At the 81st Annual Golden Globe Awards, Lily Gladstone made history by becoming the first Blackfeet and Nimiipuu heritage person to win a Golden Globe.
Gladstone won the Best Actress award for her role in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon. The film is based on the early 1900s Osage Nation murders and stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro.
Gladstone delivered a rousing acceptance speech, which earned her a standing ovation from the audience. She started her speech by speaking in Blackfeet, the language of her community, which she described as a beautiful community that encouraged her to keep going. She thanked her mother, who worked tirelessly to get their language into their classroom so she had a Blackfeet language growing up.
Gladstone acknowledged her “historic” win and noted that she was “grateful” to speak in Blackfeet on stage. She referenced the early days of Hollywood when sound mixers would run Native actors’ lines, delivered in English, backwards “to accomplish Native languages on camera”. She also praised Scorsese, DiCaprio, and De Niro “for being such allies”.
Gladstone’s win was a historic moment in awards history, and she acknowledged that it didn’t belong to just her but to all of her beautiful sisters, the film, and her mother. She also praised the other nominees in her category, stating they were all “so beautiful and talented.”
The evening was full of great moments, including Timothée Chalamet and Kylie Jenner making their relationship Hollywood official and several excellent beauty looks – with the bob dominating as the haircut of the night.
