History Main / TontoTalk

* Completely averted in [[Literature/BloodMeridian]]. No native characters speak in English; either they have no dialogue, their conversation is in their native language but not recorded in the text, or they speak in reasonably fluent Spanish, as is the case with the Yuma chief [[HistoricalDomainCharacter Caballo en Pelo]].

Occasionally you may even find someone so ignorant as to think this is the Native American ''accent'', which is incorrect, as the accent that Native Americans had before the colonists arrived is the very one that non-native Americans adopted and now speak. There is such a thing as a "[[https://www.voanews.com/a/6617390.html rez accent]]", distinguished by variations in inflection, slight softening on consonants, etc. This likely got started in the residential schools where children of many tribes lived together for years and were forced to learn and speak only English.[[/note]]

Occasionally you may even find someone so ignorant as to think this is the Native American ''accent'', which is incorrect, as the accent that Native Americans had before the colonists arrived is the very one that non-native Americans adopted and now speak.

-> You silly. You weak. You baby-hands. No catch horse. No kill buffalo. No good but for sit still, read book. Never mind. Me like. Me make rich. Me make big man. Me your squaw.

Straight usages of this trope have fallen out of favor due to racial sensitivity (and due to the language barrier that AIPE was meant to bridge simply not being there anymore, since the vast majority of Natives are raised on actual, fluent English these days), although it is 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.

* In ''The Sign of the Beaver,'' a children's [[HistoricalFiction historical novel]] by Elizabeth George Speare, an Indian character named Attean is portrayed speaking in a stereotyped pidgin dialect ("What for I read? My grandfather mighty hunter, he not read"), [[ValuesDissonance to the dismay of some modern teachers]].

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

[[quoteright:248: [[Franchise/{{Superman}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tontotalk_3746.jpg]]]]

->'''Josey Wales:''' You be Ten Bears?
->'''Ten Bears:''' [[{{Beat}} ...]] I ''[[SubvertedTrope am]]'' Ten Bears.

* Averted in ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'', where the Native American Nastas speaks fluent English; however, supposed anthropologist [[KnowNothingKnowItAll [=MacDougal=]]] treats him as though this trope applies.
* In ''VideoGame/SunsetRiders'', stage boss Dark Horse enters battle with the line "You in heap big trouble!" and then "Me in heap big trouble!" when defeated. However, he doesn't look particularly Native American despite the mannerisms and the game's Wild West theme.
** Chief Scalpem, who is an obvious Native American, also speaks this way, saying "Me ready for Powwow," and "Me Powwowed out" before and after his boss fight, respectively. His sister, who appears after he's defeated to beg the main characters not to kill him, speaks perfect English, however.

* 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 "woo-woo-woo" sound[[note]]the ''tremolo'', which Anglos think is made by vibrating the hand against the mouth -- it's actually made with the tongue, there are really many different varieties, and in many tribes it's the ''women'' who make that sound[[/note]] 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.

Dudley: You remember Nel.
Chief: Nel Fenwick! You look terrific. How's it goin'?
Nell: Me do well.
Chief: Good for you, sugar.

->'''Ten Bears:''' I ''am'' Ten Bears.

* ''VideoGame/MoshiMonsters: TheMovie'': the character Big Chief Tiny Head, a villain and more a parody of the stereotypes than an actual Native American, speaks like this.

* 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 and used the term "Tonto talk." 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.
* ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'': Chief and Mrs. Thundercloud in the episode ''Bartering With Chief Thundercloud.''

* Averted in ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'', where the Native American Nastas speaks fluent English; however, supposed anthropologist [[KnowNothingKnowItAll [=MacDougal=]]] treats him as though this trope applies.
* Humba Wumba in ''VideoGame/BanjoTooie'' speaks like this - but then again practically everyone ([[AnimateInanimateObject and every]]''[[AnimateInanimateObject thing]]'') speaks in HulkSpeak anyway, so the only thing particularly unique about Humba is that she throws in the odd "heap big" every once in a while.
* Big Chief Tiny Head in ''VideoGame/MoshiMonsters'' is the only character to speak specifically with the "um" and "heap" and consistently so. He is not leading anyone, wears attire that does not add up and was introduced as a [[TheConfidant man of great wisdom]] to soon be revealed as working for an an Evil Organisation and simply [[ConMan faking it all]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/PeterPan'', the residents of InjunCountry get a whole musical number in which they present the defining characteristics of the race as saying "how" and "ugh" and having red skin. Hey, it was TheFifties.

