美国国家公共电台 NPR 'The Force Is With Our People' Connects Indigenous Culture To A Galaxy Far Away

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

The new "Star Wars" film, "The Rise Of Skywalker," continues that epic¹ storyline of endurance and rebellion. Those themes have long resonated with Native American fans in the Southwest, who say the story speaks to their own historical experiences. An exhibit by Native artists called "The Force Is With Our People" is attempting to illustrate² those connections. From member station KNAU in Flagstaff, Ariz., Ryan Heinsius reports.

RYAN HEINSIUS, BYLINE³: Duane Koyawena is piloting a custom R2D2 unit in front of the Museum of Northern Arizona. It's life-size and sounds just like the original.

DUANE KOYAWENA: When I was thinking about it, I was like, wouldn't it be cool to see an R2 that's decked out and looks like actually, like, a pottery⁴. So along with that comes the designs - and so the tans and the reddish burn marks from when they fire the pottery.

HEINSIUS: At first glance, the traditional Hopi maroon⁵ and tan patterns are a surprising look for the famous droid, but Koyawena says it makes total sense for R2.

KOYAWENA: A lot of elders, you know, our uncles or our friends always tell us in ceremony, nahongvitah, which means to give it your all or just to be strong and to persevere⁶. I feel like the "Hopi R2" kind of fits in that same line.

HEINSIUS: Koyawena is one of 25 artists from more than a dozen Southwestern tribes taking part in "The Force Is With Our People." Curator and ethnographer Tony Thibodeau got the idea for the exhibit during a trip to Indigipop X, the indigenous⁷ Comic-Con in Albuquerque, N.M.

TONY THIBODEAU: I think there's clearly some parallels between Native stories, things like the Hero Twins, a very prominent story in Navajo culture - parallels between that and "Star Wars," of course, Luke and Leia being basically Hero Twins in that story.

HEINSIUS: A glass case in the middle of the exhibit holds tiny wooden Chewbaccas carved and painted in a sparse⁸ Navajo style. Nearby stands a Storm Trooper, adorned⁹ with patterns by an Apache artist, and a comic book illustration represents R2D2 and C-3PO as Navajo Code Talkers.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Oh, cool. Oh, wow.

(LAUGHTER)

HEINSIUS: On opening night, the visitors are enchanted¹⁰ with the work, especially "Hopi R2," who's the star of the show and works the room. Both kids and adults interact with and even talk to the droid as if it's an old friend. The exhibit also bridges generations, drawing families made up of wide age ranges.

RYAN SINGER: I've been drawing "Star Wars" in my artwork for - probably since I was a little kid, probaly since the late '70s, early '80s.

HEINSIUS: That's Ryan Singer, a New Mexico-based Navajo artist prominently featured in the exhibit. He paints vivid depictions of reservation life that overlap¹¹ with the "Star Wars" universe. For him, the connections run deep.

SINGER: There's always that rebellion kind of attitude or spirit, like the little guy - people that don't have all the power, and they're getting trampled¹² over. Indigenous people can kind of feel like the - maybe the rebels fighting the Empire.

HEINSIUS: Cultural assimilation and the lasting¹³ effects of colonialism are strong in Singer's work. His painting "(De)Colonized Ewok" was inspired by the trauma¹⁴ of the forced boarding school experiences of thousands of Native Americans in the 19th and 20th centuries.

SINGER: You can use "Star Wars" metaphors¹⁵ or motifs¹⁶ to kind of reel people in to let them see what's happening or see what happened before, say, in history.

HEINSIUS: For a moment, the parallel universes are one, bringing that galaxy¹⁷ far, far away a little closer to home.

For NPR News, I'm Ryan Heinsius in Flagstaff, Ariz.

1 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。

2 illustrate   

v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图

参考例句：

• The company's bank statements illustrate its success.这家公司的银行报表说明了它的成功。
• This diagram will illustrate what I mean.这个图表可说明我的意思。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 pottery   

n.陶器，陶器场

参考例句：

• My sister likes to learn art pottery in her spare time.我妹妹喜欢在空余时间学习陶艺。
• The pottery was left to bake in the hot sun.陶器放在外面让炎热的太阳烘晒焙干。

5 maroon   

v.困住，使（人）处于孤独无助之境；n.逃亡黑奴；孤立的人；酱紫色，褐红色；adj.酱紫色的，褐红色的

参考例句：

• Five couples were marooned in their caravans when the River Avon broke its banks.埃文河决堤的时候，有5对夫妇被困在了他们的房车里。
• Robinson Crusoe has been marooned on a desert island for 26 years.鲁滨逊在荒岛上被困了26年。

6 persevere   

v.坚持，坚忍，不屈不挠

参考例句：

• They are determined to persevere in the fight.他们决心坚持战斗。
• It is strength of character enabled him to persevere.他那坚强的性格使他能够坚持不懈。

7 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

8 sparse   

adj.稀疏的，稀稀落落的，薄的

参考例句：

• The teacher's house is in the suburb where the houses are sparse.老师的家在郊区，那里稀稀拉拉有几处房子。
• The sparse vegetation will only feed a small population of animals.稀疏的植物只够喂养少量的动物。

9 adorned   

[计]被修饰的

参考例句：

• The walls were adorned with paintings. 墙上装饰了绘画。
• And his coat was adorned with a flamboyant bunch of flowers. 他的外套上面装饰着一束艳丽刺目的鲜花。

10 enchanted   

adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• She was enchanted by the flowers you sent her. 她非常喜欢你送给她的花。
• He was enchanted by the idea. 他为这个主意而欣喜若狂。

11 overlap   

v.重叠，与…交叠；n.重叠

参考例句：

• The overlap between the jacket and the trousers is not good.夹克和裤子重叠的部分不好看。
• Tiles overlap each other.屋瓦相互叠盖。

12 trampled   

踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯

参考例句：

• He gripped his brother's arm lest he be trampled by the mob. 他紧抓着他兄弟的胳膊，怕他让暴民踩着。
• People were trampled underfoot in the rush for the exit. 有人在拼命涌向出口时被踩在脚下。

13 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

14 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

15 metaphors   

隐喻( metaphor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I can only represent it to you by metaphors. 我只能用隐喻来向你描述它。
• Thus, She's an angel and He's a lion in battle are metaphors. 因此她是天使，他是雄狮都是比喻说法。

16 motifs   

n. （文艺作品等的）主题( motif的名词复数 )；中心思想；基本模式；基本图案

参考例句：

• I try to develop beyond the old motifs. 我力求对传统的花纹图案做到推陈出新。 来自辞典例句
• American Dream is one of the most important motifs of American literature. “美国梦”是美国文学最重要的母题之一。 来自互联网

17 galaxy   

n.星系；银河系；一群(杰出或著名的人物)

参考例句：

• The earth is one of the planets in the Galaxy.地球是银河系中的星球之一。
• The company has a galaxy of talent.该公司拥有一批优秀的人才。