Ke-mo sah-bee (; often spelled kemo sabe, kemosabe or kimosabe) is the term used by the fictional Native American sidekick

Tonto Tonto is a fictional character; he is the Native Americans in the United States, Native American (either Tonto Apache, Comanche, or Potawatomi) Friendship, companion of the Lone Ranger, a popular American Western (genre), Western character crea ...

as the " Native American" name for the

Lone Ranger The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture. He first appeared in 1933 in a ...

in the American ''Lone Ranger''

radio program A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production, or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio netw ...

and

television show A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platf ...

. Derived from , an

Ojibwe The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...

and

Potawatomi The Potawatomi (), also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains, upper Mississippi River, and western Great Lakes region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, ...

word that may mean 'he/she looks out in secret', it has been occasionally translated as "trusty scout" or "faithful friend".

Meaning and origin

Jim Jewell James Jewell (February 20, 1906 – August 5, 1975) was an American radio actor, producer and director at radio station WXYZ, Detroit, Michigan. Early life Jewell was born in Detroit, Michigan on February 20. 1906. His parents were William ...

, director of ''The Lone Ranger'' radio show from 1933 to 1939, took the phrase from Kamp Kee-Mo Sah-Bee, a boys' camp on

Mullett Lake Mullett Lake is a lake in Cheboygan County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The lake is named after John Mullett, who, together with William A. Burt, made a federal survey of the area from 1840 to 1843. A neighboring lake was named after Burt. Hi ...

in Michigan, established by his father-in-law Charles W. Yeager in 1916. Yeager himself probably took the term from

Ernest Thompson Seton Ernest Thompson Seton (born Ernest Evan Thompson; August 14, 1860 – October 23, 1946) was a Canadian and American author, wildlife artist, founder of the Woodcraft Indians in 1902 (renamed Woodcraft League of America), and one of the foun ...

, one of the founders of the

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, who had given the meaning "scout runner" to ''Kee-mo-sah'-bee'' in his 1912 book ''The Book of Woodcraft and Indian Lore''. Kamp Kee-Mo Sah-Bee was in an area inhabited by the

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

, who speak a language that is mutually comprehensible with

. John D. Nichols and Earl Nyholm's ''A Concise Dictionary of Minnesota Ojibwe'' defines the Ojibwe word as 'he peeks' (and, in theory, 'he who peeks'), making use of the prefix , 'secretly'; Rob Malouf, now an associate professor of linguistics at

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CS ...

, suggested that may indeed have also meant scout (i.e., 'one who sneaks').

In media

Tonto has been represented by the following actors: * John Todd in the 1933 radio show *

Chief Thundercloud Victor Daniels (April 12, 1899 – December 1, 1955), known professionally as Chief Thundercloud, was an American character actor in Westerns. He is noted for being the first actor to play the role of Tonto, the Lone Ranger's Native-American ...

in the movies beginning in 1938 *

Jay Silverheels Jay Silverheels (born Harold Jay Smith; May 26, 1912 – March 5, 1980) was a First Nations in Canada, First Nations and Mohawk people, Mohawk actor and athlete, descended from three Iroquois nations. He was well known for his role as Tonto, the ...

in the 1950s

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Michael Horse Michael Horse (Michael James Heinrich, born 1949) is an American film and television actor. He is also a painter and jeweler. He is best known for playing Deputy Tommy 'Hawk' Hill on ''Twin Peaks''. Background and education Michael James Hei ...

in the 1981 film

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Johnny Depp John Christopher Depp II (born June 9, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Johnny Depp, multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for ...

in the 2013

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Other uses

*Used in the lyrics of the song " Mr. Custer" by

Larry Verne Larry Vern Erickson (February 8, 1936 – October 8, 2013) was an American novelty song vocalist. Biography Verne recorded two U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart hit singles in 1960, "Mister Livingston" (No. 75) and " Mr. Custer" (No. 1, and No. ...

in 1960. *Featured in the lyrics of "

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", a 1981 song by

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. *Featured in the lyrics of "Sharkey's Night" by

Laurie Anderson Laura Phillips "Laurie" Anderson (born June 5, 1947) is an American avant-garde artist, musician and filmmaker whose work encompasses performance art, pop music, and multimedia projects. Initially trained in violin and sculpting,Amirkhanian, Cha ...

from her 1984 album

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*Featured in the lyrics of "If I Had a Boat" by

Lyle Lovett Lyle Pearce Lovett (born November 1, 1957) Lyle Lovett Pageat Allmusic – Lovett's Genre and Styles. Retrieved February 2, 2007 is an American country singer and actor. Active since 1980, he has recorded 14 albums and released 25 singles to dat ...