* On one occasion, WesternAnimation/PepperAnn found out she had some Native American heritage and found some of that tribe, who were your typical modern people, and kept trying to talk to them like she'd heard Indians talk in westerns.
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/FatAlbertAndTheCosbyKids'' the kids go to see an old cowboys-and-Indians movie and come out thinking that that's how real Indians act. When an Indian boy moves into the neighborhood, they don't believe he's a real Indian because he doesn't talk/act like they did in the movie.

* The Woody Woodpecker version of ''WesternAnimation/TheBarberOfSeville'' has a Native American walk into the barber shop, speaking like this and wearing a headdress in the 1940's.

* WesternAnimation/TheBeatles visit an Indian village where the guide subverts this while breaking the fourth wall. From the episode "Little Child."
-->Confusing, isn't it? Of course, I could clear it all up and speak perfect English. But they're tourists and I don't want to disappoint them.\\
'''John:''' (''to guide'') Now, uh, we friends. We strangers here. Come-um long way, see-um your people.\\
'''Guide:''' (''to John'') Me know. Me show you how Indian live. (''does EyebrowWaggle to camera'')
** The two Native children in the episode avert this as they both speak clear paleface--er, English.
* Running Board speaks this way in ''WesternAnimation/GoGoGophers''.

* Subverted in Patrick O'Brian's "The Fortune of War" : Stephen Maturin habitually greets the Native American hospital porter with 'Ugh' in the genuine belief that it is a civil greeting in his language, until the man politely asks for an explanation.

* Very briefly, in [[Creator/DaveBarry Dave Barry's]] radio-based Astonishingly AppropriateInterruption gag article, "Garbage Scan", the ongoing "Bill Doberman" political ad briefly veers into this...
-->'''AD:''' "...Him good. Him heap strong. Him your father. Him..."

* Subverted in an animated segment in ''Series/SesameStreet''. Two boys play Cowboys and Indians, with the "Indian" speaking in this manner. A modern-day Indian boy shows up and explains that that's not how Native Americans actually speak.
* The Indian chief in the UsefulNotes/{{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.

* In the ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' episode "The Cigar Store Indian," Jerry gives Elaine the title object as a gift with a note that reads, "Let's bury the hatchet. We smoke um peace pipe." Unluckily, Elaine's attractive friend Winona is a Native American, and Jerry spends the rest of the episode trying unsuccessfully to convince Winona [[MistakenForRacist he's not a racist]].
* Spoofed in the Creator/MontyPython sketch [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a54Ch8-7g6I "Red Indian in Theatre."]] "She fine actress... she make interpretation heap subtle."
* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' had multiple recurring sketch characters (including a Tonto expy and FrankensteinsMonster using this instead of the more traditional HulkSpeak). Several even appeared together in a sketch called "Succinctly Speaking".

* In an episode of ''Series/JeevesAndWooster'', Bertie Wooster (as part of a ZanyScheme) is persuaded to disguise himself in {{Blackface}} as an African chief to retrieve a tribal artifact. He naturally assumes that as the "chief" he should speak in Tonto Talk. The [[UpperClassTwit poor dolt]] only succeeds in making everything think he's gone insane. Then to make matters even worse, the ''real'' chief shows up-- speaking the Queen's English in a flawless Oxford accent due to his university education.
* ''Series/PressYourLuck'' had a Whammy Indian rowing in a canoe chanting "Ai-yi-yi-yi money money" before his canoe springs a leak and sinks.

