The "Sacheen Littlefeather Speaks For Brando" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading an article about the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that tells of an apology that was given to Sacheen Littlefeather, an Apache and Yaqui and activist who was booed onstage at the Oscars in 1973 after she refused the best actor award on behalf of Marlon Brando.  Seems that she was asked by Marlon Brando to attend the Academy Awards on his behalf and when he was to be given the award, she was to read a comment he had prepared, refusing the award.  Littlefeather was 26 years old at the time and was the first Native American woman to appear on stage at the Academy Awards.  When she stood onstage, it created perhaps one of the best-known disruptions in the history of the award ceremony.  When she spoke, some of the audience cheered her and others jeered.  One actor, John Wayne, was so unsettled that security guards had to restrain him from storming onstage.  Brando was to receive the best actor award for his performance as Vito Corleone in "The Godfather."  The night before the awards, Sacheen received a call from Brando.  The two had become best friends through her director Francis Ford Coppola.  At that time Brando asked her to attend the awards and refuse the award on his behalf if he won.  She agreed and about 15 minutes before the award was to be given she arrived at the ceremony wearing a glimmering buckskin dress, moccasins and hair ties while holding the speech she was asked to read.  But, when the producer of the Oscars saw the pages in her hand when she arrived onstage, he told her that she would be removed if her comments lasted more than 60 seconds.  She introduced herself, then explained that Brando would not be accepting the award because of his concerns about the image of Native American people in film and television and by the governenment.  She paused when a mix of boos and cheers erupted from the audience.  She said she focused on the mouths and jaws that were dropping open in the audience.  

Sacheen Littefeather

She said it was like looking into a sea of Clorox, since there were very few people of color in the audience.  The crowd quieted and Littlefeather mentioned the Wounded Knee standoff and then left the stage without touching the golden Oscars statue.  Some in the audience did the so-called tomahawk chop in her direction.  She said that talking to the Academy about these events in 2022 '"felt like a big cleanse."  "It feels like the sacred circle is completing itself before I go in this life."  The former president of the Academy, David Rubin, wrote an apology to Littlefeather that the abuse she faced because of the speech was "unwarranted and unjustified.  For too long, the courage you showed has been unacknowledged.  For this we offer both our deepest apologies and our sincere admiration."  Rubin's letter will be read next month at a program at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, "An Evening with Sacheen Littlefeather."  Bravo Sacheen!  The Academy described the event as a "conversation, reflection, healing and celebration."  It's about time!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.