Earlier this month, Lily Gladstone may not have won her Oscar, but she was awarded and honored in a way no Hollywood Academy could ever come close to. On Tuesday, March 26, 2024, the elders of the Blackfeet reservation presented Lilly Gladstone with her stand-up headdress.
A stand-up headdress is a rare honor. The headdress is crafted with eagle feathers, bison hide, porcupine quills, ermine hides, and willows. These adornments are sacred and symbolize the natural and supernatural worlds.
Thousands of Indigenous peoples from the US and Canada came to Browning, Montana, on Tuesday to watch Lily’s ceremony. Lily Gladstone’s appearance and recognition in Hollywood and the media send a powerful message to those inside and outside of Indigenous communities. Blackfeet Tribal Councilman Everett Armstrong told Gladstone, “Because of you, rez kids on every reservation here and in Canada can chase their dreams.”
“I feel so lucky and so blessed that I’m Blackfeet and I get to be here. It’s a really special thing to be who we are, to be from where we’re from. And I know sometimes it can be a really hard thing, too, but all good things are hard things.” -Lily Gladstone during her ceremony.
