In a new version of the original 1977 “Star Wars: A New Hope” premiering this week in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Obi-Wan Kenobi doesn’t say, “May the Force be with you.”
Instead, the Jedi Master wishes Luke Skywalker off with “Gi-ga-miinigoz Mamaandaawiziwin,” the phrase’s Ojibwe (Anishinaabemowin) translation, as part of the blockbuster’s recent dub in one of North America’s most-spoken Indigenous languages.
The project was initiated in Canada, where Ojibwe is the second-most popular Indigenous language. Several Canadian tribal, university, media and government groups worked with Disney/Lucasfilm to bring the endangered language to a broader audience though one of Hollywood’s most popular films. (The film’s only other Indigenous-language version is its Navajo dub, released in 2013.)