An assistant professor at Algoma University and Shingwauk Kinoomaage Gamig who has dedicated much of his life to teaching others Anishinaabemowin has lent his voice to an Ojibwe dubbing of a classic Star Wars film.
John-Paul Chalykoff provided voiceovers for nearly a dozen characters in Star Wars (Anangong Miigaading): A New Hope, a project which brought together Dakota Ojibway Tribal Council, the University of Manitoba, APTN and Disney/Lucasfilm in an effort to “restore the Anishinaabe language to the galaxy,” according to a news release.
Dubbing for the project took place in Winnipeg, Man. with a number of Anishinaabe language speakers from Ontario, Manitoba and Minnesota providing voiceovers for characters over the course of a 10-day period in May.
“I used the tools I learned from learning eastern-style dialect, where you drop vowels. I put to use my learning of western-style dialects, where the short vowels are intact,” said Chalykoff. “The script was somewhere in the middle — a lot of vowels are intact, but they shorten them to make them fit the mouth movements.
“I felt like I was able to use everything I learned from every teacher that I had over the years, from the U.S. to Canada. Putting all that to use, it felt like a way of giving back.”
The Michipicoten First Nation band member participated in a virtual audition organized by Disney/Lucasfilm in order to land the roles after learning of the project from a social media post by former Algoma University Anishinaabemowin instructor or Order of Canada appointee Patricia Ningewance. Chalykoff got a call back about a month or two later in order to schedule an audition after responding to an open casting call.
“We had to audition for the main characters. I was pretty hesitant,” he recalled. “I applied for Han Solo and made it to the second round.
“I was kind of relieved — I’d be happy to do any small character. I just wanted to see whatever the best Star Wars could be.”
He would eventually be tapped for roughly 10 minor roles in the Ojibwe dubbing of the film — Chalykoff jokingly describes them as “blink-and-you-miss-it” roles — including the voices for some of the soldiers and members of the Rebel Alliance.
“I tried to find a different voice alteration for all those kinds of characters,” he said.
The Anishinaabe language instructor was thrown a curveball when he was asked to voice Uncle Owen, a character which has a larger role in the film than the minor characters he was initially tapped to voice. “I think I had one night’s notice to practice,” he said.
Chalykoff, who is a musician and puppeteer when he's not teaching students the language at Algoma University and Shingwauk Kinoomaage Gamig, is excited to see the finished product once it’s released.
“You never know what kind of adventures you’ll get into with Anishinaabemowin,” he said. “It’ll be a cool piece of advocacy for language learning, and a fun resource that families can put on in their homes.”
Star Wars (Anangong Miigaading): A New Hope premieres in Winnipeg Aug.8, with a limited release in Winnipeg and other markets set for Aug. 10.
The film will debut on Disney+ and APTN at a future date.