Why Star Wars Was Dubbed Into the Navajo Language
About ten years ago, after a long campaign by Navajo Nation member Manny Wheeler, Disney/Lucasfilm released the first Star Wars movie dubbed into the Navajo language. In this clip from the PBS series Native America, the Navajo version of Star Wars is shown at a drive-in in Arizona, with some of the voice actors who contributed to the dub in attendance. Some Navajo feel a strong connection to some of the themes in the movie:
The Force and the universe is all interconnected. When you put that in the Navajo language, especially for an elder to hear that, they’re going to just be thinking, like, yeah, of course. It’s not just a movie. That’s stuff we really believe.
You can watch the Navajo version of Star Wars on Disney+ (Finding Nemo too!) and catch the second season of Native America on PBS. Oh, and here’s a movie poster for the film:
Comments 2
This movie was included in the gallery show “The Force is with our People”.
Be sure to scroll down at the link. The quantity and variety of art and the number of indigenous artists that love this subject is really affecting. I love Duane Koyawena’s Hopi R2 and Ryan Singer’s Tuba City Space Port paintings.
The R2 is much beloved by kids, it really fun to watch them interact with it.
Ugh, did the link wrong.
https://www.knau.org/knau-and-arizona-news/2019-12-13/the-force-is-with-our-people-links-indigenous-culture-with-that-galaxy-far-far-away
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