Winner:Marlon Brando(not present; award refused by Sacheen Littlefeather (aka Marie Cruz)) Presenter: Liv Ullmann, Roger Moore Date & Venue: March 27, 1973; Dorothy Chandler Pavilion SACHEEN LITTLEFEATHER: Hello. She has been speaking out ever since, Sacheen Littlefeather begins by announcing that this will be one of her last interviews: Im very, very ill. here for reprint permission. Sacheen Littlefeather, Native American actor and activist", "Sacheen Littlefeather, who gave Marlon Brando's Oscar rejection speech, dies at 75", "Sacheen Littlefeather was a Native icon. Im going to the world of my ancestors. That stems partly from a deep misunderstanding of what it means to be Native, TallBear said. Oscar Award Acceptance on Behalf of Marlon Brando, delivered 27 March 1973, Dorothy "Hello, my name is Sacheen Littlefeather," said the 20-something California actress and activist as she stood under the lights. She arrived at the ceremony with Brandos assistant, just minutes before best actor was announced. Thank you. In that account, he called the radio station where she worked months after she sent the letter. In her speech, she spoke out against Hollywood's treatment of Native Americans. Brando sent her and his girlfriend Jill Banner to go and see his latest movie, Last Tango in Paris Bernardo Bertoluccis controversially graphic erotic drama (which would earn Brando another Oscar nomination). At a memorial service in California in 2000 with Lanny Pinola, a Pomo/Miwok spiritual leader. Throughout her career, Sacheen Littlefeather identified herself in interviews as Apache and Yaqui. [50] She continued to pursue acting opportunities, such as touring with the "Red Earth Theater Company". transcribed directly from audio]. La Tray is now an enrolled member of the Little Shell tribe, but he said hes more interested in welcoming others like him back to their communities than he is in disputing peoples claims to Native identity. Directors Photos & Posters Help About "Best Pictures". Thank you on behalf of Marlon Brando.". 8:51 AM EDT, Sat November 5, 2022. She also recorded an episode for the Academy Museum's podcast and a visual history for the Academy Oral History Projects. The statement was read in full at An Evening with Sacheen Littlefeather on September 17, an event honoring Littlefeather and featuring a conversation between her and producer Bird Runningwater (Cheyenne/Mescalero Apache/N.M. [4][5] Furthermore, Cruz says Littlefeather fabricated a Native identity because she thought it was more "prestigious" to be Native American than to be Hispanic. She also reconnected with the Catholic faith, working with Mother Teresa caring for Aids patients in hospices, and led the San Francisco Kateri Circle, a Catholic group named after Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American saint. But in a timed 60-second acceptance speech for Marlon Brando's Godfather Oscar, she quickly rose to fame with a legendary speech about how Native Americans are treated in Hollywood. For example, the two allege that Littlefeather lifted her accounts of being abused by an alcoholic, mentally ill father from her fathers own upbringing. It was a key moment in the struggle for Native American rights and may well have saved lives, she suggests. She was accompanied by Brando's secretary, Alice Marchak. Frazer Harrison/Getty Images. At the 1973 Academy Awards, Native American actress stepped in to turn down the Oscar for Marlon Brando. [11] She played a role in the mascot change at Tamalpais High School in the late 1980s, first becoming involved when she visited the high school as a guest director for the drama class play, "Grandmother Earth". It is still a striking scene to watch. She had had a few small roles in movies, including Freebie and the Bean and The Trial of Billy Jack. Deviating from the prepared speech, she said the following:[66], Hello. LaNada Warjack, a then-student activist who was on Alcatraz during the entire 18-month occupation, said Littlefeather was not there and that activists only learned who she was during her Oscar speech. It's our method of survival. [15][16][17] After high school, she attended Hartnell Junior College and studied elementary education. I'm Apache and I am president of the National Native American Affirmative Image Committee. Tribal citizenship and belonging, however, are complicated. Only if you lay down your arms, my friends, can we then talk of peace and come to an agreement which will be good for you. When they laid down their arms, we murdered them. We cheated them out of their lands. But according to The Hollywood Reporter, the Academy invited her to Academy Museum, as a guest of honor. [58] Before the ceremony, Brando decided thatas the favorite to win[57]he would boycott as a protest led by AIM against the ongoing siege at Wounded Knee and his views on how Native Americans were represented in American films. who is co-chair of the Academys Indigenous Alliance. You directed Marlon Brando in The Godfather. She asked him for Brandos address. [108] Littlefeather also described herself as one of the original teachers in St. Mary's Traditional Indian Medicine program,[9][109] which consisted of a series of conferences held between 1984 and 1990 and was coordinated by Comanche medicine man Edgar Monetathchi, Jr, who worked for the Indian Health Service and was the first medicine man to be employed full-time by a Catholic hospital. SACHEEN is a documentary short in which Sacheen Littlefeather, White Mountain Apache/Yaqui, speaks t She wrote a letter to him and, walking past Coppolas house one day, said: Hey! I was embarrassed for Sacheen; she wasnt able to say what she intended to say. Actor John Wayne even had to be