I am not a Star Wars Uber Fan, but in case you need it, my
Force Number is B7203183000 (see accompanying Star Wars Fan Club
Correspondence).
Star Wars fandom, for me, comes and goes. I was pretty sure
I was forever over it, but then Disney+ released The Mandolorian and here I am taking
a stand like 1981 called and wants my Force Number back. This time, however, the force feels different. Back in the 1900’s Star Wars was about the epic battle of good versus evil. To help the audience out, the western symbolism of white and black was used. Good guys wore the white hats (the rebellion, Luke,
Leia, R2D2 ). Evil (Darth Vader) wore black.
I was raised a middleclass white girl. My father watched a
lot of TV -- Gunsmoke, Bonanza, John Wayne Movies. I know he took the family to
movies, but the only vivid memory I have of going to the movies as a family is of Dad
taking us to see Star Wars in 1977. Finally, a western the whole family could
enjoy!
The original Star Wars was released 43 years ago. A lot has changed
since then. For example, instead of a teenager, I am now a mother who has raised 7 indigenous children into adulthood.
My children have impacted my thinking way more than I ever imprinted their
thought process. For example – they don’t look upon Star Wars as the epic
battle between good versus evil. They see Star Wars as a glorification of imperialist/colonial
mindset on both sides. To them, the true heroes of the Star Wars saga are the
indigenous peoples who survive the endless warmongering of the Republic and the
Separatists/Empire.
Take for example, Mandalore. When the animated series, The
Clone Wars, takes the viewer to Mandalore in Season Two (ep 12 – 14), Duchess
Satine has taken a position of neutrality. She will not pick a side in a war
that has nothing to do with her planet. After some violent acts by the terrorist
organization “Death Watch”, the Republic – shadow puppeteered by the evil Chancellor Palpatine – proposes to send troops to Mandalore for their own
protection. Duchess Satine declines the offer.
“Defending? You mean to occupy our home. You would trample
our right to self-determination…You will turn our planet into a military
target, which will bring the war to us.” The clone wars were a mess where two
equally corrupt governments each headed by the same shadowy Palpatine fought over
who was the most righteous. In the end, it was the indigenous populations of
each planet that suffered and died.
That was a pretty lengthy backstory to get to the topic that
has been rattling around in my brain since the Mandalorian came out. My
children believe that Baby Yoda is a sacred indigenous baby. And it is not just
my children. Native Instagram and the Native Meme Staff Carriers have gone into
a creative frenzy adopting Baby Yoda into a plethora of cultural content.
NBC
News published an opinion on why Native Americans identify so well with Baby
Yoda. In the article, which you can read in its entirety here,
the author discusses the concept of "indigenization". The lack of representation for Native
Americans in popular culture causes the community to give certain aspects of
pop culture an “indigenous spin”. While insightful, this article does not
address the question of why Baby Yoda.
DGO Magazine published an article on the influence of Star
Wars on indigenous art. You can read that article in its entirety here.
It seems only fair that indigenous artists pull from Star Wars as we all know
Princess Leia got her side buns from the Hopi.
The DGO article also mentions that
Star Wars was the first Hollywood movie dubbed into Navajo. So why we’re asking,
“Why Yoda?”, we should also be asking, “Why Star Wars.” I’m going back to my
answer of decolonization. I don’t believe that Native Americans need to
indigenize Yoda. He is an indigenous life form. Here's hoping Season 2 of
the Mandalorian will remain focused on returning Baby Yoda (aka "the child") to his people and getting his
#landback.
