BROWNING, Mont. — Wearing a white sequin shawl and matching ribbon skirt, esteemed actress Lily Gladstone kneeled on the floor of the new arbor on the Blackfeet Reservation as tribal elders placed a stand-up headdress atop her head.
Thousands of people who traveled across the country — and from Canada — to honor Gladstone watched in silence.
Lily Gladstone, a Blackfeet actress who grew up in Browning and East Glacier, was honored by the Blackfeet Nation during a ceremony at the arbor in Browning on Tuesday. Gladstone, the first Indigenous person to win a Golden Globe award for her part in “Killers of the Flower Moon,” received a stand-up headdress, a great honor in Blackfeet culture.
Gladstone stood and embraced tribal leaders. Then, with one hand over her heart and the other holding onto Charlene Plume, the elder who made her headdress, Gladstone danced in a circle around the arbor. Members of the Women’s Stand-Up Headdress Society, tribal leaders, dignitaries, students, teachers and children followed behind.
The sound of drums boomed, and the crowd erupted.
Gladstone, who grew up in Browning and East Glacier, Montana, recently rose to worldwide fame after starring in Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” alongside Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio.
She made history becoming the first Indigenous person to win a Golden Globe award for best actress and the first to be nominated for best actress at the Oscars.
At Tuesday’s event — which included a grand entry, flag song, prayer, speeches from dignitaries, honor song and round dance — leaders thanked Gladstone for representing the Blackfeet Nation on the world stage and for being a role model for young people.
Following the ceremony, Lily Gladstone and hundreds of others performed a round dance around the arbor in Browning. Dignitaries and tribal elders thanked Gladstone for representing the Blackfeet Nation on the world stage and for being a role model for young people.
“Because of you, rez kids on every reservation here and in Canada can chase their dreams,” Councilman Everett Armstrong said at the event. “Students, take a look at this accomplishment — it’s possible.”
Councilman Robert DesRosier delighted in the fact that Gladstone “is just like us.”
“She’s us,” he told the crowd before turning to Gladstone. “Lily, welcome home.”
Gladstone said returning to the reservation was a “full-circle moment.”
“I feel so lucky and so blessed that I’m Blackfeet and I get to be here,” she said. “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 and the Blackfoot Confederacy
It’s difficult to overstate Gladstone’s impact on Indian Country as a whole and the Blackfeet Nation in particular.
When Gladstone spoke in the Blackfoot language in her Golden Globes acceptance speech, Blackfeet teachers said their students beamed with pride. Browning Public Schools Superintendent Corrina Guardipee-Hall said Gladstone gave young people permission to “embrace who you are.” Marci Burd, a teacher at Bullshoe Elementary, said her students draw pictures of Gladstone, watch TikToks about her and delighted in the chance to watch her at the Oscars.
Lily Gladstone received a stand-up headdress, a style of headdress unique to the Blackfoot Confederacy. Worn by men and women, these headdresses are considered sacred and symbolic of both the natural and supernatural worlds. “We don’t just give away headdresses,” Siksika Chief Ouray Crowfoot explained during the ceremony. “They’re earned.”
After the headdress transfer ceremony, hundreds of people — young and old — lined up to meet Gladstone. As Gladstone made her way down the line, she shook hands, shared hugs, gave autographs, posed for photos and accepted countless gifts.
“So awesome! So awesome! So awesome!” one man cheered after taking a selfie with her.
What is a stand-up headdress?
Stand-up headdresses are unique to the Blackfoot Confederacy. Compared to a “Sioux-style” headdress, in which feathers sweep backward, feathers in “stand-up” headdresses point straight up, as the name suggests, pointing toward the sky.
Worn by men and women, these stand-up headdresses — made from eagle feathers, bison hide, porcupine quills, ermine hides and willows — are considered sacred and symbolic of both the natural and supernatural worlds.
“We don’t just give away headdresses,” Siksika Chief Ouray Crowfoot said at the event. “They’re earned.”
Students from the Piegan Institute started the ceremony with an opening prayer.
There are two ways a Blackfoot community member can own a stand-up headdress, according to Blackfeet historian Rosalyn LaPier. First, if an individual dreams of a stand-up headdress, they may create one or ask someone to create one based on the dream. Second, someone, like Gladstone, may have a stand-up headdress transferred to them — signifying great honor and respect.
More than 50 members of the Women’s Stand-Up Headdress Society — a group of contemporary Blackfoot women in the U.S. and Canada who own such headdresses — traveled to Browning to celebrate Gladstone.
More than 50 members of the Women’s Stand-Up Headdress Society — a group of contemporary Blackfoot women in the U.S. and Canada who own such headdresses — traveled to Browning to celebrate Gladstone. Theda New Breast, a member of the society, said Tuesday marked the largest gathering of stand-up headdress members to date.
Theda New Breast, member of the society, said Tuesday marked the largest gathering of stand-up headdress members to-date.
“This is way bigger than the Oscars,” she said. “As Lily grows, she’ll bring us with her. She’s bringing all the women with her.”
Movie critic Bruce Miller says "Killers of the Flower Moon” is true cinema. It’s art in its highest form that never fails to entertain.
Leonardo DiCaprio says he felt a great deal of responsibility getting “Killers of the Flower Moon” right. Before and during filming, DiCaprio, co-star Lily Gladstone and director Martin Scorsese sought the advice of the Osage community.