Read While Listening To: “How Long” by Marx Cassity
In 1983, Buffy Sainte-Marie made history with her Oscar win for Best Original Song as the first Indigenous person to ever be honored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It then took thirty-seven years for an Indigenous person to ever receive the coveted prize again with Taika Waititi’s win in 2020 for Best Adapted Screenplay. [Note: Wes Studi received the Honorary Award in 2019 for his achievements in film but was never nominated in any competitive acting categories.]
Now, decades since that first win, the Academy has a chance to make history again by recognizing “Killers of the Flower Moon” – a film that centers the Osage Nation’s history within the United States – as well as the Native American creatives at the center of it. Going further, this upcoming Academy Awards season provides the opportunity for its voting body to finally acknowledge its own troubled history toward Native communities, especially since Sainte-Marie’s Indigenous roots were allegedly falsified.
Before the upcoming Oscars ceremony in March, no Native American woman has ever been nominated for Best Actress. Furthermore, no Native American performer has ever been at the forefront of conversations for their role in a blockbuster film in the same way that Lily Gladstone, who identifies with she/they pronouns, has. In fact, from 2007 to 2022, less than one quarter of one percent of every top-grossing film featured a Native American character in a speaking role. The percentage of characters who were Native American in any of these films was also less than one percent during this fifteen-year period. Therefore, Lily Gladstone isn’t just creating history or a new form of representation with their role as Mollie Kyle in “Killers of the Flower Moon,” they’re – as The New York Times calls it – “unprecedented.” Yet, it’s important to recognize that if Gladstone were to not only win the major award but to step on the Oscars stage, it would be the first time a Native American woman has done so since being met with threats of violence in 1973.
At the 45th Academy Awards, Marlon Brando won Best Actor for his role in “The Godfather.” Brando, in protest of how Native Americans were treated in film at the time, publicly sent Sacheen Littlefeather to reject the award onstage. In doing so, Littlefeather was not only booed and ridiculed in front of millions of Americans who watched at home, but also had to be protected by security onstage from John Wayne who attempted to assault her. And, while Littefeather’s indigeneity has recently been called into question, the very presence of a Native American woman at the Oscars is still an act of resistance. It’s not only time for the Academy to recognize their past failures [the Academy formally apologized to Littlefeather for the 1973 events 50 years later] but to rectify them through honoring Native American talent at this year’s awards.
Whether it’s Lily Gladstone for Best Actress, Robbie Robertson for Best Original Score, Scott George for Best Original Song, or even “Killers of the Flower Moon” for Best Picture, it could be the first time that a Native American is ever honored in some of these categories.
With all of this being said, at no point is any Native person aiming to take away from or diminish non-Native creatives or performers by rallying behind a “Killers of the Flower Moon” sweep at this year’s Oscars. Rather, Native communities – specifically, the Osage Nation – want the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize the history unfolding before them with this film. It’s crucial that the Academy asks themselves how many times a white performer, composer, or creative will win the coveted award all before a Native American of similar talent is shown that their voice is valued and celebrated on the very same stage. At the very least, through recognizing Gladstone, the Academy’s host – along with the rest of audiences who still label this film as a “western” – can recognize one thing about this historic moment: Lily Gladstone didn’t just play Leonardo DiCaprio’s wife. They played Mollie Kyle.
