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Yes. At the 96th Academy Awards, Lily Gladstone became the first Native American nominee in the Academy’s Actress in a Leading Role category, commonly called Best Actress. She was nominated for playing Mollie in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon; Emma Stone ultimately won the Oscar.
What made Lily Gladstone’s nomination historic?
The Academy nominated Gladstone for Actress in a Leading Role at the 96th Academy Awards. Contemporary coverage described her as the first Native American nominee in the category. The Academy’s official 2024 awards record lists her nomination for Killers of the Flower Moon.
![Killers of the Flower Moon (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51mVWS9Rg5L._SL160_.jpg)
![Killers of the Flower Moon [Blu-ray] Italian Import. Region B Locked. English & Italian audio.](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31ykgYRd83L._SL160_.jpg)
The distinction matters: “first Native American nominee” is not the same claim as “first Indigenous actress nominated.” The Los Angeles Times and TIME discuss earlier Indigenous nominees, but the available accounts do not establish a complete, consistently categorized roster. A broader “first Indigenous actress” claim would therefore overstate what this milestone shows.
Which film earned her the nomination?
Gladstone was nominated for portraying Mollie in Killers of the Flower Moon, Martin Scorsese’s drama centered on the Osage community and events in Oklahoma. The film’s subject and Mollie’s story provide context for Gladstone’s connection to the role, but her nomination should not be treated as proof that one film resolves larger questions about Native representation.
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Why was Gladstone in Osage country when nominations were announced?
Gladstone chose to be in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, near the Osage reservation when the Oscar nominations were announced. In an interview reported by the Associated Press, she said: “I decided that I wanted to be on the Osage reservation, should this news come in today.” The AP reported that she wanted to be close to Mollie Kyle and her family. Read the Associated Press account for her comments and the announcement-day context.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Did Lily Gladstone win the Oscar?
No. Gladstone was a nominee; Emma Stone won Actress in a Leading Role for Poor Things at the 96th Academy Awards. The Academy’s ceremony record lists Stone as the winner. The Associated Press also covered the result and its response in “Emma Stone won, but Lily Gladstone didn’t lose.”
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![[By David Grann] Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI (Hardcover)【2018】by David Grann (Author) (Hardcover)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51OkwXrprSL._SL160_.jpg)
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- From New Yorker staff writer David Grann, #1 New York Times best-selling author of The Lost City of Z, a twisting, haunting true-life murder mystery about one of the most monstrous crimes in American history
- In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Indian nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, they rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions, and sent their children to study in Europe. Then, one by one, the Osage began to be killed off. The family of an Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart, became a prime target. Her relatives were shot and poisoned. And it was just the beginning, as more and more members of the tribe began to die
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How to describe the milestone accurately
- Gladstone was the first Native American nominee in the Academy’s Actress in a Leading Role category.
- She received the nomination for Killers of the Flower Moon, in which she played Mollie.
- She did not win the award; Emma Stone did.
- Keep the claim specific to Native American nominees in this category rather than expanding it to all Indigenous actresses.
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