CHAH-mooz-ee

Warning! This page contains information regarding Star Trek: Prodigy, and thus may contain spoilers.

A CHAH-mooz-ee was a cultural symbol used among Chakotay's family and descendants of the Central American Rubber Tree People and Nicarao people who inhabited a former Federation colony on the planet Trebus in the Cardassian Demilitarized Zone. It had many meanings depending on its use. (PRO: "Observer's Paradox")

It was associated with healing. It could also be drawn on various natural objects as a blessing to the land, on the ground before scarring it with a campfire, or on a piece of a tree that was cut down for firewood. It was also drawn on the ground during greetings as a sign of respect. (VOY: "The Cloud", "Initiations", "Tattoo", "The Fight")

A stone with a CHAH-mooz-ee on it was found among Chakotay's personal possessions as a family heirloom. Some personal rituals involved taking the stone and addressing it. (VOY: "The Cloud", "Initiations", "Tattoo", "The Fight")

In 2372, Chakotay found a CHAH-mooz-ee on a moon in the Delta Quadrant that had been visited by the Sky Spirits, who were aware of the symbol from previous encounters with his ancestors. On the Spirits' planet, not knowing his tribal language and without a universal translator, he used the symbol to show the aliens that he meant no harm. (VOY: "Tattoo")

Background information[]

The CHAH-mooz-ee symbol was designed by Rick Sternbach. According to the Star Trek Encyclopedia, 4th ed., vol. 1, p. 129, "Rick says he based the design on a map of the Milky Way galaxy, and the V lines may – or may not – suggest the paths of various wormholes and other spatial phenomena across the galaxy."

The CHAH-mooz-ee symbol inspired the design of a mandala on the wall of Chakotay's quarters, which was also meant to represent a hidden map of the galaxy. Rick Sternbach commented, "The thought occurred to me that because their ancestors had contact with the alien 'Sky Spirits,' the Rubber Tree People had some knowledge of travel throughout the Galaxy. So I figured, 'Why not work some of those elements into the design?' [....] The design for the stones [in the CHAH-mooz-ee] had already been approved, and they'd accepted the idea of the spirals and the straight lines. That could be interpreted in any number of ways, but when you took it with the wall hanging you could see it was a map of the Galaxy, which showed the Bajoran wormhole and Voyager's path to the Delta Quadrant." (Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 2, Issue 10, p. 112)

The description of the CHAH-mooz-ee on Gwyn's PADD in PRO: "Observer's Paradox" is based directly on a May 2022 version of the Memory Alpha article about the symbol.