Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Russian Ministry of Defense: 37 Ukrainian drones destroyed in 4 hours over regions of Russia and the Black Sea.
Sheikh Qassem: Our supporters make up more than half of Lebanon's population, and all of these people are united under the banner of protecting Lebanon, its Resistance, its people, and its integrity.
Sheikh Qassem: There will be no phased handing in of our arms. [The Israelis] must first enact the agreement before we start talking about a defensive strategy.
Sheikh Qassem: Be brave in the face of foreign pressures, and we will be by your side in this stance.
Sheikh Qassem: Stripping us of our arms is like stripping us of our very soul, and this will prompt us to show them our might.
Sheikh Qassem: We will not abandon our arms, for they gave us dignity; we will not abandon our arms, for they protect us against our enemy.
Sheikh Qassem: The US efforts we are seeing are aimed at sabotaging Lebanon and constitute a call for sedition.
Sheikh Qassem: If you truly want to establish sovereignty and work for Lebanon’s interests, then stop the aggression.
Sheikh Qassem: The United States, which is meddling in Lebanon, is not trustworthy but rather poses a danger to it.
Sheikh Qassem: The United States is preventing the weapons that protect the homeland.

Indigenous icon Littlefeather dies at 75

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 3 Oct 2022 12:17
  • 1 Shares
7 Min Read

Nearly five decades after being insulted onstage for defending indigenous people's rights at the Oscar ceremony, Native American activist, Sacheen Littlefeather, dies at 75.

  • x
  • Sacheen Littlefeather has died aged 75 (BEI/REX)
    Sacheen Littlefeather has died aged 75 (BEI/REX)

Less than two months after the Academy apologized over her treatment at the 1973 Academy Awards, Sacheen Littlefeather (Apache/Yaqui/Ariz) died at the age of 75 according to the Academy of Motion Pictures.

Littlefeather had been diagnosed with breast cancer.

The Academy announced on Saturday night her death in a tweet. According to a statement from her caregiver, she died at noon on Sunday at her home in the Northern California city of Novato, surrounded by her loved ones.

An apology 49 years late

When Sacheen Littlefeather (Apache/Yaqui/Ariz) represented Marlon Brando at the 1973 Oscars, she spoke out against the abuse of Native Americans and rejected to receive Brando's award on his behalf. Littlefeather's career in movies came to an end as a result of the harassment and abuse she endured after the 60-second statement and during which she was jeered and booed.

The Academy issued Littlefeather an official apology 50 years later on June 18, according to The Hollywood Reporter (THR), and invited her to the Academy Museum as a guest for an evening of contemplation on September 17th.

On stage, in a historical moment in both Oscars and live television in 1973, Littlefeather was heckled offstage and threatened with both arrest and physical assault. Upon Marlon Brando's request, the Native American actress, then 26 years old, entered the stage and declined the best actor prize for his part in the cinema classic "The Godfather".

She vowed to follow Brando's directions not to touch the statuette and to confine her remarks to a maximum of 60 seconds (A directive from the show's producer Howard Koch, who informed Littlefeather before the award ceremony that he had security on ready to detain her if she continued over the allotted time).

Little feather was pushed to improvise her speech after Koch’s threats which became an obstacle to reading Brando’s pre-written speech.

“[Brando] very regretfully cannot accept this very generous award,” Littlefeather said adding that “the reasons for this being are the treatment of American Indians today by the film industry [the audience begins to boo] — excuse me — and on television in movie reruns, and also with recent happenings at Wounded Knee.”

At the time Wounded Knee was under a US Department of Justice-imposed blackout as Native Americans had occupied the South Dakota village in protest of the continued mistreatment of their people.

She will visit the Academy again over fifty years later as an honored guest for an evening of reflection at the Academy Museum that will include a formal apology from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), something she never thought would happen in her lifetime. 

“I was stunned. I never thought I’d live to see the day I would be hearing this, experiencing this,” adding that “When I was at the podium in 1973, I stood there alone,” now 75-year-old Littlefeather told regarding the apology she received.

Related News

Indigenous icon Littlefeather gets apology from Academy, 49 years late

Read more: Banner against 'doctrine of discovery' raised at papal Mass

After her infamous speech, everything changed for Littlefeather. Even talk shows or productions were threatened to be shut down by the US federal government, revealed THR.

The apology, dated June 18, and signed by then-Academy president David Rubin read:

“As you stood on the Oscars stage in 1973 to not accept the Oscar on behalf of Marlon Brando, in recognition of the misrepresentation and mistreatment of Native American people by the film industry, you made a powerful statement that continues to remind us of the necessity of respect and the importance of human dignity.