* As the image above demonstrates, this was how Native Americans in the Franchise/DCUniverse spoke in the 1970s.
* "Little Plum" from ''ComicBook/TheBeano'' peppers his sentences with "um" so much that it becomes almost a self-parody.
* ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'' plays with this trope: the Native American characters in ''Asterix and the Great Crossing'' speak a language consisting entirely of "how", "ugh" and "ole" (the last word being introduced to them by the Gauls, who believe the Indians to be Spanish). The loose film adaptation, ''Asterix Conquers America'', averts this trope by giving the Indians a new language comprised of American place names.
* Parodied in the ComicBook/{{New 52}} version of ''[[ComicBook/DialHForHero Dial H]]'', when Nelson becomes Chief Mighty Arrow (a character who appeared in the original series), he talks this way unless he concentrates on not doing so. Roxie refuses to let him leave the house because he's an offensive stereotype.

* ''ComicStrip/{{Tumbleweeds}}'': Bucolic Buffalo played this straight, adding "um" to his words. The other members of the Poohawk tribe though averted this trope.

* In ''Film/TheFriscoKid'', when Avram and Tommy are captured by Native Americans, they attempt some Tonto Talk, e.g. something like, "Me rabbi. Jewish Rabbi. I cross big ocean. I read much book about Indians." The chief is not amused and replies "You don't speak English very well."
* In the ''Film/MaAndPaKettle'' movies, Geoduck and Crowbar speak this way.
* Averted in the negotiations with Cochese in ''Film/FortApache'', where we have a somewhat reverse situation: the focus is not on Cochese not being able to speak English, but on the negotiating officer York not being ''fluent enough'' in ''Apache''. Therefore, York decides to use a Spanish interpreter to interpret for Cochese, who is rather fluent in Spanish.
* Subverted in ''Film/TheOutlawJoseyWales''. The Comanche chief [[HistoricalDomainCharacter Ten Bears]] [[note]]played by Will Sampson, also known for ''Film/OneFlewOverTheCuckoosNest'' and ''Film/PoltergeistIITheOtherSide''[[/note]] does tend towards whimsical turns of phrase, and his English is a bit stilted, but he sounds like someone who has learned a second language as an adult rather than a caricature. He even manages to get one over on Josey:
-->'''Josey:''' You be Ten Bears?\\
'''Ten Bears:''' I ''am'' Ten Bears.
* Averted in ''Film/TheMissing'', where all the Native tribes do speak realistically, though with accents.
* ''VideoGame/MoshiMonsters'': the character Big Chief Tiny Head, a villain and more a parody of the stereotypes than an actual Native American, speaks like this.
* Every Indian character talks this way in the Creator/ShirleyTemple film ''Film/SusannahOfTheMounties''.
* Spoofed in ''Assassination'' (1987) when a Native American is apparently speaking like this, but is actually a TerseTalker. When Creator/CharlesBronson's character responds in kind, he delivers a long tirade over the idea that an American can't speak good English.

* In a short story set in the ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' Verse, a mercenary company is led by an ork and his Native American second-in-command. Joking around, these long-time friends speak to each other in their respective minstrel-show-dialect equivalents: the Native saying they'll "make-um heap hot for paleface", and the ork replying "smash 'em good, ook ook!"

* In the ''Literature/{{Winnetou}}'' novels, Indians often use the word "howgh" and some other terms like "palefaces" and "firewater", but the Indian protagonist speaks pretty good English.

* In ''The Sign of the Beaver,'' a children's [[HistoricalFiction historical novel]] by Elizabeth George Speare, an Indian character named Attean is portrayed speaking in a stereotyped pidgin dialect ("What for I read? My grandfather mighty hunter, he not read"), [[ValuesDissonance to the dismay of some modern teachers]].
* The Geronimo Brothers of [[Creator/RobertRankin the Brentford Trilogy.]] Neither brother is in fact any kind of Native American, but Paul believes he and Barry are the dual reincarnation of Geronimo and feels obliged to "act the part". Sadly he learned everything he knows about Native Americans from watching old Westerns. Barry tags along because he likes playing dress-up.
--> '''Paul:''' If paleface not talking out back of loincloth, that technological miracle of first order. Nobel prize in it for inventor

* Played with in ''Literature/TheIndianInTheCupboard''. Little Bear has fairly stunted English, but is shown to be intelligent otherwise, sometimes ''more'' intelligent than Omri, who's just a boy. Inversely, Boone, a white cowboy, has just as terrible English, and also is clever in his own way.

