Lily Gladstone speaks Blackfeet, dedicates historic Globes win to ‘every little rez kid’
“Hello my friends/relatives. My name is Eagle Woman. I am Blackfeet. I love you all.”
Those were the words that Lily Gladstone spoke in Blackfeet at the beginning of her Golden Globe acceptance speech last night after winning best female actor in a motion picture — drama for her role in Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
Her win was historic, as she became the first Indigenous woman to win that award at the Globes.
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“I just spoke a bit of Blackfeet language, the beautiful community nation that raised me, that encouraged me to keep going, keep doing this,” Gladstone continued, before giving some historical context about Native representation on-screen. “I’m so grateful that I can speak even a little bit of my language, which I’m not fluent in, up here. Because in this business, Native actors used to speak their lines in English and then the sound mixers would run them backwards to accomplish Native languages on camera.”
37-year-old actor acknowledged her “historic win” and shared credit for it with all her “beautiful sisters in the film ... and my mother [and co-star], Tantoo Cardinal, [I’m] standing on all of your shoulders.”
Gladstone also dedicated her victory to children who, just like her, dream big despite the societal obstacles in their way.
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“[T]his is for every little rez kid, every little urban kid, every little Native kid out there who has a dream, who is seeing themselves represented and our stories told by ourselves in our own words, with tremendous allies and tremendous trust with and from each other,” she said.
Gladstone told reporters after the awards show that the beginning of her speech was a traditional form of greeting.
“One of the first things we’re taught is you say your name, you say where you’re from and you say hello to everyone — hello, my friends,” Gladstone said. “So it was one of the more natural things I can do in the moment.”
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During the Golden Globes red carpet, Gladstone and her “Killers of the Flower Moon” co-star Leonardo DiCaprio wore accessories on their outfits that were nods to Indigenous people.
“The Osage Nation, we’re standing in unison with them for this movie,” DiCaprio told “Entertainment Tonight.” “I have my Osage pin on tonight.”
Gladstone told the outlet that her earrings were a Blackfeet design made by Antelope Women Designs’ Blackfeet/Cree artist Lenise Omeasoo.
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