The abuse you endured because of this statement was unwarranted and unjustified.  The emotional burden you have lived through and the cost to your own career in our industry are irreparable.  For too long the courage you showed has been unacknowledged.  For this, we offer both our deepest apologies and our sincere admiration.

We cannot realize the Academy’s mission to “inspire imagination and connect the world through cinema” without a commitment to facilitating the broadest representation and inclusion reflective of our diverse global population.

Today, nearly 50 years later, and with the guidance of the Academy’s Indigenous Alliance, we are firm in our commitment to ensuring indigenous voices—the original storytellers—are visible, respected contributors to the global film community. We are dedicated to fostering a more inclusive, respectful industry that leverages a balance of art and activism to be a driving force for progress.

We hope you receive this letter in the spirit of reconciliation and as recognition of your essential role in our journey as an organization.  You are forever respectfully engrained in our history.”

At the Academy Museum celebration of Littlefeather on September 17, THR wrote, the apology will be read in its entirety. Littlefeather will take part in a discussion with producer Bird Runningwater (Cheyenne/Mescalero Apache/N.M.), co-chair of the Academy's Indigenous Alliance. Runningwater was the one who initially contacted Littlefeather on the Academy's behalf as part of the museum's ongoing initiatives to examine the group's past and determine its future through a more comprehensive, inclusive lens.

Littlefeather will be making her first trip to the museum, where a picture of her has been put within the gallery chronicling the history of the Academy Awards. After her career got derailed due to her decision to stand up for her people in 1973, Littlefeather pursued studies in traditional medicine and nutrition as well as worked at Mother Teresa's AIDS hospice. However, she never anticipated reconciliation with the most powerful Hollywood institution.

Living with metastatic breast cancer, Littlefeather, according to THR, said “Yes, there’s an apology that’s due. As my friends in the Native community said, it’s long overdue,” adding that “I could have been dead by now. All of my friends — [activists] Dennis Banks, Russell Means, John Trudell, [comedian] Charlie Hill — are gone.”

Read next: US tribes ask Pope for records related to Indian boarding schools

When asked what she thought of Koch and the other Oscar night participants who stood by as she was harassed, she laughed wholeheartedly and said that “When they got to the other side, I’m sure that my ancestors spoke to them on my behalf. And I’m sure Mr. Charles went over there and had a talk with them immediately. I’m sure his first target was John Wayne.”

According to THR, Littlefeather claims that she has maintained a daily practice of "love, gratitude, and forgiveness” for herself. She has also been encouraged by the most recent advancements in Native American representation in Hollywood stories and stated that “At long last, somebody is breaking down the doors. And I’m so very happy this is happening."

When in 1973 Littlefeather concluded her speech by saying “I beg at this time that … in the future, our hearts, and our understandings will meet with love and generosity,” she did not know it would take 49 years for the world to finally get there.

  • Littlefeather
  • Oscar ceremony
  • Native American
  • Sacheen Littlefeather

Most Read

Tom Artiom Alexandrovich, executive director of the defense division of the Israeli National Cyber Directorate, undated (Social media)

Israeli-born US prosecutor drops Israeli officer child sex crime

  • Politics
  • 19 Aug 2025
Almost instantly after the Helsinki Accords were signed, organisations sprouted to document purported violations, whose findings were fed to overseas embassies for international amplification. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

How ‘Human Rights’ became a Western weapon

  • Opinion
  • 23 Aug 2025
Israeli soldiers stand on the top of armoured vehicles parked on an area near the Israeli-Gaza border, as seen from southern Israel, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025 (AP)

Palestinian fighters target Israeli soldiers, vehicles in Gaza

  • Politics
  • 21 Aug 2025
Launch of a ballistic missile from Yemen toward the occupied Palestinian territories. (YAF military media)

Yemeni Forces announce firing hypersonic missile at Al-Lydd Airport

  • Politics
  • 22 Aug 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference at the Prime minister's office in al-Quds, Occupied Palestine, Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Netanyahu deliberately derailing truce with Gaza occupation: Hamas

Irish President Michael Higgins arrives to deliver his speech during a 42nd World Food Day celebration at FAO headquarters in Rome, on Oct. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Politics

Irish president renews call for UN military intervention in Gaza

US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the US Embassy in Aukar, northern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, July 21, 2025 (AP)
Politics

US envoy, Netanyahu discuss restraining attacks on Lebanon, withdrawal

Smoke billows following Israeli airstrikes in multiple areas in Sanaa, Yemen, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Ansar Allah vow sustained Gaza support despite Israeli strikes

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS