Ke-mo sah-bee

Ke-mo sah-bee (/ˌkiːmoʊˈsɑːbiː/; often spelled kemo sabe, kemosabe or kimosabe) is the term used by the fictional Native American sidekick Tonto as the "Native American" name for the Lone Ranger in the American Lone Ranger radio program and television show. Derived from gimoozaabi, an Ojibwe and Potawatomi 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, one of the founders of the Boy Scouts of America, 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, who speak a language that is mutually comprehensible with Ojibwe. John D. Nichols and Earl Nyholm's A Concise Dictionary of Minnesota Ojibwe defines the Ojibwe word giimoozaabi as 'he peeks' (and, in theory, 'he who peeks'), making use of the prefix giimoo(j)-, 'secretly'; Rob Malouf, now an associate professor of linguistics at San Diego State University, suggested that giimoozaabi 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 in the 1950s TV series
• Michael Horse in the 1981 film The Legend of the Lone Ranger
• Johnny Depp in the 2013 movie

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.
• Featured in the lyrics of "Sharkey's Night" by Laurie Anderson 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 MacGyver (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 John Updike.
• Mentioned in a panel of the graphic novel A History Of Violence by John Wagner and Vince Locke spoken by character Joey Muni.
• The song "Kemosabe", a 2013 single by Manchester band Everything Everything from their album, Arc.
• Used by detective Barrel in the TV series Bosch.
• Kemosabe Records is an American record label founded by music producer Dr. Luke and is owned by Sony Music Entertainment.
• A 2023 "Kimosabè" single by Angus Stone (as Dope Lemon).
• Used by Peter Tork, dressed in a parody of Tonto, as "Pronto" in "The Monkees in Texas" Season 2 Episode 13 of The Monkees.
• The homophone "Chemo-Sah-Bee" used in TV series The Sopranos by Anthony DeSando (as Brendan Filone) to refer to Jackie Aprile Sr.'s Cancer.
• The German rapper OG Keemo often refers to himself in his songs as Keemo Sabe
• Victor French (Mark Gordon) calls Michael Landon's character (Jonathan Smith) "kemosahbee" throughout the 1984 American Television show Highway to Heaven.