Lily Gladstone, star of the film “Killers of the Flower Moon”, has criticized the Kansas City Chiefs for their “misrepresentation” of Native American people. The team won the Super Bowl LVIII against the San Francisco 49ers on February 11. Ahead of the game, Gladstone – who is of Siksikaitsitapi and Nimíipuu heritage – referenced the controversy surrounding the name and arrowhead symbol of the team and the “tomahawk chop” gesture and chant. Native American leaders have criticized these elements, saying they perpetuate racist stereotypes and devalue Native American traditions.
Speaking at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s Virtuosos Awards, where she was being honoured, Gladstone reflected on the fact that she is the first Native American performer to be nominated for the Best Actress Academy Award. She noted that “some of the first filmmakers [and] the first film footage was shot by native people documenting our way of life” but that there had been a lot of years of exclusion or misrepresentation. She added that despite the team’s win in the Super Bowl, “We haven’t come that far if we look at one of the teams that’s playing.”
The Kansas City Chiefs have previously faced backlash over their name and symbol, which Native American leaders say perpetuate racist stereotypes, as well as the “tomahawk chop” gesture and chant, which devalue Native American traditions. When the team won the Super Bowl in 2023, protestors gathered outside the stadium demanding a stop to the “tomahawk chop” and for the team to change its name. The team banned fans in 2020 from wearing headdresses and certain face paint, though some fans have still done so anyway.
Finally, Gladstone made history last month as the first Native American actress to win the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama for “Killers of the Flower Moon”. She delivered part of her speech in Blackfoot language. Last year Gladstone criticized the TV series “Yellowstone” as a “delusional” and “deplorable” portrait of the American West
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