The Lily Gladstone effect: “Kicking the door down” for Native representation in the mainstream

• Lapping, James ^[1]
  1. [1] University of York

     University of York

     Reino Unido

     
• Localización: REDEN [Nueva época]: Revista Española de Estudios Norteamericanos, ISSN-e 2695-4168, Vol. 7, Nº. 2, 2026, págs. 152-169
• Idioma: inglés
• Enlaces
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• Resumen

  • This article looks at the film and television career of Native American actor Lily Gladstone (Blackfeet), and how since her groundbreaking performance in director Martin Scorsese’s historical true crime drama about the Osage Indian murders, Killers of the Flower Moon (2023), has helped to redefine Indigenous presence and participation in the mainstream. Using the report titled “Native American Representation Across 1,600 Popular Films: The Lily Gladstone Effect” published by Dr. Stacey L. Smith and the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative as a basis for the understanding of Gladstone’s impact for Native American representation, this article will provide an insight of how her mainstream performances and the platform that this celebrity status has afforded her has developed into a high-profile career that has combined acting and cultural activism for the betterment of Indigenous representation and visual sovereignty. In particular, focus is made on her efforts help raise the profiles of other Native actors and filmmakers in the mainstream, and how the productions that she involves herself in help to raise awareness of cultural issues that continue to effect Indigenous communities across the United States and Canada such as the efforts of language revitalisation, awareness for the ongoing epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW), and the legacy and impact of the residential school system.