Lily Gladstone becomes first Indigenous person to win a Golden Globe for Best Actress

History was made at the 2024 Golden Globes as Lily Gladstone, with Piegan Blackfeet and Nez Perce heritage, became the first Indigenous woman to win the Best Actress award for her outstanding performance in Martin Scorsese’s film, ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’.

During her emotional acceptance speech, Gladstone acknowledged the ‘historic’ significance of her win and began her remarks in her native language.

“I just spoke a bit of the Blackfeet language, a beautiful community and nation that raised me, that encouraged me to keep going, keep doing this,” she shared with the assembled audience.

“I’m so grateful I can speak a little bit of my language up here because, in this business, Native actors used to deliver their lines in English, and the sound mixers would run them backward to ‘achieve’ Native language.”

Gladstone credited her historic win to her co-stars, expressing, “It doesn’t belong to just me. I am holding it with all of my beautiful sisters in the film, at this table over here, and my on-screen mother, Tantoo Cardinal, standing on all of your shoulders.”

She wrapped up her speech by dedicating the award to all the young Indigenous children, saying, “This is for every little rez kid, every little urban kid, every little Native kid with a dream, seeing themselves represented and our stories told by ourselves in our own words, with tremendous allies and trust among us. Thank you all so much.”

The movie explores the historical exploitation of First Nations peoples of North America during the early 20th-century oil rush.

The film has garnered praise for its truthful portrayal of the methods employed by white settlers to exert greater control over Native lands for resource extraction.