After seeing its Martin Scorsese pic Killers of the Flower Moon, depicting the “Reign of Terror” in Osage territory, score 10 Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, Apple has announced new grants to the Sundance Institute Indigenous Program and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, in support of Indigenous storytelling and the preservation of Native American history.
The contributions come as part of Apple’s Empowering Creatives program, which supports organizations that help people in underinvested communities unlock their creative potential.
Both grant recipients are dedicated to amplifying the voices and experiences of Native and Indigenous peoples. With a focus on feature and episodic work, Sundance’s program offers labs, fellowships, screenings, and individual feedback sessions for storytellers from Native and Indigenous backgrounds. The National Museum of the American Indian works to educate the public about Native and Indigenous cultures at its locations in Washington, D.C., and New York City.
News of the Apple grants come a day ahead of a conversation on Killers between Osage Nation Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear, Scorsese, and pic’s Academy Award-nominated breakout Lily Gladstone, which is set to take place at the National Museum of the American Indian.
“We believe Indigenous communities’ rich histories and cultures deserve to be honored and their stories deserve to be told,” said Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives. “‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ shines a light on an essential story that has long been overlooked and we are all better for it. We’re proud to continue that good work by supporting the vital efforts of these organizations to amplify the voices and experiences of Indigenous communities.”
In addition to its commitments announced today, Apple has previously announced partnerships with Oklahoma City University to provide educational tools, resources, and professional learning for educators and learners, leveraging Apple’s ecosystem to support the Osage vision for preserving language and culture through STEAM experiences in the classroom and beyond. Through the partnership, Apple last fall brought together educators from all four tribal nations (Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw and Osage) for multi-day learning experiences focused on integrating Apple technologies into their learning environments.
Additionally, Apple has partnered with Indigenous communities to bring representation of Indigenous lands to Maps, incorporating the languages of the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Osage tribal nations into the keyboards on Apple devices. The company has also looked to support communities disproportionately impacted by climate change, working directly with organizations that advocate for frontline communities, advance climate justice, and cultivate solutions that prioritize equity and community building within the environmental movement. To date, it’s partnered with organizations including Environmental Health Coalition, Native Conservancy, Original Power, and UPROSE, to name a few.
Now playing in select theaters via Paramount and streaming globally on Apple TV+, Killers of the Flower Moon is a Western crime epic based on David Grann’s bestselling work of nonfiction Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI. Also starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, the film tells the true story of the “Reign of Terror” of the 1920s, which saw the furtive yet systematic murder of the Osage people following the discovery of oil on their land.
Directed by Scorsese from his script written with Eric Roth, the film’s path to awards glory began when it world premiered at last year’s Cannes Film Festival. Scorsese produced alongside Dan Friedkin, Bradley Thomas and Daniel Lupi.
