Lily Gladstone, an award-winning actress and member of the Blackfeet and Nez Perce nations, came to CU Boulder for Indigenous Peoples’ Day to share her experiences in the film industry as a Native American actress and activist.
As someone who has experienced and learned from many cultures in my lifetime, I approached both Gladstone’s speech and the Native Studies class I’m currently taking with curiosity and apprehension. As someone who lives in and attends college on stolen land, I understand that the history of the United States is long, complex, and often misinterpreted and misconstrued to make those in power more so.
That being said, Native American culture and history are a foreign subject to me, so seeking opportunities to learn and hear from community members was a fantastic way for me to make use of the events CU Boulder offers to students, faculty, and locals alike.
Gladstone started her speech by offering a unique comparison of a well-known theory to Native American culture and lifestyle. Maslow’s theory of the hierarchy of needs explains that there are five different levels of human needs, beginning with basic, physiological needs (such as water, warmth, shelter), moving to needs like safety and belonging, and then finally, reaching self-actualization, the belief that you are valued and capable of being successful.
Gladstone eloquently explained to her audience why such an “industrial” and frequently used theory is related to the experiences of Native American communities. While most people need to ascend the hierarchy chronologically — which may take a while, sometimes lifetimes depending on their unique situation — those born into Native American communities already reach self-actualization from the time they’re born.
Gladstone described that, in any Native American culture, especially her own, children automatically meet their self-actualization needs from the beginning of their lives.
She went on to discuss the values instilled in her by not only her parents but also by her community, explaining that from a young age, she was consistently given positive feedback and told, “Good job,” by her elders. She described the challenges of a Native person who is removed from their community at birth and never has the chance to be released into the world knowing that they have reached self-actualization by age 5. She told the audience that, because of the deep love and value she received from her nation, she feels it only right to introduce herself as “we” instead of “I,” as there are many different people who contributed to shaping her as a person.
Another part of Gladstone’s speech that stood out to me was when she talked about the process of filming Killers of the Flower Moon as someone who is not a member of the Osage Nation, but still needed to portray the people and the story accurately and with respect. She explained to the audience how she wanted the Osage Nation to be a direct part of the filmmaking process, and to do this, she brought gifts to the elders of the Osage and heard their stories. I thought it was a powerful example of how, even though Gladstone is Native American, she realizes that her identity is only hers, and doesn’t represent other tribes, communities, cultures, and stories. I was inspired by her willingness to not only learn from the Osage people but also ensure that everyone else involved in the creation of the film was well-versed in the culture and story. Gladstone also shared how she felt the ending of the film could have been adapted to better reflect the current status of the Osage Nation. In the original film, Gladstone explained that the ending depicted the Osage Nation to be completely gone from society, and she felt this wasn’t right. Instead, she pitched the idea for the ending of the film to be members of the community dancing, showing America that the Osage are still very much alive and well, and continue to live despite the community’s terrible past.
She spoke with power and grace, and throughout her presentation, I viewed her not as someone who worked in Hollywood or made movies alongside Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio, but as a regular person, a student who yearned to take classes about Native American film, and a member of a culture so different from mine, a culture the world tried to wipe away.
To be a student at CU Boulder is to be a part of a larger web of cultures, languages, communities, values, and experiences. I believe that it is events like these that are essential to understanding the world from a perspective other than the one we remain in. Learning about and hearing from a Native American activist allowed me to view an award-winning Hollywood actress as a person, someone to grow from, someone to expand my mind from, and someone who will continue to share her story with millions more, if only they dare to listen.