds for free, but at the same time, we probably don't have any awesome relatives like they do.