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, 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 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

Boy Scouts of America Scouting America is the largest scouting organization and one of the largest List of youth organizations, youth organizations in the United States, with over 1 million youth, including nearly 200,000 female participants. Founded as the Boy Sco ...

, 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 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

TV series 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 ...

* Michael Horse in the 1981 film The Legend of the Lone Ranger *

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

movie A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

Other uses

*Used in the lyrics of the song " Mr. Custer" by Larry Verne in 1960. *Featured in the lyrics of " Apache (Jump on It)", a 1981 song by

The Sugarhill Gang The Sugarhill Gang is an American hip hop group formed in Englewood, New Jersey, in 1979. Their hit " Rapper's Delight", released the same year they were formed, was the first rap single to become a top 40 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, rea ...

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

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from her 1984 album Mister Heartbreak *Featured in the lyrics of "If I Had a Boat" by Lyle Lovett, from his 1987 album Pontiac. *Featured in the lyrics of "The Lone Ranger", a 1976 UK hit single by Quantum Jump. *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'' by

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. *Mentioned in a panel of the graphic novel

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by John Wagner and Vince Locke spoken by character Joey Muni. *The song " Kemosabe", a 2013 single by Manchester band

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from their album, '' Arc''. *Used by detective Barrel in the series Bosch (TV series) *

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is an American record label founded by music producer Dr. Luke and is owned by

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. *A 2023 "Kimosabè" single by Angus Stone (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 ''

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''. *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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by Anthony DeSando (as Brendan Filone) to refer to Jackie Aprile Sr.'s Cancer.

References

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