Jim Chee
Jim Chee | |
---|---|
First appearance | People of Darkness |
Last appearance | The Shape Shifter |
Created by | Tony Hillerman |
Portrayed by | Lou Diamond Phillips Adam Beach Kiowa Gordon |
In-universe information | |
Gender | Male |
Occupation | Navajo tribal police officer |
Nationality | Native-American |
Jim Chee is one of two
Profile
Personal life
Jim Chee is an acting sergeant in the Navajo Tribal Police when he first appears in People of Darkness, working in the Crownpoint, New Mexico, office. He has two older sisters. His mother and his mother's brother (his little father) and her two sisters (his little mothers) are still alive and also part of his life. His uncle, Hosteen Frank Sam Nakai, is frequently helpful to Chee, whose advice runs through Chee's mind, and whose tapes of the words for various Navajo rituals aid Chee in memorizing them. From childhood on, Chee is remarked for his excellent memory, detailed and exact.
Chee's education is similar to that of Lt. Leaphorn, as he studied anthropology at the University of New Mexico and attended a boarding high school, described in People of Darkness. In Coyote Waits, Chee mentions that he took about seven years to graduate from college, as he had to skip a term to earn tuition money. Both came from families or clans with many singers, or yataalii. Chee's Navajo name, given him by his maternal uncle, is Long Thinker. When Chee first appears in the novels, he is younger than the age Lt. Leaphorn appeared, and still a single man.
Police work
Chee and Leaphorn first meet and work together in Skinwalkers, when an attempt was made on Chee's life as he slept. Chee knows the reputation Leaphorn has for his success in police work, and after Leaphorn retires, Chee thinks of Leaphorn as legendary and always smarter than Chee is. Chee is willing to call on Leaphorn whenever he is stuck with a particular problem in a case.
Development of the character
Hillerman writes in his autobiography,
Appearances in other media
In the 1991 theatrical film adaptation of The Dark Wind , Chee was played by Lou Diamond Phillips.[2]
Three of the Hillerman novels (Skinwalkers, Coyote Waits, and A Thief of Time) were adapted for television as part of the PBS series Mystery!, as part of its American Mystery! specials. In these adaptations, Chee was played by actor Adam Beach. Skinwalkers first aired November 24, 2002; A Thief of Time first aired July 11, 2004, and Coyote Waits first aired November 16, 2003.[3]
Kiowa Gordon portrays Chee in the AMC TV series Dark Winds.
Robert Redford purchased the film rights to the characters in 1988, and served as the executive producer for all of the film and television adaptations.[4]
Bibliography
Jim Chee appears in the following novels:
Written by Tony Hillerman
- People of Darkness (1980)
- The Dark Wind (1982)
- The Ghostway (1984)
- Skinwalkers (1986)
- A Thief of Time (1988)
- Talking God (1989)
- Coyote Waits (1990)
- Sacred Clowns (1993)
- The Fallen Man (1996)
- The First Eagle (1998)
- Hunting Badger (1999)
- The Wailing Wind (2002)
- The Sinister Pig (2003)
- ISBN 0-06-056344-3
- The Shape Shifter (2006)
Written by Anne Hillerman
- Spider Woman's Daughter (2013)
- Rock With Wings (2015)
- Song of the Lion (2017)
- Cave of Bones (2018)
- The Tale Teller (2019)
- Stargazer (2021)
- The Sacred Bridge (2022)
In every novel from Skinwalkers on, Chee is joined by Joe Leaphorn; Anne Hillerman’s continuation of the series puts Chee’s wife Bernadette Manuelito in the main protagonist role, with Chee and Leaphorn assisting with her cases.
References
- ISBN 0879723343.
- IMDb
- ^ "Skinwalkers". American Mystery Specials. PBS and WGBH. 2003. Archived from the original on 2006-05-03. Retrieved 19 Feb 2016.
- ^ "The Decades-Long Road Behind AMC's 'Dark Winds' Native American Drama Series". The Hollywood Reporter. July 17, 2021.