, from his 1987 album Pontiac. *Featured in the lyrics of "The Lone Ranger", a 1976 UK hit single by

Quantum Jump Quantum Jump were a 1970s British band, consisting of singer and keyboard player Rupert Hine, guitarist Mark Warner, bass player John G. Perry (then of Caravan), and drummer Trevor Morais (who had previously played in The Peddlers). The ba ...

. *In the TV show ''

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'' (1985–1992), it is a nickname for MacGyver used by his friend Jack Dalton. *Misquoted as "qué mas sabe" on page 20 of ''

Rabbit Redux ''Rabbit Redux'' is a 1971 novel by John Updike. It is the second book in his "Rabbit" series, beginning with ''Rabbit, Run'' and followed by '' Rabbit Is Rich'', ''Rabbit At Rest'', published from 1960 to 1990, and the related 2001 novella, ''R ...

'' by

John Updike John Hoyer Updike (March 18, 1932 – January 27, 2009) was an American novelist, poet, short-story writer, art critic, and literary critic. One of only four writers to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once (the others being Booth Tar ...

. *Mentioned in a panel of the graphic novel

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and

Vince Locke Vincent Locke () is an American comic book artist known for his work on '' Deadworld'' and ''A History of Violence'' and for his ultraviolent album covers for death metal band Cannibal Corpse. Biography Locke began work in 1986 illustrating '' ...

spoken by character Joey Muni. *The song " Kemosabe", a 2013 single by Manchester band

Everything Everything Everything Everything are an English art rock band from Manchester that formed in late 2007. Noted for their eclectic sound and complex, avant-garde-inspired lyrics, the band has released seven albums to date '' Man Alive (2010),'' '' Arc (2013 ...

from their album, '' Arc''. *Used by detective Barrel in the series

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Kemosabe Records Kemosabe Records is an American record label founded by record producer Dr. Luke in 2011. It was launched as an imprint of RCA Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment. Based in Los Angeles, California, the label has signed acts including ...

is an American record label founded by music producer

Dr. Luke Łukasz Sebastian Gottwald (born September 26, 1973), known professionally as Dr. Luke, Tyson Trax, and Made in China, is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He began his professional music career as the Saturday Night Live ...

and is owned by

Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

. *A 2023 "Kimosabè" single by

Angus Stone Angus John Stone (born 27 April 1986) is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He is one half of the musical sibling duo Angus & Julia Stone, with whom he has released five studio albums. His debut solo album, ''Smoking ...

(as Dope Lemon). *Used by

Peter Tork Peter Halsten Thorkelson (February 13, 1942 – February 21, 2019), better known by his stage name Peter Tork, was an American musician and actor. He was best known as the bass guitarist and keyboardist of the Monkees and co-star of the NBC ...

, dressed in a parody of Tonto, as "Pronto" in "The Monkees in Texas" Season 2 Episode 13 of ''

The Monkees The Monkees were an American pop rock band formed in Los Angeles in the mid-1960s. The band consisted of Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones (musician), Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith, and Peter Tork. Spurred by the success of ''The Monkees (TV series), Th ...

''. *The

homophone A homophone () is a word that is pronounced the same as another word but differs in meaning or in spelling. The two words may be spelled the same, for example ''rose'' (flower) and ''rose'' (past tense of "rise"), or spelled differently, a ...

"Chemo-Sah-Bee" used in

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(as

Brendan Filone This is a list of characters from the HBO series ''The Sopranos'', and its prequel film ''The Many Saints of Newark.'' Main characters Cast table Main character biographies Tony Soprano Jennifer Melfi Carmela Soprano Christopher Moltisanti ...

) to refer to

Jackie Aprile Sr. This is a list of characters from the HBO series ''The Sopranos'', and its prequel film ''The Many Saints of Newark.'' Main characters Cast table Main character biographies Tony Soprano Jennifer Melfi Carmela Soprano Christopher Moltisanti ...

's Cancer.

References

{{The Lone Ranger Lone Ranger Catchphrases Quotations from radio Quotations from television 1933 quotations