Oscar-nominated Killers of the Flower Moon star Lily Gladstone is calling out Kansas City Chiefs fans for their traditional “tomahawk chop,” saying the gesture is a “stark reminder of what Hollywood has done” to Native Americans.
During a recent appearance at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Lily Gladstone held forth on the subject of last week’s Super Bowl match between the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs.
Kansas City Chiefs fans do the “tomahawk chop” as they gather to watch their team play the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII. (Reed Hoffmann/Getty Images)
“Honestly, you could hold both teams accountable,” Gladstone told Variety. “The 49ers are based on the California Gold Rush, which was an incredibly brutal time for California Indians.”
She saved her harshest criticism for Chiefs fans:
And then the Chiefs. There are many ways that you could interpret the name “chief.” It’s not just 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. 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.
Ahead of last week’s Super Bowl game, a group of Native American activists renewed calls for the Chiefs to drop the tomahawk chop as well as the name “Chiefs.”
As Breitbart News reported, Lily Gladstone recently trashed the hit Paramount Network series Yellowstone.
“Delusional! Deplorable!” she responded when asked about the way Yellowstone portrays the west. “No offense to the Native talent in that. I auditioned several times. That’s what we had.”
Follow David Ng on Twitter @HeyItsDavidNg. Have a tip? Contact me at dng@breitbart.com
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