Oscars performance by Osage Nation singers and dancers from Oklahoma praised as historic

Oklahoman Scott George and his fellow Osage Tribal Singers received a long standing ovation for their live performance Sunday night on the 96th Academy Awards.

Accompanied by dancers in full regalia, the group of Osage Nation singers gathered around the drum on Hollywood's most celebrated stage to perform “Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People)," the Oscar-nominated song George created for Martin Scorsese’s Oklahoma-made historical epic “Killers of the Flower Moon."

Lily Gladstone, the film's history-making Oscar-nominated Native American star, was shown on the broadcast cheering for the Osage performers, while Oscar-nominated "Killers of the Flower Moon" director Martin Scorsese, the movie's Oscar-nominated supporting actor Robert De Niro and fellow cinema icon Steven Spielberg applauded.

George, 66, of Del City, made history with his Oscar nomination: He is the first Indigenous nominee in the Oscars best original song category, as well as the first member of the Osage Nation to be nominated for an Academy Award.

Osage Tribal Singers' Oscars performance praised as historic on social media

From the Academy Awards audience in Los Angeles to the Osage Nation watch party in Oklahoma, the Osage Tribal Singers' Oscars performance was praised as historic and moving Sunday night on social media:

After the Osage Tribal Singers' performance, some users on X (formerly Twitter) commented on how far the Academy Awards have come since the infamous 1973 Oscars, when Native American actress Sacheen Littlefeather was booed and threatened with arrest as she took the stage at Marlon Brando's behest to decline his Oscar. She said that John Wayne had to be restrained from attacking her.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences apologized to Littlefeather for the incident just a few weeks before she died last year at age 75.

Oscar-nominated Osage composer: 'See us as a people that have survived'

Primarily filmed in and around Osage County in 2021, "Killers of the Flower Moon" focuses on a grim and often-overlooked chapter of Oklahoma history: The 1920s "Reign of Terror," a series of ruthless murders of oil-rich Osage Nation citizens. Scorsese wanted to end the fact-based epic with a special piece of music created by the Osage people.

"By the end of the film, we had to have some sense of the presence of the Osage: They survive, and the music of the Osage is the best display of this extraordinary survival," Scorsese said in a behind-the-scenes featurette.

"Killers of the Flower Moon" went into Sunday's Academy Awards competing for 10 Oscars, including best picture, but George's nomination was arguably the most impressive.

As his fellow nominees included Diane Warren, Mark Ronson, Jon Batiste and Billie Eilish, he was the only one of this year's best original song contenders who isn't a Grammy-winning songwriter or recording artist.

"What's really odd is being on a Zoom call with all of them at the same time — and I've done that twice," George told The Oklahoman in a recent interview at his Del City home.

Raised in Hominy, George has worked in tribal housing for 30 years and has served as the director of the Shawnee-based Citizen Potawatomi Nation's housing department for the past decade.

"I keep trying to find a way to describe it, or wrap my mind around it, and I don't think I'm gonna be able to, because you can't really when it wasn't your aspiration to begin with," the Osage singer, drummer and composer told The Oklahoman.

"It goes along with the same thoughts we have about the movie. ... When you see us up on stage, we're hoping that you see us as a people that have survived and that are able to hold on to what we have."

The Oscar for best original song was awarded to Eilish and her brother, Finneas O'Connell, for their "Barbie" ode "What Was I Made For?"

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Watch Osage singers and dancers from Oklahoma perform on the Oscars