TULSA, Okla. — Two Oklahoma-based tribal nations are not just honoring their history, but making history in pop culture through dubbing native languages in prominent streaming shows.
“We were wanting something a little more family-friendly and something that’s very recognizable," Roy Boney of the Cherokee Nation's language department said about the nation partnering with Amazon Studios to dub the Cherokee language in the series Lord of The Rings: Rings of Power.
Boney and Production Director Sarah Oosahwee-Voss have spent over a year dubbing more than eight hours of footage to go with their usual work at the Durbin Feeling Language Center. The first dubbed episode was screened on Nov. 9 at Cherokee Casino Tahlequah. The duo plans to finish the show's first season by next spring.
The show covers thousands of years of Middle Earth lore, loosely based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion and The Lord of The Rings, with dozens of main characters alone - with several fictional languages to go with it. 30 Cherokee film and language talents had to capture all the dialogue in a single recording booth.
“My dad played one of the characters," Oosahwee-Voss told 2 News. "He’s a speaker, so he’s been part of the process with the translations. It’s really a family affair.”
“Recently, we’ve had Reservation Dogs and Killers of The Flower Moon filmed in Oklahoma," Boney said. "Cherokee Film has gathered a lot of that talent and put them in this database. So with that (and our work) we can start collecting our Cherokee voice talent in that, too. And again, it’s building bridges for (where) we didn’t see anything before.”
The bridges are also the result of an initiative first brought forth by Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr. and the Cherokee Nation Tribal Council.
“We’re talking about a language initiative that adapts itself to technology so we can reach around the world – and a film initiative that is dedicated to building up this industry," Chief Hoskin, Jr. told 2 News. "We (can) attract people like Amazon, and that’s what we’ve done here.”
The Choctaw Nation is enjoying its own bridge-building with the Choctaw-centered Marvel series Echo.
Assistant Director of the Chahta Anumpa Aiikhvna, School of Choctaw Language Terri Billy worked with both the show’s original production and its Choctaw language dubbing, both now available on Disney Plus.
“And hopefully with that huge of an investment from major productions to do such a thing, is really doing a great thing for our tribes in bringing to the forefront the languages and hoping that young people take an interest,” Billy said via Zoom.
The pride is palpable for both nations, as Oklahoma continues to be an epicenter of pop culture and language.
“I mean, there’s no words really, to say how amazing these types of projects are,” Oosahwee-Voss said.
“Maybe it's never been thought of before, but it's here, and it can happen," Billy said. "And it is happening.”
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere --
- Download our free app for Apple, Android and Kindle devices.
- Sign up for daily newsletters emailed to you
- Like us on Facebook
- Follow us on Instagram
- SUBSCRIBE on YouTube
