In a galaxy far, far away: Exploring Star Wars through an Indigenous lens

This episode originally aired January 12, 2020.

Since the first film's release in 1977, the Star Wars series has become a worldwide, pop culture phenomenon. And with The Rise of Skywalker on track to pull in $1 billion worldwide, Unreserved is launching into hyperspace and exploring the Star Wars universe — through an Indigenous lens.

It's typical for the opening scrolling text to advance the Star Wars story between films, but Black and Ohkay Owingeh author Rebecca Roanhorse wrote Resistance Reborn, a prequel for the latest film, The Rise of Skywalker. It tells the story of Poe Dameron as he rebuilds the Resistance under the guidance of General Leia Organa.

Many Indiginerds see parallels between Star Wars and their own communities. Darren Lone Fight, a member of the Three Affiliated Tribes in North Dakota, is a cultural scholar — and a Star Wars fan. From Hopi hairstyles to the Miwok language, he explains the many ways Indigenous communities inspired the Star Wars universe.

There are few references to Indigenous people in the Star Wars story — so sometimes, Indigenous people will adopt a character as their own. As far as many Indigenous Star Wars fans are concerned, Baby Yoda, an adorable character on The Mandalorian, is Indigenous. Sonya Ballantyne and Simon Moya-Smith make the case.

A new exhibit at the Museum of Northern Arizona celebrates all things Star Wars — including 20 different contemporary Native American artists and their paintings, jewelry, pottery and even cosplay costumes. Curator Tony Thibodeau talks about the inspiration behind the exhibit, and Hopi-Tewa artist Duane Koyawena talks about his collaboration with Joe Mastroianni on a Hopi R2 drone that roams the museum.

This week's playlist: 

A Tribe Called Red — Tankokumbia

Quantum Tangle & Lydia Kepinski — Signal