MINNEAPOLIS — A brand new native dub of the epic space opera “Star Wars: A New Hope” debuts this weekend.
Screenings are scheduled for Friday at nine theaters in Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin, including the Oakdale, Parkwood and Southbridge Crossing theaters in the Twin Cities.
End of last yearWalt Disney Studios announced that Disney and Lucasfilm have partnered with the Dakota Ojibwe Tribal Council and the University of Manitoba to create the Ojibwemowin version of the 1977 film.
The original “Star Wars” film has been translated into more than 50 languages over the years, and the Ojibwe dub actually marks the second time the blockbuster has been translated into an indigenous language. A 2021 edition translated the film into Navajo.
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Much of the voice work was done in the Winnipeg area, including script translation, auditions and sound recording. Sound mixing and post-production work was then completed at Skywalker Sound in California.
The stars of the new dubbing are Aandeg Jedi Muldrew, who plays Luke Skywalker, Ajuawak Kapashesit as Han Solo and Theresa Eischen as Princess Leia.
There are five First Nations language groups in Manitoba, including Ojibwe, Cree, Ojibwe-Cree, Dakota, and Dene. There are an estimated 320,000 Ojibwe speakers in the U.S. and Canada. In Minnesota, there are seven federally recognized Ojibwe tribes, including Bois Forte (Nett Lake), Fond du Lac, Grand Portage, Leech Lake, Mille Lacs, White Earth, and Red Lake.
While the number of native speakers of Ojibwe is declining, many groups and tribes have worked to preserve and revitalize the language for future generations. This includes a Rosetta Stone Project led by the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe.
“Star Wars: A New Hope” was an immediate success and, adjusted for inflation, is considered the second highest-grossing film in American history, just behind “Gone with the Wind.” The film was nominated for 10 Oscars at the 50th annual Academy Awards, winning six, plus a special award for its performance.
