Lily Gladstone poses with the award for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama for "Killers of the Flower Moon" on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024. Credit: Sthanlee B. Mirado / Sipa USA
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“This [award] is for every little rez kid, every little urban kid, every little Native [American] kid out there who has a dream, who is seeing themselves represented in our stories told by ourselves in our own words with tremendous allies and tremendous trust.”
—Lily Gladstone, Golden Globes Acceptance Speech
What a week it has been for Indian Country in the media and arts. Last Sunday, Lily Gladstone (Blackfeet) became the first Indigenous person to win a Golden Globe (Best Female Actress). There wasn’t a dry eye across Indian Country as we all got to see one of our own walk across that stage and clasp that statue for each and every one of us. Not only is the award a significant, historical accomplishment, but it was received for a film that brought the entire Osage Nation of Oklahoma to the forefront of America’s eyes. We are still here. The story of Mollie Burkhart and her family is another legacy of Osage history that had gone untold, like many of our stories.
What resonates with me, and I know many others, is Gladstone’s acceptance speech. The inclusivity of her words. There is a stereotype that all Natives live on a reservation, rarely are we thought of living in urban areas. However, we aren’t all still riding horses and establishing our homes in teepees. We are everywhere, with 574 federally recognized tribes across 35 states, more than 100 state recognized tribes, and 6.79 million people.
Even among our own there have been discussions about who is truly Native. In graduate school, I was told by a colleague during a classroom discussion that I wasn’t really Native because I didn’t grow up on the reservation That was the first time my ethnicity was ever questioned, and by one of our own no less. There is an imposter syndrome that resonates from a comment like that, for many of us urban Natives. But the reality is, we are here too. And Gladstone’s acceptance speech included all of us, and the tears flowed, an immediate release of the imposter syndrome held so long by many of us “urban” kids. Sixty-percent of us live in urban areas. Jefferson, Orleans and St Bernard) are home to 4,949 Native’s that identify as Native American or Alaskan Native alone (which is not inclusive of those who identify as Native plus some other race.
How did we get to the urban areas we currently reside? The Dawes Act of 1887, under President Grover Cleveland, disrupted Native American life by dividing and selling protected tribal lands, violating existing treaties. This led to a loss of cultural and inherent rights for many tribes. In the mid-20th century, policies such as the “Indian Termination Policy” and Bureau of Indian Affairs relocation programs aimed to assimilate Indigenous peoples into Western culture. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, a Northern Cheyenne and former U.S. Senator, summed up these policies in 2007: “If you can’t change them, absorb them until they simply disappear into the mainstream culture.” Despite efforts to assimilate and erase Indigenous identities, the resilience of Native Americans has persisted.
Not only were our tribal communities recognized across the globe this week, but another move into the arts gave Native Americans our first Native American superhero. In Marvel’s “Echo,” Maya Lopez, portrayed by Alaqua Cox (Menominee).
Both of these events this week are a historic nod to Indigenous representation. It’s a testament to enduring Native identity amid historical assimilation efforts, now celebrated in the arts and symbolizing the transformation from historical displacement to present-day cultural empowerment.
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What a week: Trailblazing Indigenous representation in media and arts
by Brandi Liberty, Verite News New Orleans January 16, 2024
Brandi Liberty is an enrolled member of the Iowa Tribe of Kansas & Nebraska and a descendant of the United Houma Nation in Southern Louisiana. She is the owner of The Luak Group and its subsidiary...
More by Brandi Liberty
What a week: Trailblazing Indigenous representation in media and arts
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Everyone deserves access to quality information. Sign up for our free newsletters.
“This [award] is for every little rez kid, every little urban kid, every little Native [American] kid out there who has a dream, who is seeing themselves represented in our stories told by ourselves in our own words with tremendous allies and tremendous trust.”
—Lily Gladstone, Golden Globes Acceptance Speech
What a week it has been for Indian Country in the media and arts. Last Sunday, Lily Gladstone (Blackfeet) became the first Indigenous person to win a Golden Globe (Best Female Actress). There wasn’t a dry eye across Indian Country as we all got to see one of our own walk across that stage and clasp that statue for each and every one of us. Not only is the award a significant, historical accomplishment, but it was received for a film that brought the entire Osage Nation of Oklahoma to the forefront of America’s eyes. We are still here. The story of Mollie Burkhart and her family is another legacy of Osage history that had gone untold, like many of our stories.
What resonates with me, and I know many others, is Gladstone’s acceptance speech. The inclusivity of her words. There is a stereotype that all Natives live on a reservation, rarely are we thought of living in urban areas. However, we aren’t all still riding horses and establishing our homes in teepees. We are everywhere, with 574 federally recognized tribes across 35 states, more than 100 state recognized tribes, and 6.79 million people.
Even among our own there have been discussions about who is truly Native. In graduate school, I was told by a colleague during a classroom discussion that I wasn’t really Native because I didn’t grow up on the reservation That was the first time my ethnicity was ever questioned, and by one of our own no less. There is an imposter syndrome that resonates from a comment like that, for many of us urban Natives. But the reality is, we are here too. And Gladstone’s acceptance speech included all of us, and the tears flowed, an immediate release of the imposter syndrome held so long by many of us “urban” kids. Sixty-percent of us live in urban areas. Jefferson, Orleans and St Bernard) are home to 4,949 Native’s that identify as Native American or Alaskan Native alone (which is not inclusive of those who identify as Native plus some other race.
How did we get to the urban areas we currently reside? The Dawes Act of 1887, under President Grover Cleveland, disrupted Native American life by dividing and selling protected tribal lands, violating existing treaties. This led to a loss of cultural and inherent rights for many tribes. In the mid-20th century, policies such as the “Indian Termination Policy” and Bureau of Indian Affairs relocation programs aimed to assimilate Indigenous peoples into Western culture. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, a Northern Cheyenne and former U.S. Senator, summed up these policies in 2007: “If you can’t change them, absorb them until they simply disappear into the mainstream culture.” Despite efforts to assimilate and erase Indigenous identities, the resilience of Native Americans has persisted.
Not only were our tribal communities recognized across the globe this week, but another move into the arts gave Native Americans our first Native American superhero. In Marvel’s “Echo,” Maya Lopez, portrayed by Alaqua Cox (Menominee).
Both of these events this week are a historic nod to Indigenous representation. It’s a testament to enduring Native identity amid historical assimilation efforts, now celebrated in the arts and symbolizing the transformation from historical displacement to present-day cultural empowerment.
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Brandi Liberty
Brandi Liberty is an enrolled member of the Iowa Tribe of Kansas & Nebraska and a descendant of the United Houma Nation in Southern Louisiana. She is the owner of The Luak Group and its subsidiary... More by Brandi Liberty