Chief Nah-mee, sometimes spelt Chief Namee or Chief Name, is a character from the Jungle Cruise at the Magic Kingdom. He is a shrunken head salesman and a cousin of Trader Sam.
History[]
Chief Nah-mee is an indigenous South American chieftain who was cousins with the seemingly immortal Trader Sam, the jungle's head salesman in shrunken heads. Like Sam, Nah-mee became an ally and business-affiliate of the Jungle Navigation Company by the 1930s and assisted them in their opening of an east-coast franchise in the Amazon rainforest.
Nah-mee also assisted Sam's business in trading shrunken heads, jewellery, produce, and other goods with the Jungle Navigation Company, presumably when Sam was busy with his other operations. Nah-mee was sometimes accompanied by Sam's pet baby Indian elephant, "Ellie" while making these business endeavours.
Development history[]
Nah-mee could be seen at the end of the version of the attraction in the Magic Kingdom. He was dressed in a top-hat and red and white striped bottoms, holding shrunken heads and a black umbrella. The skipper remarks that he has a sale going on - two heads for one of yours.
When the Magic Kingdom opened, the shrunken head salesman at the end of the Jungle Cruise was referred to as Trader Sam, though his design differs from the character at Disneyland. In 1991, a reworked script called him Chief Name, intended for skippers to improvise a name. This eventually evolved into the name Chief Namee, which stuck for several years. About twenty years later, the scripts were reworked and the character was renamed Trader Sam. However, later material would establish the character as Chief Nah-mee, referring to him as Sam’s cousin.
In 2021, Nah-mee's figure was removed from the Jungle Cruise due to the sensitivities of the time. The replacement for Nah-mee's likeness would be a JNC, "Lost & Found" which Trader Sam had repurposed into being a gift-shop.
Appearances and allusions[]
Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar[]
In this bar's lost & found is a collection of umbrellas next to a shrunken head, possibly referencing Nah-Mee having been a past patron of the bar.[1]
Jungle Cruise[]
In Trader Sam's Gift-Shop are the umbrella and top-hat of Chief Nah-mee.[2] Nah-mee still appears in Tokyo Disneyland's Jungle Cruise where he can be seen alongside Trader Sam's pet elephant Ellie, selling pendents and fruit.[3]
Skipper Canteen[]
A drawing of Nah-mee is printed on the menus at Skipper Canteen. He is holding beads, instead of shrunken heads. In the library there is a book by Trader Sam titled Top Hats and Umbrellas which references Nah-mee's appearance.
Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar[]
Nah-mee was established as a separate character at the Enchanted Tiki Bar at Disneyland. A photograph of him hangs on a wall, depicting him at the opening of the Jungle Navigation Company’s east coast franchise. Nah-mee signed the picture with the following - “Sam, thanks for helping me get a head”[4].
Trader Sam's Grog Grotto[]
His umbrella is also in Sam's possession[5] and a photograph of Nah-mee and Sam can be found at Grog Grotto at the Polynesian Resort.[6]
Connections[]
Fortress Explorations[]
The Trader Sam's bars contain direct and indirect connections to several members of the Society of Explorers and Adventurers such as having a bust of Dr. Albert Falls along with references to the doctor in the menu, a portrait of Harrison Hightower III's affiliate Trader Bill salvaged from the Hotel Hightower, paraphernalia and messages from members of the Adventurers Club, remnants of business-dealings with Indiana Jones and a post-card from Placid Palms.
Trivia[]
- Given his affinity for Shrunken Heads, it is more than likely that Nah-mee and Sam are both Jivaroan South Americans.
- Sam and Nah-mee's head trading is actually fairly historically accurate as while Shrunken Heads were originally used for ceremonially purposes, there was a market for them with westerners during the early 20th century.
- Nah-Mee's skirt is made from the canopy of the Jungle Cruise boats from when the attraction first opened.
- Nah-mee's joke name being incorporated into official cannon is similar to that of Dr. Albert Falls.
References[]
- ↑ https://atdisneyagain.com/2016/01/25/runaway-to-relaxation-jock-lindseys-hangar-bar/
- ↑ https://wdwnt.com/2021/04/concept-art-trader-sams-gift-shop-lost-found-scene-coming-to-the-jungle-cruise/
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpS3fQRRLsw
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/B9FB5BBgxLE/
- ↑ https://www.mousesteps.com/2011/09/25/detailed-look-at-trader-sams-enchanted-tiki-bar-disneyland-hotel-from-august-2011/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/2ZP8-8ILKR/