The Force of Words

The Word

In many cultures, around the world and across time, the spoken word has been seen as having a power to create and destroy. In the Hebrew Bible, creation is spoken into existence with the words “Let there be light.”

The words of the Diné (or Navajo) people helped to bring an end to World War II. Diné serving in the U.S. Marines developed a code adapted from their tribal language that baffled the Japanese. These “Code Talkers” were able to communicate top secret information to aid the Allied Powers’ efforts in the brutal theater of war in the Pacific.

The Navajo Code Talker program has grown in public consciousness over the last 40 years and has been the subject of many books, documentaries, and even the 2002 film Windtalkers. Yet, with all this focus on what the language accomplished, you couldn’t watch a Hollywood film in Navajo until recently.

A New Hope in Navajo

In 2013, Navajo Nation Museum director Manuelito Wheeler embarked on a project with Lucasfilm to dub the original Star Wars: A New Hope into Navajo!

It would be the first mainstream film to be translated into any Native American language.

I learned about this as I was preparing to go to Anaheim for Star Wars Celebration 7 (2015 convention celebrating all things Star Wars). One of the panels that intrigued me most was a discussion and documentary screening about the project.

During this panel, I was surprised to learn that there are a sizeable number of Diné that still speak the Navajo language, traditionally known as Diné Bizaad, almost exclusively. However, their numbers are slowly growing silent as many from the younger generations are no longer learning their parents’ language.

The panelists explained that, despite the admonitions of their parents about the importance of learning to speak their native tongue, the younger generation often see the language as a relic of the past, irrelevant to their lives.

Voiceover actor for Star Wars in Navajo — Diné voice actor in the documentary.

Film as a Cultural Force

The excitement that the Star Wars dubbing project generated was multigenerational, drawing voice talent and actors from throughout the Diné community.

When the project was complete, the newly-dubbed film was shown outdoors at rodeo grounds on the reservation. After the movie finished, a Navajo elder, who spoke no English, exclaimed through a translator that it was the best movie she had ever seen! The original 1,500 DVDs sold out quickly with profits going to the Navajo Nation Parks and Recreation Department, which helped fund the dubbing project.

Indeed, this project was amongst recent efforts to blaze a trail for the resurgence of Diné Bizaad on the reservation. The movie has even been used in Navajo language classes for the youngest generation. In the eyes of the youth, it is giving a voice to their language that many find compelling. If a hero like Luke Skywalker speaks Diné Bizaad, there’s no denying that their parents’ language has cultural force!

A Fresh Perspective

At the end of the panel, we were treated to a viewing of the Navajo-dubbed version of Star Wars.

Being a language geek, I knew that I would find the story behind this project enjoyable. But I was surprised by how moved I was by actually viewing part of the film in the Diné Bizaad language.

Because I couldn’t understand what was being said, I paid more attention. I watched the background and noticed how much the dry landscape of Tatooine reminded me of Arizona and the Navajo reservation. I noticed how objects looked rusty and well worn, like abandoned buildings along the old Route 66.

Star Wars opening text in Navajo. — “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….”

I listened to the voices of the Diné voice actors. I was surprised to find out that, in this dubbed version, the voice of C3PO was a woman! But why not? It actually worked really well.

Even Uncle Owen’s words sounded more kindly and thoughtful than his English-speaking counterpart.

As the panelists wrapped up, one of the voice actors from the dub quoted something an older tribal member had said to a younger one, “Remember your language. Use it. One day your language will feed you.”

Words have power. They can start wars. They can bring peace. They have the force to create new ways of seeing.

– More Info –

The next Star Wars Celebration convention is scheduled for August 27-30 in Anaheim, CA.

Films:

The Navajo-language voiceover cast of Star Wars reunited in 2018 at Indigenous Comic Con (now “Indigipop X”).
The second major motion picture to be translated into Navajo was Finding Nemo in 2016.

Language:

According to Ethonologue: Languages of the World, as quoted in a 2017 article in the Navajo Times, there are 7,600 Navajo-only speakers and over 171,000 fluent speakers worldwide.
The same article shows a steady decline in Navajo speakers, with U.S. Census data showing that 93% of Diné spoke the language in 1980, but only 51% by 2010.
However, there is a movement among some young people to keep the language and culture alive, such as traditional singers Taylor Begay and his brother Dylon Begay.

