Tonto is a fictional character; he is the Native American (either Tonto Apache, Comanche, or Potawatomi) companion of the Lone Ranger, a popular American Western character created by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker.
Jay Silverheels was a Canadian Mohawk Indian actor. He was well known for his role as Tonto, the faithful American Indian companion of the Lone Ranger in a long-running American television series.
Jay Silverheels (born Harold Jay Smith; May 26, 1912 – March 5, 1980) was an Indigenous Canadian actor and athlete. He was well known for his role as Tonto, the Native American companion of the Lone Ranger in the American Western television series The Lone Ranger.
Tonto was used by Apache Indians as a term for the Western Apaches – mean 'wild ones'. It went on to become the name of a native-American character in the 1930s radio show The Lone Ranger – later a TV series.
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.
Kemosabe: Tonto (Jay Silverheels) - Tonight Show 1969
What ethnicity was the real Lone Ranger?
But like many things during slavery, history may have been obscured and the actual “Lone Ranger” seems to have been inspired by an African American man named Bass Reeves. Reeves had been born a slave but escaped West during the Civil War where he lived in what was then known as Indian Territory.
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".
Kemosabe means “idiot" in Apache language reports Native American writer Sherman Alexie. Kemosabe is a pseudonym to the Native American calling each other “Kemosabe" meaning (idiot). Kemosabe is a controversial word.
For several episodes, Tonto's new horse went unnamed, referred to only as "the paint horse" or simply "Paint". Eventually the name "Scout" was adopted.
In reality, the true meaning of the term — spelled variously as kemo sah-bee, kemo sabe and kemo sabay — depends on which Indian language you use to translate it. The New York Public Library, for example, insists it means “soggy shrub” in Navajo.
Tonto is one of the most famous and enduring characters ever to come out of American television. He is the Lone Ranger's faithful sidekick, brave, loyal and just, variously described as Potawatomi or Comanche.
"The raven on his head comes from the crow tassel wares," Troy explained. "They're a set of elite warriors for the Comanches." In the film, Tonto is said to be a Comanche tribal member and speaks the language. Depp was even adopted by the Comanche Nation recently.
"Tonto never deserved to be called a sidekick." Depp wanted to play Tonto as the Lone Ranger's equal partner. "In my own small way, it was my attempt to right the wrongs of what had been done with regards to the representation of Native Americans in cinema."
The lone survivor, John Reid, is nursed back to health by a passing Indian (who, remarkably enough, had known Reid as a child). To hide his identity while he pursues Cavendish, Reid dons a mask cut from his dead brother's vest.
Although there is no concrete evidence that the real legend inspired the creation of one of fiction's most well-known cowboys, “Bass Reeves is the closest real person to resemble the fictional Lone Ranger on the American western frontier of the nineteenth century,” Burton writes in Black Gun, Silver Star.
(In an episode of the TV show, Tonto tells the Lone Ranger that the word “mean trusty scout.”) A 1939 Saturday Evening Post article claimed that Striker's letters to his children always opened with the phrase “Ta-i ke-mo sah-bee,” or, “Greetings, trusty scout.”And Striker's widow told the Hartford Courant in 1977, “I ...
Where does kemosabe come from? imgflip. The Lone Ranger first aired on January 30, 1933 on the WXYZ radio station in Detroit, Michigan. In the program, the Lone Ranger and his Native American friend Tonto referred to each other as kemosabe, a friendly term they had shared for years.
Kemosabe was the indian name of The Lone Ranger, a fictional character of an old radio and television show who rode a horse. Although it is a made up word, the consensus seems to be that it means friend.
The chief deity of the Chiricahua Apache was Ussen, whose will governed all. Ussen existed before the creation of the universe. He created the first Mother with no parents who sang four times, a sacred number to the Chiricahua Apache.
He starred as Silver in The Lone Ranger Television Series from 1949 to 1954, and was thought to be one of the most popular horses of all the western heroes. The first horse to portray Silver, his true name was White Cloud.
Tonto was identified in some stories as a member of the Potawatomi tribe and was presented as principled, virtuous, and fiercely loyal. Despite his stunted English, he was also portrayed as both intelligent and wise.
Remember in the old TV show, the Lone Ranger's horse was named Silver, and Tonto's horse was named Scout. The Lone Ranger hollered, “Hi-yo, Silver!” Tonto called out what virtually everyone thinks was, “Gettum-Up, Scout!” Not so much.
