As Native American Heritage Month comes to a close, it’s important to highlight some of the great actors and actresses that have contributed to the medium of film but failed to get recognition from the Academy in its 92-year history.
In 2019, “Hostiles” actor Wes Studi was given an honorary award for career achievement, making him the first Native American and the second North American Indigenous person to ever be honored. In 1983, Buffy Sainte-Marie won best original song for “Up Where We Belong” from “An Officer and a Gentleman.”
But, there have only been six Indigenous people ever nominated for acting Oscars: Jocelyne LaGarde (supporting actress for 1966’s “Hawaii”), Chief Dan George (supporting actor for 1970’s “Little Big Man”), F. Murray Abraham (won best actor for 1984’s “Amadeus”), Graham Greene (supporting actor for 1990’s “Dances with Wolves”), Keisha Castle-Hughes (best actress for 2003’s “Whale Rider”) and Yalitza Aparicio (best actress for 2018’s “Roma”).
Have there been more worthy performers in this 92-year time frame? Of course — and down below are 10 that should have been given more consideration in the last 30 years.