WINNIPEG – “Gi-ga-miinigoowiz Mamaandaawiziwin.”
Fans of the beloved “Star Wars” series may be more familiar with the phrase’s English translation — “May the Force be with you” — but soon viewers will get to experience the original 1977 Hollywood hit dubbed in the Ojibwe language.
“Star Wars: A New Hope” or “Anangong Miigaading: A New Hope” is being released in Ojibwe, or Anishinaabemowin, for the first time.
It’s the second time the original “Star Wars” has been officially translated into an Indigenous language, with the first being Navajo in 2013.
“You can feel it within our community. This is going to be huge,” said Theresa Eischen, a member of Little Grand Rapids First Nation in northeast Manitoba, who voices Princess Leia in the dubbed version.
The first film in the popular sci-fi series from George Lucas introduces many of the popular characters, including Leia, Jedi knight Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and his Wookiee co-pilot Chewbacca.
The project is the result of a collaboration between the Dakota Ojibway Tribal Council, the University of Manitoba, Disney/Lucasfilm and APTN.
Cary Miller, project manager and associate professor in Indigenous studies at the University of Manitoba, said the dubbed version will make the language more accessible, especially for a younger generation that hasn’t grown up with it due to colonization and the child welfare system.
“If we can have that language reinforced through movies — through video games, through the media that children want to consume after they go home from school, even if it’s an immersion school — then we’re creating more places of contact and more opportunities for language to just be a part of the way our young people think and act,” Miller said.
Miller added projects like this don’t diminish the foundational importance of learning Indigenous languages through connections with elders or living on the land. Instead, said Miller, it recognizes that many Indigenous youth have limited access to those kinds of opportunities.
Producers chose Ojibwe because it’s the most spoken Indigenous language in Manitoba, Ontario and Minnesota, with about 320,000 speakers across Canada and the United States.
Three translators led the project. It started with them rewatching the film, followed by long hours around a dining room table poring over transcripts.
“It led to some very rich conversations during the translation process,” said Miller.
Like how to convey words like “hyperdrive” into a concept that’s recognized in Ojibwe communities. In some cases, it meant breaking down a word into two parts. In situations that involved proper nouns, the names were kept the same, meaning there is no translation of Tatooine, the home world of Luke Skywalker.
The project brought together a wide range of talent and multi-generational Ojibwe speakers. The dubbing was done over 10 days in Winnipeg, with the final mix at Skywalker Sound in California.
“We’re all strangers … but we all have these shared experiences that kind of connect us into this experience, whether that’s through ‘Star Wars’ or through Ojibwe. We’re all working together collaboratively to grow that,” said Ajuawak Kapashesit, who is from Moose Factory in Ontario and the White Earth Nation in Minnesota.
Getting to be part of a “Star Wars” project that promotes a revitalization of the Ojibwe language is a dream come true for Kapashesit, who voices Han Solo.
The Ojibwe and Cree actor and director is a lifelong fan of the series. One of his first movie experiences was being introduced to a galaxy far, far away on the big screen.
Dennis Chartrand, a member of Minegoziibe Anishinabe in Manitoba, also known as Pine Creek First Nation, has been preparing his whole life for taking on the role of one of the most recognized villains in pop culture.
The longtime Ojibwe instructor jokes he was already famous in the community before voicing Darth Vader.
Chartrand said speakers will be able to connect with the movie through the language but also through the subject matter.
“There is a dark side,” he said. “Do we give in to not speaking our language, do we give in to mainstream society? Or do we continue to strive for harmony with the land, our people, our language, our culture?
“This movie is synonymous to that.”
The film is set to premiere in Winnipeg on Thursday with a limited release run beginning Saturday in other select markets. It is to debut on Disney+ and APTN after that.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 3, 2024.
