Lily Gladstone Reveals How Buffalo Return Mirrors Her Career Surge

Raised on the Blackfeet Reservation, Gladstone, whose father is of Piegan Blackfeet and Nez Perce descent, grew up understanding the buffalo as "the heartbeat" of her people. "It's kind of hard to pinpoint an exact moment," she said, adding, "It's one of those things you're just raised with, an absolute knowledge that they're central to who we are," according to People.

The film, directed by Ivan MacDonald, Ivy MacDonald and Daniel Glick, traces the Blackfeet's centuries-old bond with the American bison. Historically, the tribe found more than 500 uses for the animal, from food to children's toys.

This all changed in the late 1800s when buffalo and Blackfeet people were targeted amid westward expansion in the United States.

Buffalo were nearly pushed to extinction. While the species' population was estimated to be between 30 and 60 million at the start of the 19th century, only a few hundred remained in the late 1880s, per the National Park Service. The fallout from the near-decimation has had long-lasting effects on the surviving Blackfeet people, who face an "ongoing crisis of identity," Gladstone says in the film, after being pushed to assimilate and let go of integral parts of their culture, such as language, according to People.

Decades of advocacy culminated in 2023 when 49 buffalo were released at the base of Chief Mountain, a sacred landmark near Glacier National Park. Gladstone calls the footage of the herd's return "one of my favourites". She reflected, "If you can see the Ninastako--if you can see Chief Mountain--then you're home."

Although she missed the on-site release while filming Killers of the Flower Moon with Martin Scorsese, Gladstone feels a deep parallel between the buffalo's resurgence and her own career trajectory. "Any momentum I've gained career-wise feels like there's a giant buffalo run behind it," she says. "My career has grown in lockstep with the buffalo returning to us."

Bring Them Home premiered on PBS on November 24 and is now available nationwide. The documentary highlights the tribe's perseverance, the challenges from ranching interests, and the cultural revival sparked by the buffalo's return, according to People.

- ANI