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Meet Henley Rey, a Young Lakota Voice in 'The Avengers' Dub

by Robert Bordeaux

Two photos side by side; one showing a young person with headphones looking and smiling at an adult next to them also wearing headphones. The other photo shows the same young person with their arms raised as they hold headphones on their head.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Ray Taken ALive
Henley Rey Taken Alive in the studio with her father, Ray Taken Alive, during the recording and dubbing of Marvel's 'The Avengers' in Lakota.

The 10-year-old Lakota language learner shares her hopes for what projects like this could bring in the future.

In June of 2024, Marvel Studios released the Lak̇ot̄a dub of their 2012 film ‘The Avengers’ and made it available to stream on Disney+. Many in the Dakotas were involved in making this project come alive, including Cyril “Chuck” Archambault, Ray Taken Alive, Dallas Nelson, Lawrence Archambault, the Lakota Reclamation Project, Grey Willow Studios, students from McLaughlin school, elders from the Standing Rock community alongside actor Mark Ruffalo and the film production giant. 

This project and ensuing partnerships opened the door for Henley Rey Taken Alive, a resident of the Standing Rock Reservation and the 10-year-old daughter of Lisa and Ray Taken Alive. She participated in the film’s dubbing process; making history with ‘The Avengers’ being one of the first major films to be fully dubbed in Lak̇ot̄a. For her, “hanging out with my uncles and cousins at the studio” was a favorite moment during the process.

Henley Rey has had a front seat to those deeply involved in the Lak̇ot̄a language reclamation movement. Her father is an activist who has worked tirelessly to address data sovereignty and language revitalization. He helped plant the seed that grew into the Lak̇ot̄a dub of the Hollywood blockbuster.

A young person with long dark hair wearing a white turtleneck and a light pink skirt.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Ray Taken ALive
Henley Rey Taken Alive voiced lines for a young character in the Lakota dub of the 2012 blockbuster movie.

“It ties us to our family,” shares Henley Rey as she talks about the importance of learning and speaking the Lak̇ot̄a language for her people. “It gives us something to be proud of. It will help us be proud to be Lak̇ot̄a,” she says when asked about the significance of the movie project.

Many of the original cast members, including Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, and Jeremy Renner were able to do some of their original lines in Lak̇ot̄a. Alongside them, Henley Rey recorded lines for a “young girl” character in the movie. 

She hopes to see more movies dubbed in Lak̇ot̄a since they can be used as a way to learn the language and as a tool for schools to use in their curriculum. “I wish learning Lak̇ot̄a was just as important as learning to read in schools,” says the young Lak̇ot̄a language learner, who attended a local Lak̇ot̄a immersion program. Projects like this one on mainstream platforms are key to preserving the traditional language and encouraging more speakers.

Considering the future of the language and her own language journey, Henley Rey hopes to be a fluent speaker within the next 10 years. She looks forward to more projects like this one being set in motion. The fifth grader would love to see one of her all-time favorites ‘Holes’ (the 2003 movie based on Louis Sachar’s 1998 novel of the same name) dubbed in Lak̇ot̄a someday.