Nearly five decades after turning down an Oscar on behalf of Marlon Brando over the US film industry’s treatment of Native Americans, Sacheen Littlefeather was honored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Saturday.
In a moving ceremony in Los Angeles, complete with song and dance, the academy publicly apologized to Littlefeather, who was feted by activists after her protest but pilloried by the film world.
Littlefeather, Apache and Yaqui, was booed at the 1973 Academy Awards – the first to be broadcast live around the world – while explaining to Brando why he wouldn’t accept his Best Actor Oscar for The Godfather.
On Saturday, she told a packed audience at the Academy’s newly opened museum how she had arrived at the ceremony just minutes before she was to take the stage because Brando had taken so long to write his acceptance speech.
“I went there like a proud Indian woman with dignity, courage, grace and humility,” she said.
“I knew I had to tell the truth. Some people may accept it. And some people might not.”
She was greeted on stage by Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann and James Bond star Roger Moore, who presented her with the statuette, which she refused to accept.
Under strict instructions from Academy managers not to deliver an acceptance speech longer than 60 seconds, she instead gave a dignified impromptu address.
“I said okay, and I promised Marlon (Brando) not to touch the Oscar. And so I wasn’t under any pressure that night,” Littlefeather quipped.
She said veteran western star John Wayne had to be stopped from physically attacking her as she left the stage.
Littlefeather, a member of the Screen Actors’ Guild, later found it difficult to find work in Hollywood and casting directors warned against hiring her.
– ‘courage’ –
Former Academy President David Rubin, who penned the apology earlier this year, took the stage to read his words, which evoked “the emotional burden” Littlefeather bore and “the cost to her own career”.
“For too long the courage you have shown has not been recognised. For this we offer both our deepest apologies and our sincere admiration.”
Rubin’s apology comes as the film industry embraces a culture of sexism, racism and impunity.
“The academy and our industry are at a tipping point,” Rubin said Saturday. “We are actively examining our past and focusing on how best to facilitate healing.”
The museum, which opened last September, has pledged to address the “problematic history” of the Oscars, including racism. An ad already deals with the harassment of Littlefeather.
The academy has also grappled with allegations of a lack of racial diversity in recent years.
In 2019, The Last of the Mohicans star Wes Studi became the first Native American actor to receive an Oscar and an Honorary Oscar in recognition of his career.
The museum has also previously hosted events dedicated to women who achieved historic Oscars milestones, including a conversation with Buffy Sainte-Marie — the first Indigenous person to win an Oscar for Best Original Song in 1983.
When asked by reporters before the ceremony how she felt about having to wait so long to hear the word “sorry,” Littlefeather was philosophical.
“It’s never too late to apologize,” she says.
“It’s never too late for forgiveness.”