* In the Literature/PhilipMarlowe novel ''Literature/FarewellMyLovely'', a {{Mook}} named Second Planting shows up and engages in this. Marlowe doesn't buy it for a minute, finally telling him to "Skip the pig Latin". The mook's English improves, indicating he ''was'' faking most of it, but it's still a little broken.
* Parodied in ''Literature/ReaperMan'': Mrs. Cake's spirit guide, One Man Bucket, is from "one of them heathen Howondaland tribes", and talks like this... but only when he's on the job. He was actually born and raised in Ankh-Morpork, so his exaggerated use of "-um" and talk of spirits and the Happy Hunting Grounds are an affectation for the benefit of Mrs. Cake's customers.
* Subverted in Patrick O'Brian's "The Fortune of War" : Stephen Maturin habitually greets the Native American hospital porter with 'Ugh' in the genuine belief that it is a civil greeting in his language, until the man politely asks for an explanation.

* ''ComicBook/{{Ompa-pa The Redskin}}'': Ompa-pa and the other indians speaks that way.

[[folder:Film]]

-->'''Josey:''' You be Ten Bears?
-->'''Ten Bears:''' I ''am'' Ten Bears.

-->'''Pronto''' ''(Bob)'': Ug. Lone, that be completely impossible. You would be implicating me in crime, in which I can have no hand.
-->'''Lone''' ''(Ray)'': Huh? Is this Pronto speaking?
-->'''Pronto:''' Ug.
-->'''Lone:''' Where'd you get the education?
-->'''Pronto:''' Me go Harvard. Me [[IncrediblyLamePun Boston brave.]]

[[folder:Other]]

* Used for the obligatory dirty joke: While scouting with the Lone Ranger, Tonto puts his ear to the ground to listen.
-->'''Tonto:''' Buffalo come.
-->'''Lone Ranger:''' That's amazing, Tonto! How do you know?
-->'''Tonto:''' Ear sticky.
* A middle-aged couple traveling through New Mexico were in a cafe and couple of Zuni nearby overheard them talking about becoming forgetful with age. The younger one said "Getting old doesn't have to mean you lose your memory. My great-grandpa is close to 100 and he remembers everything. Just ask him." So the husband says "What did you have for breakfast on this day in 1944?" The old guy says "Bacon and Eggs." Twenty years later, the couple stop at the same cafe and Grandpa is still sitting there. So the husband goes up to his table and says "How!" And Grandpa says "Fried."

* ''ComicBook/{{Ompa-pa}}'': Ompa-pa and the other indians speaks that way.

* In ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', the minotaur-like Tauren are thematically loosely based on Native Americans.[[note]]Many in-game races have that kind of loose connection--the Dwarves based on cliche highland Scots, the ursine Pandaren on Chinese, etc.[[/note]] They speak fluent English, but if you click on an NPC, one of the stock responses is "*How*... may I aid you?"

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.

** It should be noted that since ''Peter And The Starcatchers'' was published by Disney's Hyperion Books division, this was likely intended as a parody of the Indians in [[Disney/PeterPan the 1953 movie]], who played this trope totally straight.

* In ''Disney/PeterPan'', the residents of InjunCountry get a whole musical number in which they present the defining characteristics of the race as saying "how" and "ugh" and having red skin. Hey, it was TheFifties.

A variation of YouNoTakeCandle, but one which applies specifically to Native Americans. For decades (if not centuries) Native Americans 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 Native Americans. 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 Indigenous people look foolish and primitive.]] Some fiction, particularly cartoons and comics, portrayed natives 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 [[DeadHorseTrope 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.

* Parodied in ''Discworld/ReaperMan'': Mrs. Cake's spirit guide, One Man Bucket, is from "one of them heathen Howondaland tribes", and talks like this... but only when he's on the job. He was actually born and raised in Ankh-Morpork, so his exaggerated use of "-um" and talk of spirits and the Happy Hunting Grounds are an affectation for the benefit of Mrs. Cake's customers.