Chief Nah-mee

Chief Nah-mee or Chief Namee is a character from the Magic Kingdom's Jungle Cruise. Nah-mee was amongst the most recognizable characters of the Jungle Cruise and is infamous for being a racist caricature of Indigenous Americans.

History[]

Biography[]

Background[]

Chief Nah-mee was a South American chieftain of an unidentified tribe in the Amazon rainforest. Nah-mee's cousin was an ancient, world-travelling, magic-user named, "Trader Sam". The chief often dressed in a skirt made from the canopy of a Jungle River Boat, a top-hat, jewellery, and an umbrella. Nah-mee's umbrella usage might have been adopted this umbrella to prevent himself from getting sprayed by Indian elephants.

Nah-mee would work alongside his cousin Sam, aiding him in the family-business of trading shrunken heads. By the 1930s, Nah-mee often traded with patrons of the Jungle Navigation Company with skippers considering him to be, "The Head Man of the Jungle". Nah-mee was also a noted conservationist, using murderous vigilantism to harm those who harmed the jungle.

Jingle Cruise[]

In the December of 1935, the Jungle Navigation Company held their first inaugural, "Jingle Cruise", a Christmas-themed tour of the Rivers of Adventure. The Jingle Cruise practice of continuing the Jingle Cruise would continue for the following years and during one of these tours (potentially even the inaugural Jingle Cruise), an air shipment of holiday decoration missed its marker and was dumped in the rivers.

Because of this, the jungles became polluted with Holiday decor that the Jungle Navigation Company condoned as an improvised decoration (despite the harm it caused to the local wildlife). Holiday themed pollution would appear to become a standard tradition of the Jungle Navigation Company's Jingle Cruise celebrations. Sam would take to selling champagne to guests for New Year's while Nah-mee assumed the Santa Claus themed alias of, "Trader Sam-ta".

Later history[]

Nah-mee's business expanded to trading fruit and pendants. The pendants which Nah-mee came to predominately sell were enchanted and known as the Tiger of Courage, the Elephant of Wisdom, and the Monkey of Cleverness. Nah-mee was sometimes accompanied by Sam's pet Indian elephant, Ellie. Around the late-1950s/1960s, Nah-mee would assist Sam in opening up an east-coast establishment of his bar franchise, located within a Polynesian Village.

Development history[]

Creation & changes[]

Nah-mee was created for Walt Disney World's Jungle Cruise as a counterpart to Disneyland's Trader Sam. While Disneyland's trader was realistic, the Magic Kingdom version of the character was designed by animator Marc Davis to be more comedic. Nah-mee's design closely resembled artwork of Indigenous North Americans which Davis had previously created for the film Peter Pan (1953). The umbrella also resembles one used by Rose Sayer in The African Queen (1951), a film which inspired the Jungle Cruise and a character also represented by one of Nah-mee's heads.

As Jungle Cruise cast-members were encouraged to improvise, the scripts referred to this character as, "Chief (Name)". This would lead to the joking name of Chief Namee being given to the character by cast-members. Around the 1990s, the scripts for the Magic Kingdom's Jungle Cruise would be changed for consistency with Disneyland, resulting in the erroneous identification of Chief Nah-mee as being Trader Sam.

Nah-mee's central shrunken-head necklace has gone through some change. It originally had a long black beard with a white-streak, a head also shown in concept-art by Marc Davis. This head was opted out for a different head with no beard and long hair. This central head was often removed, sometimes in inconsistent outfit changes but seemingly permanently in Tokyo.

In 2011, Sam and the chief were again made separate characters with the opening of Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar. It was revealed in this restaurant that the two were cousins and the chief was given the official name of Chief Nah-mee. In 2021, a refurbishment was overseen at the American Jungle Cruise attractions to remove culturally insensitive elements from the attraction such as in the figure of Trader Sam.

Racism[]

Chief Nah-mee is an overtly stereotypical depiction of the Jivaroan peoples of the Amazon. Nah-mee's shrunken-head trading and, "Savage" characterization are based on how Jivaro peoples were pressured into trading shrunken heads (religious items affiliated with binding the soul of a vengeful enemy's spirit) with European colonists who considered them to be exotic souvenirs. Cannibalism is a trait not affiliated at all with the Jivaro people but which is a more general myth perpetuated by white colonists onto Indigenous tribes.

While Trader Sam at-least had a more normal design for a person, Nah-mee was designed by Marc Davis to be a caricature of Jivaro. Namely, his design was made to subscribe to the, "~~Jíbaro~~" pejorative of Jivaro peoples, implying him to be dim-witted and barbaric. This myth was created in the Colonial Spanish Period by conquistadors as propaganda in retaliation to the Jivaroan having been successful at fighting off Spanish invasion for much of their history.

Appearances[]

Attractions[]

Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar[]

In the lost & found of this bar is a shrunken head next to a stack of umbrellas, seemingly referencing Nah-mee. This might be referencing Nah-mee as a past customer of Jock Lindsey's bar in Disney Springs.

Jungle Cruise[]

In the Amazon River Base is a booth of fruits and Coca-Cola, seemingly referencing Nah-mee's trading of produce.^[1] He might be indirectly referenced by Albert Awol who states on the subject of the Indian elephant bathing pool, "Since these animals have been known to spray water at passing boats, you are advised to wear appropriate attire. Or bring an umbrella". In the Magic Kingdom's Jungle Cruise, there is a crate outside of Trader Sam's Gift Shop! addressed to Trader Sam from, "C. Namee" while Nah-mee's topcoat appears within the gift-shop.^[2]

Jingle Cruise[]

When Nah-mee still appeared in the attraction, he would be dressed up as, "Trader Sam-Ta" during the Jingle Cruise. In the 2021 Jingle Cruise, Namee's Santa hat and coat were located in Trader Sam's Gift Shop!.

