In an interview with Variety published on Thursday (February 15th), Lily Gladstone shared more of her thoughts on the “misrepresentation” of Native Americans in the United States. The Killers of the Flower Moon actor recently criticized the Kansas City Chiefs ahead of the Super Bowl during the Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s Virtuosos Awards.
“Honestly, you could hold both teams accountable,” Gladstone told the outlet. “The 49ers are based on the California Gold Rush, which was an incredibly brutal time for California Indians. And then the Chiefs. There are many ways that you could interpret the name ‘chief.’ It’s not the name that bothers me. It’s hearing that damn Tomahawk chop.”
“Every time, it’s a stark reminder of what Hollywood has done to us, because the Tomahawk chop directly ties to the sounds of old Westerns where we were not playing ourselves, or if we were, we were merely backdrop actors,” the Certain Women actor added. “It’s this ‘claiming’ of that sound and saying it’s in ‘honor’ and the commodification of who we are as people. It’s great to love the game and your players, but it still hurts.”
