In a galaxy far, far away, Ojibwe was spoken

Boozhoo ("hello" in Ojibwe) and miigwech ("thank you") for reading the First Nations Wisconsin newsletter.

Representation matters in mass media, and tribal members from Wisconsin are continuing to ensure that Indigenous peoples are seen and heard on big and small screens this year.

For example, Ojibwe people of northern Wisconsin have just made their mark on one of the biggest movie franchises of all time – Star Wars.

Niigaanii-Animikii Inini Kalvin Hartwig, who works as a language and culture coordinator for the Red Cliff Ojibwe Nation in northern Wisconsin, was selected by Disney to perform a voice-over of a character in a redubbing of the 1977 classic, “Star Wars: Episode IV-A New Hope” (It's the original "Star Wars." It was retroactively renamed to align with other episodes in the series).

The film has been redubbed in the Ojibwe language using speakers from Ojibwe tribes in U.S. and Canada, and will soon be available to stream on Disney+, as well as showing for a limited time at select local theaters.

“I was floored,” Hartwig told the Red Cliff tribal newsletter, Miisaninawiind. “I’m a huge fan of the Star Wars series.”

But more than that, he’s excited that Ojibwe will hear their language, which is currently being revitalized, spoken in a blockbuster movie.

“I want to see all our communities be fluent again," Hartwig said, "and if we strive hard today, doing everyday things in Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe), like watching Hollywood films recorded in Ojibwe, will be a normal experience for future, fluent generations.”

He learned of the opportunity after seeing a flyer for the casting call on a friend’s Facebook page and was urged to audition.

That’s much the same way a young Menominee actress landed her role as a Marvel superhero who’s deaf. Alaqua Cox performs as the superhero character Maya Lopez, known as Echo because her ancestors echo through her, in her own Disney+ series that was released earlier this year.

Her friends had found a casting call for the role online and encouraged her to audition.

“We have a lot of white superheroes, but we don’t have other cultures’ superheroes,” Cox said. “So, we’re now seeing a lot of diversity and all of these disabilities being represented. And I feel like we can do anything.”

Also on the small screen this summer, Ho-Chunk chef Elena Terry competed against some of the best pitmasters in the world on the TV show “BBQ Brawl” on Food Network.

“If I can show the next generation of Indigenous chefs that this is a space not only can they exist in, but they can thrive in, that’s a win for me,” Terry said in the season’s first episode, which aired July 8.

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About me

I'm Frank Vaisvilas, the Indigenous affairs reporter for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin based at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel . I cover Native American issues in Wisconsin. You can reach me at 815-260-2262 or fvaisvilas@gannett.com , or on Twitter at @vaisvilas_frank .

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: In a galaxy far, far away, Ojibwe was spoken