Jungle Cruise: Wildlife Expeditions[]

Nah-mee still appears in this incarnation of the attraction where he is accompanied by Ellie the elephant and sells fruits and pendents.

Skipper Canteen[]

There are illustrations of Nah-mee in the menu for the Skipper Canteen. He is shown holding jewellery rather than shrunken heads.^[3] The book, "Top-Hats and Umbrellas" by Trader Sam is named for Nah-mee's appearance. Additional books referencing Nah-mee include The Banana Trade (alluding to his trading of fruit in Jungle Cruise: Wildlife Expeditions) and What's In a Name (referencing the confusion between the naming of Nah-mee and Sam along with Nah-mee's different names over the years).

Trader Sam's[]

Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar[]

In this bar is a photograph of Nah-mee with a note from Sam that reads, "Trader Sam's cousin, Chief Nah-mee, on opening day of our east coast franchise!". Atop the image is a message from Nah-mee which says, "Sam, thanks for helping me get a head".^[4] Also in this bar is an umbrella with a note that says, "Return to Chief Nah-Mee".^[5]

Trader Sam's Grog Grotto[]

In the Grog Grotto is a photograph of Sam and Nah-mee together.^[6]

Film[]

Jungle Cruise (film)[]

Nah-mee is indirectly referenced in the Jungle Cruise film when Lily Houghton trades her brother's top-hat with chieftain, "Trader Sam" of the Puka Michuna tribe (a separate character from Nah-mee's male cousin) in 1916 as barter for translating the Arrowhead of Lukarina.

Television[]

Mickey Mouse[]

Goofy briefly appears dressed as Nah-mee while wielding a shrunken head and umbrella in the episode "Wish Upon a Coin".

Paraphernalia[]

Jungle Cruise Adventure Game[]

As Nah-mee is affiliated with the banana trade, it is possible the cargo crates of bananas are an indirect reference to Nah-mee.

Other connections[]

The African Queen[]

One of Nah-mee's heads supposedly was made to resemble that of Katherine Hepburn to tribute her character Rose Sayer in the film The African Queen which inspired the Jungle Cruise.^[7]^[8] Nah-mee's umbrella also resembles an umbrella used by Rose in the African Queen, most notably to cover Charlie Allnut as he slept during rainfall on the film's titular boat.

Trivia[]

Nah-mee and Sam might be inspired by the cannibal shrunken-head salesman Queequeg from Herman Melville's Moby Dick.
Nah-mee's skirt is made to resemble one of the original canopies from Jungle Cruise boats.
Sam and his family are based on stereotypes of Jivaroan peoples.
As other members of the tribe were never explicitly shown, certain theories exist regarding their possible identities:
- Due to being negative stereotypes of the Jivaroan peoples, it is sometimes thought Nah-mee's tribe might be a tribe of the Jivaroan nation. However, the Jivaroan do not practice cannibalism as Nah-mee is affiliated with doing.
- Another theory asserts that Nah-mee might be the 1930s leader of the Puka Michuna tribe of the Amazon from the 2021 Jungle Cruise film. This might be evidenced be Nah-mee and the 1910s Puka Michuna chieftain Trader Sam both being chieftains who went by the monikers, "Trader Sam" and who both wore top-hats, with Sam having traded hers from Lily Houghton in 1916 and said theory proposing this to be the origin of Nah-mee's hat. This would also infer that Nah-mee is not actually a cannibal as in the film, this was a myth spread by JNC skipper Frank Wolff.

Chief Nah-mee is the second of three characters in the Jungle Cruise to have been given the alias of, "Trader Sam". The first was the original Trader Sam while the third was the female Trader Sam from the Jungle Cruise film. These characters are also paralleled by the Shaman of Songs on Na'vi River Journey in Disney's Animal Kingdom.
Several jokes used by skippers hinted at Nah-mee's backstory with dubious canonicity:
- One of the jokes used with Nah-mee involved the skipper referencing Nah-mee having a wife who he cannibalized as a stew.^[9]
- Another joke referenced him having gone to college, only to be expelled after getting caught, "Buttering up" a professor.
- Cannibalism jokes included references to Nah-mee having eaten his father and brother.
Nah-mee's design was seemingly used for a mural in the queue of Tower of Terror depicting the chieftain of an Easter Island tribe, cheated by Harrison Hightower III.
Nah-mee's hat in Trader Sam's Gift Shop is decorated with red and yellow feathers, in a style reminiscent of the Puka Michuna tribe from the Jungle Cruise film.
Chief Nah-mee and Big Bertha are two of the most recognizable individual characters from the Jungle Cruise.
Nah-mee's top-hat and umbrella were set to appear in Trader Sam's Gift Shop! at Walt Disney World, being shown in concept-art
Trader Sam, Chief Nah-mee and Ellie are similar to the Hitchhiking Ghosts from the Haunted Mansion in being audio-animatronic characters that acknowledged guests during the falling-action/denouement portion of their respective attraction. Nah-mee was also designed by Marc Davis who designed the hitchhiking ghosts.
The Missing Persons board of the Amazon River Base mentions individuals implied to be being killed by cannibals, who given the South American setting would likely be victims of Nah-mee or his family. Amongst these are Emma Boylen, C.M. Cooken, and possibly B.N. Eaton.