DURANGO— As a child, Manuelito ‘Manny’ Wheeler often mocked children who spoke Diné Bizaad —the 700-year-old Navajo language—at school.
Born and raised on the Navajo Nation, Wheeler said it took decades before he understood the origins of that behavior and its ties to the legacies of the Federal Indian Boarding School policies that sought to “kill the Indian, save the man,” referencing the infamous 1892 speech by Richard H. Pratt, superintendent of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania —the flagship Indian boarding school in the country.
“Storytelling is very important to Indian people,” Wheeler said, explaining that until the boarding schools, generations passed on stories of creation and connection to people and place. “Boarding schools broke that chain,” he added, recalling how his parents spoke to each other in Diné but spoke to him in English.
Wheeler, now a Navajo entertainment consultant, spoke at Fort Lewis College last week about his efforts to dub the 1977 blockbuster film Star Wars: A New Hope. The presentation preceded an outdoor film screening in the Center of Southwest Studies courtyard. The events celebrated the closing of the Center’s popular exhibition, The Return of the Force, which had been on display since September 2023 and celebrated the many cultural, philosophical, and mythological connections between Indigeneity and the Star Wars universe.
Wheeler earned a bachelor’s in art history from Arizona State University and served as creative director at The Heard Museum before transitioning to the Navajo Nation Museum in Window Rock, Ariz. There, he spent 15 years working his way up from a carpenter’s assistant to executive director. As a director, Wheeler advanced innovative projects that drew awareness to and sought to preserve the Diné language, identity, and culture. He is now an independent consultant working in entertainment and culture.
During the Q&A session, Wheeler reflected on his personal journey toward understanding the importance of language preservation. He noted that even today, people sometimes mock those with a "rez" accent on social media.
"The people who are the butt of these jokes are the ones with the last hope of saving the language," he said. "They are hanging on to our language with one finger."
Cultural tipping point
Wheeler said increasingly that Native youth are not fluent in Native languages.
“We’re at a cultural tipping point,” he said, adding that a recent poll showed that out of 3,000 elementary children in the Navajo Nation, six were fluent in the language, and 200 could comprehend it.
“Language is the core of any culture,” he said.
Dubbing Star Wars
Wheeler said his wife, Jennifer Wheeler, inspired the project and was key in its development. An educator of Diné language and literature with a doctoral degree in English, she’s been keen on language revitalization.
A lover of Star Wars himself, Wheeler said he started sending messages about dubbing the film in the early 2000s, but it took years before, in 2012, someone at Lucasfilm finally responded. With the support of other key collaborators, including the Navajo Nation, his team embarked on translating the first major motion picture into Navajo.
He recalled that this part of the project moved forward at intergalactic speed, with translators—led by his wife—completing the script in 36 hours.
Once the voice actors were chosen, all but one native speakers, they set up at the Native-owned Knifewing Studios in Gallup, New Mexico, for 14 days of continued recording.
On July 3, 2013, more than 1,500 people—many dressed as Star Wars characters—attended the movie premiere at the Navajo Nation Fairgrounds in Window Rock, where a rodeo had taken place hours earlier, Wheeler said.
As the words in Diné Bazaar started crawling on the screen, he recalled the crowd going wild.
Long-term impact
Wheeler said the movie's dubbing received worldwide recognition, appearing in magazines in France and newspapers in New Zealand. I also helped increase pride among Navajo youth and Diné people around the country. Asked what viewers should take away from the film, Wheeler emphasized two key points.
"It raises awareness about the importance of the Navajo language and other Indigenous languages. It helps Native people realize, and it helps the country understand, what happened and why we're in this position—afraid of losing our language," he said. "But ultimately, it's just a movie. Just watch it and enjoy it."
Those efforts have certainly paid off. In addition to Star Wars, Wheeler has worked on dubbing several other films, including Disney Pixar’s Finding Nemo. The original project also helped spark a movement to translate films into other Indigenous languages. Star Wars: A New Hope was recently released in Ojibwe. 
As the sun set over Fort Lewis Mesa, the weather was cool enough to cozy up for a movie. About 30 participants gathered outside the Center of Southwest Studies, enjoying popcorn and foam lightsabers as the iconic yellow Star Wars words crawled up the screen: "Sq'tah Anaa': Siih Nahasdlii."