The indigenous actress and activist Sacheen Littlefeather was the target of boos during the 45th Oscar, held in 1973, after being sent by Marlon Brando (1924-2004) to reject, on his behalf, the award for Best Actor for the The Godfather. Brando's objective was to protest the distortion of the image of Native American people in the country's film industry.
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“The abuse you suffered was unjustified,” former Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President David Rubin wrote in a letter to Littlefeather released on Monday. Ao Hollywood Reporter, the actress stated that she had “never” thought that she would “live to see the day when she would hear” the apology from the event organizers, who, at the time, had called his participation “the first political statement” of the event so far.
As a whole, the entertainment industry received his speech poorly, and his career suffered following the event. False news that Sacheen was not of indigenous origin and that her participation was part of a fraud then circulated. The ceremony had been broadcast to 85 million people.
After reading the protest speech, Littlefeather had to leave the stage with two security guards, and some people made the “Tomahawk chop”, a gesture offensive to Native Americans, in his direction. The actress quips: “We, indigenous people, are very patient people — it was just 50 years [of waiting]”. She explains that witty speech is part of “our method of survival.”
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In September, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will host a event's audience (🇬🇧) to discuss the episode in which Littlefaether went to the Oscars in 1993 and debate the future of representation of Native American people in cinema.