Museums:

Museums and historic trading posts within the Navajo Nation.
Navajo Nation Museum (Window Rock, Arizona) on Facebook.
Exhibits honoring the Code Talkers, including the official museum in Tuba City, displays in Kayenta, and monuments.
“The Force Is With Our People,” an exhibition exploring the influence of Star Wars on contemporary Native artists. It is at the Museum of Northern Arizona (Flagstaff) – extended through May 25, 2020. Read more on the Navajo-Hopi Observer.

Navajo code talkers display — From the Navajo Code talkers display inside Burger King in Kayenta, Arizona.

November 17, 2018November 24, 2018

Genoa, the Italian Riviera, and a Palm Tree

I was skeptical about the palm tree on the Genoa travel poster and whether it could actually grow in a city that far north.

What I hadn’t realized is that Genoa is on the shores of Mediterranean — specifically, the Italian Riviera. This coastal region in Liguria also includes towns like Portofino and the Cinque Terre, and it has a climate warm enough to support palm trees, agaves, and sun-seeking tourists.

In fact, the Italian Riviera was already a tourist destination in 1884, when Claude Monet visited and painted scenes like the Palm Trees at Bordighera.

Now if the word “riviera” initially made you picture a river (same here), you weren’t completely wrong. The Italian word rivièra can actually refer to the shores of a river, lake, or, in this case, a sea.

Because there’s an Italian Riviera, English speakers called the Mediterranean coast on France’s side of the border the “French Riviera,” borrowing the Italian word again. Apparently, there’s also a (much) lesser-known English Riviera, which seems like a tourism-bureau invention.

And, yes, in Italy, you can just call the Italian Riviera the “Riviera.”

Photos via:

Art Auction House Günther
AudreyH. CCL. (Waterfront in Riva Ligure)
trialsanderrors. CCL. (1920s poster: La Riviera Italienne)
Regan Vercruysse. CCL. (Monet’s Palm Trees at Bordighera at the Met)
Our Italy trip (map in the Vatican)
Martina Pathogens. CCL. (Beach in Alassio)
Regan Vercruysse. CCL. (Detail of Palm Trees at Bordighera)

I’ll be linking up with Thursday Tree Love at Happiness and Food.

June 19, 2017

Ramada – part 2

It was really interesting last week to find out your words for what I’d call a ramada.

It comfirmed my suspicion that it’s a word used primarily in the southwestern U.S., where our proximity to Mexico shows up in bits of Spanish peppered through our language.

Around here, it’s not unusual to hear words like mesa (a flat-topped mountain, literally “table,” and the name of a city) or arroyo (a dry stream bed), call a cottage a casita (which you can see in a few of the listings in my Airbnb post), or say garbanzos instead of chick peas.

And we tend to call the type of cover that goes over a picnic table a ramada. It comes from the Spanish rama (“branch”). Ramada is the adjective form, so it would roughly translate to “branched” or “covered in branches.”

Here are some of your words…

“We say pergola over here in Australia, but I love ramada as well!”
–Linda (Circle of Daydreams)

“I didn’t know the word Ramada, but this now makes me wonder if that’s where the name of the hotel chain comes from? I would have called that a shelter or a pavilion.”
–Mel (Stirrup Queens)

“I think here we’d call that a pergola or even a ‘wooden marquee’ – I’ve never heard of ramada in this context! I knew I’d heard that somewhere though and recall now that there’s a chain of hotels here called Ramada: probably the only use of the word I’ve heard! I see others are mentioning the hotel too…. I see the dictionary says it means an arbour or porch, from Spanish: I wonder if it’s very regional usage in the US then…”
–Different Shores

I wasn’t able to find the story behind the name of the hotel chain. I imagine it comes from the sense of a ramada as a shelter, but it does seem odd to name your hotels after a structure with no walls!

Where the photos were taken:

1. Papago Park, Phoenix
2. Usery Mountain Regional Park, Mesa
3. Fountain Park, Fountain Hills
4. + 6. Mission Garden, Tucson
5. Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, Coolidge

May 16, 2016May 15, 2016

Up or Down?

“Will you be up here over the holidays?”
“No, I probably won’t be down for awhile.”

My cousin and I used to have conversations like this when she lived in Tucson. I say “up” when someone is going north, as if we’re all on a giant wall map. Other people say “up” when they’re headed to higher elevation.

Tucson is south of Phoenix, but it’s at a higher elevation. If you were headed to Phoenix from Tucson, would you say you’re going up to Phoenix or down to Phoenix?

I don’t think one is more correct than the other, but the language geek in me is curious what everyone else says.

—