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Watch Live: Motion Picture Academy apologizes to Sacheen Littlefeather during celebration of Native American culture

September 18, 2022

Almost 50 years ago, Marlon Brando refused to attend the Academy Awards where he was up for top acting honors for his role in The Godfather. Instead, he sent Sacheen Littlefeather to the ceremony with instructions to turn down the Oscar, if her name was called.

During a celebration of Native American culture at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Museum on Saturday, the Academy formally apologized for what happened next at that 1973 ceremony.

Littlefeather, at the sold-out event, asked everyone to remember how important the performance was, long after she was no longer with us. She was also given a blanket and joked that they knew she would be cold.

The evening included performances by the All Nation Singers and Dancers, Steve Bohay (Kiowa/OK) and the Sooner Nation Singers and Dancers, and the White Mountain Apache Crown Dancers (Apache/AZ).

Watch the event live

Marlon Brando’s request

To express his anger at Hollywood’s usually racist portrayals of Indigenous people and to draw attention to the American Indian Movement’s occupation of the town of Wounded Knee, South Dakota, Brando sent Littlefeather, an activist, actress and model, on stage at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion to decline his Best Actor trophy.

Read more: Sacheen Littlefeather Opens Up About What Really Happened Before, During & After Marlon Brando’s Oscar Rejection

“The reasons for this are the treatment of American Indians today by the film industry and on television in film reruns, as well as recent events at Wounded Knee,” said Littlefeather, whose father was from the White Mountain Apache and Yaqui tribes of Arizona. .

“I beg you at this time not to intrude on this evening, and that in the future our hearts and understandings will meet in love and generosity. Thank you on behalf of Marlon Brando.

The reaction in 1973

Some in the audience booed, others mocked her with tomahawk chops and John Wayne, according to Littlefeather and the ceremony’s manager and producer, had to be restrained from trying to rush onto the stage and approach it.

[Note: While reporting a previous story on this recollection, Ethan Wayne, John Wayne’s son, issued a statement to us, saying in part, “…it’s hard for me to imagine this telling of events, because the man I knew believed in and defended everyone’s right to freedom of speech right up until his death in 1979.”]

Littlefeather then struggled to find work, was harassed and targeted by tasteless smears like this one from Dennis Miller, speaking of Senator Elizabeth Warren: ‘She’s about as much Indian as that stripper as Brando sent for her Oscar for The Godfather.”

In June of this year, Littlefeather spoke at length about his experience on LAist Studio’s Academy Museum podcast “And The Oscar Goes To….”

Listen to his account

1973: “Marlon Brando cannot accept this very generous award”

Shortly after the release of this podcast, which is co-produced with the Academy Museum, then Academy President David Rubin wrote a letter to Littlefeather:

“The abuse you endured…was unwarranted and unwarranted. The emotional burden you have experienced and the cost of your own career in our industry is irreparable. For too long, the courage you have shown has gone unrecognized. For this, we offer you both our most sincere apologies and our sincere admiration.

A formal apology

On Saturday, the academy will honor and formally apologize to Littlefeather in person at an evening ceremony at its new museum. The academy says the event is dedicated to “conversation, reflection, healing and celebration”.

The program includes an acknowledgment of the land, a reading of the Academy’s apology letter and a conversation between Littlefeather and Bird Runningwater, who co-chairs the Academy’s Indigenous Alliance. Performers include the San Manuel Bird Singers, Michael Bellanger, the All Nation Singers and Dancers, and the Sooner Nation Singers and Dancers.

Although the event is sold out, it can be streamed live here.

Littlefeather, now 75, plans to attend.

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