History Main / TontoTalk

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->'''Ten Bears:''' I ''[[SubvertedTrope a]][[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome m]]'' Ten Bears.

* Running Board speaks this way in''WesternAnimation/GoGoGophers''.

* Running Board speaks this way in ''Western Animation/GoGoGophers''.

* Running Board speaks this way in Western Animation/Go Go Gophers.

* Running Board speaks this way in ''Western Animation/Go Go Gophers''.

* Running Board speaks this way in ''Go Go Gophers''.

* Running Board speaks this way in Western Animation/Go Go Gophers.

* The ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' of Creator/AAPessimal builds on the canonical introduction of Red Indians. One seemingly submissive Indian employed as a scout by the local {{Expy}} of General George Armstrong Custer addresses him seemingly respectfully, as ''Kemo Sabie''. the later on watches a bull bison depositing a large steaming heap of kemosabie onto the prairie.

* When the ''Franchise/ArchieComics'' gang takes a trip out west, they stop at a Native American village. Reggie walks up to an Indian man and says something like:

* Tonto from ''Radio/TheLoneRanger'' is the TropeNamer and possibly the trope codifier.
** Language aside, he was portrayed as highly intelligent (actor John Todd's "Hmmm..." could speak volumes), often coming across as smarter than the Lone Ranger. Jay Silverheels in interviews and comedy skits used to make fun of the "him say" stuff.
*** Modern versions, such as the 1981 film and the Dynamite comic series, did away with this, due to the creators wanting to portray Tonto respectfully. The 2013 film, however, brought it back.

* Tonto from ''Franchise/TheLoneRanger'' is the TropeNamer and possibly the trope codifier.

* The Indian chief in the {{Supermarionation}} series ''Four Feather Falls'' spoke this way. Oddly, he was able to make animals speak fluent English using his magic, so why he didn't cast this spell on himself is unclear.

[[DiscreditedTrope Straight usages of this trope have fallen out of favor due to racial sensitivity]], although it is still often parodied. A common gag involves a white (or otherwise non-indigenous) character speaking to a Native American in this manner on the assumption that this is how all Native Americans talk, only to receive a bemused response in perfectly articulate English.

See AsianSpeekeeEngrish for the Asian equivalent. Related to BraidsBeadsAndBuckskins. Sometimes the dialect of choice for the MagicalNativeAmerican or, for extra-special UnfortunateImplications, TheSavageIndian or HollywoodNatives. See also ElectiveBrokenLanguage, for when a Native American can speak English perfectly and just fakes this trope, either for making fun of white people's stereotypes or for ObfuscatingStupidity.

A variation of YouNoTakeCandle, but one which applies specifically to Native Americans. For decades (if not centuries) American Indians were portrayed in fiction speaking a form of broken English characterised by the phrases "heap big", "ugh" and "how", and verbs conjugated with "um". Trains are referred to as "iron horses", white people as "palefaces" (who speak with forked tongue), a baby as a "papoose", the tribal leader as "Big Chief", money as "wampum" and whiskey as "firewater."[[note]]In Spanish -in humoristic depictions- there's something similar too (the YouNoTakeCandle style), with them conjugating verbs just in infinitive as well as knowing stuff as trains or whiskey as mentioned before.[[/note]]

There is a grain of TruthInTelevision in this, as there would obviously have been a point in history when English was not the first language of most North American Indians. However, it was never realistic to depict ''all'' Native Americans speaking the ''same'' patois-- there are over five hundred indigenous cultural groups in North America, each with its own language or dialect. Over time, fiction turned this from a "mere" stereotype to [[HollywoodNatives a complete caricature which often made Indians look foolish and primitive.]] Some fiction, particularly cartoons and comics, portrayed Indians speaking this way well into the 20th century.

[[DiscreditedTrope Straight usages of this trope have fallen out of favor due to racial sensitivity]], although it is still often parodied. A common gag involves a white (or otherwise non-Indian) character speaking to a Native American in this manner on the assumption that this is how all Indians talk, only to receive a bemused response in perfectly articulate English.

See AsianSpeekeeEngrish for the Asian equivalent. Related to BraidsBeadsAndBuckskins. Sometimes the dialect of choice for the MagicalNativeAmerican or, for extra-special UnfortunateImplications, TheSavageIndian or HollywoodNatives. See also ElectiveBrokenLanguage, for when an Indian can speak English perfectly and just fakes this trope, either for making fun of white people's stereotypes or for ObfuscatingStupidity.

* As the image above demonstrates, this was how Indians in the Franchise/DCUniverse spoke in the 1970s.

* Some of ''Film/TheThreeStooges'' shorts featured American Indians speaking this way, such as the 1940 short "Rockin' Thru the Rockies".

** The two Indian children in the episode avert this as they both speak clear paleface--er, English.

** The two Indian children in the episode avert this as they both speak clear paleface--,er English.

* WesternAnimation/TheBeatles visit an Indian village where the guide subverts this while breaking the fourth wall.

'''John:''' ('' to guide'') Now, uh, we friends. We strangers here. Come-um long way, see-um your people.\\

* In the ''WesternAnimation/WackyRaces'' episode "Why Oh Why Wyoming", Dick Dastardly enlists the aid of an Indian who talks like this.

* WesternAnimation/TheB beeatles visit an Indian village where the guide subverts this while breaking the fourth wall.

* WesternAnimation/The Beatles visit an Indian village where the guide subverts this while breaking the fourth wall.

* Aubrey's aborted attempt to make Native American-themed porn in ''SomethingPositive'' involves her obviously white friends dressing up in BraidsBeadsAndBuckskins and speaking like this, while using the stage names Princess Takes-It-Like-Doe and Chief Thrusting Bull. "Sweet Tonto! Your tomahawk is wampum big!" Jhim says that if it gets released none of them will ever be able to walk into a casino again.

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* Aubrey's aborted attempt to make Native American-themed porn in ''SomethingPositive'' involves her obviously white friends dressing up in BraidsBeadsAndBuckskins and speaking like this, while using the stage names Princess Takes-It-Like-Doe and Chief Thrusting Bull. "Sweet Tonto! Your tomahawk is wampum big!" Jhim says that if it gets released none of them will ever be able to walk into a casino again.

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* In a ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode, Peter and Lois decide to enter a community talent show by reviving their old folk act in the '60s ([[MultipleChoicePast or]] [[FloatingTimeline whatever]]) called [[DoubleEntendre "Pocket Full of Peter"]]. They flash back to the longhaired duo playing a song lamenting the plight of Native Americans, which used various speech stereotypes, such as the "ababababababa" sound made by vibrating the hand against the mouth, and at the end Peter speaking the lyric, "How did this happen... HOW" (speaking the last word like the stereotypical Native American greeting, with his hand held palm out). Although it turns out that they were ''very'' high for this performance and this was merely their own interpretation of how it went. What actually happened was them wailing on their instruments randomly while screaming like lunatics.

* "How" or "Howgh" actually is an Indian word. It's usually more properly written "Hou". It may have started as a word of greeting and "yes" in Creek, spreading to other tribes they traded with, which is how the Lakotah picked it up (they would have said "ho"). Anglo visitors would have heard "how" a lot in council meetings as people agreed with the speaker, like "hear hear!" "Ugh" probably started as a bad transcription of listeners muttering "how". In some places "how" was used ''by'' the speaker to mean "this concludes my statement."