restrained from attacking her on stage, at the time. "[90], At the 2023 95th Academy Awards ceremony, the Academy did not recognize Littlefeather at their in memoriam segment. The two also claim that key parts of Littlefeathers claimed upbringing were fabricated along with her status as a Native American. This is not an object; this is a human being. So I went to the priest and I told him God would never approve of this, and he called me heretic. Im representing Marlin Brando this But Sacheen's accomplishments are many and varied - she studied Native health and was responsible for assisting hospitals with accommodating Native health practices. Maria Louise Cruz[1] (November 14, 1946 October 2, 2022), better known as Sacheen Littlefeather[2][3] was an American actress, model, and activist for Native American civil rights who after her death was accused by family members and journalists of being a pretendian.[4][5][6][7]. Sacheen Littlefeather recites the full acceptance speech that Marlon Brando intended for her to deliver on his behalf at the 1973 Academy Awards. Littlefeather campaigning on the streets of San Francisco, c. 1990. He succumbed to blood cancer in November 2021. [123], In November 2019 she received the Brando Award, which recognizes individuals for their contributions to the American Indian, from the Red Nation International Film Festival. Theres a clear distinction between people like La Tray and those who are claiming a tribal affiliation with little to no basis, TallBear said. Writer Jacqueline Keeler has alleged she did not have a legitimate claim to those tribes. [9][32] She reported having tuberculosis at age four and received treatment in an oxygen tent while hospitalized. I'm representing Marlon Brando this evening and he has asked me to tell you in a very long speech, which I cannot share with you presently because of time but I will be glad to share with the press afterwards, that he very regretfully cannot accept this very generous award," she stated in her speech. Native American actor and activist faced backlash after making a speech at the 1973 Oscars We starved them into signing fraudulent agreements that we called treaties which we never kept. [The people backstage] said theyd give me 60 seconds, or theyd arrest me. [82], According to Ann Brebner of the Brebner Agency, which handled Littlefeather's modeling bookings, she was deluged with mail and phone calls after her Oscars appearance, which led to radio and television appearances as well as the opportunity to read for several film roles. [47] In an interview published just before her Academy Awards appearance, she stated that she had helped send two Indian nurses to Wounded Knee and that she had relinquished her United States citizenship, along with seven Native Americans. Excuse me, she says calmly, then continues: And on television and movie reruns, and also with recent happenings at Wounded Knee. At the time, Wounded Knee, in South Dakota, was the site of a month-long standoff between Native American activists and US authorities, sparked by the murder of a Lakota man. It was as though his life was being played out in that film. Brando, too, had had difficult parents: his father was disapproving and unloving; his mother an alcoholic. I could not tell the difference between me and my pain., Fortunately, in the late 1960s and early 70s Native Americans were beginning to reclaim their identities and reassert their rights. Image of Sacheen Littlefeather standing before an Oscar statue holding Marlon Brando's statement at the 45th annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles, California, 1973. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sacheen_Littlefeather&oldid=1151541208, This page was last edited on 24 April 2023, at 17:55. [104] In the 1980s, she led prayer circles for Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American Catholic saint. For too long the courage you showed has been unacknowledged. After all, before Europeans arrived on the continent, many tribes were more inclusive in their membership, granting citizenship to people who married into or were adopted by the tribe, outsiders who lived in tribal communities and those who assumed their cultural norms and practices. Affirmative Image Committee. Her words were so incendiary that John Wayne had to be restrained from interrupting the speech, and boos echoed throughout the auditorium for the duration of the speech. But Littlefeather is proud of the trail she blazed. And even though she faced years of discrimination and harassment for decades, it was meaningful nonetheless. Thank you for your kindness and your courtesy to Miss Littlefeather. That is impossible for many of us.. SACHEEN LITTLEFEATHER: My name is Sacheen Littlefeather. I beg at this time that I have not intruded upon this evening and that we will in the future, our hearts and our understandings will meet with love and generosity. [9], Littlefeather joined the audience minutes before the award for Best Actor was announced. How the Climate Crisis Harms Native Americans, Indigenous Communities Have Been Forced to RelocateTo Areas Heavily Impacted by Climate Change, Latest Environmental Leaders News and Updates. On behalf of Marlon Brando, she refused the Best Actor award he was awarded for his role in Godfather. Saturday, October 22, 2022, Click NPR. For them, we do not have to restore these people, we do not have to live up to some agreements, because it is given to us by virtue of our power to attack the rights of others, to take their property, to take their lives when they are trying to defend their land and liberty, and to make their virtues a crime and our own vices virtues. By 1949, they had moved to Salinas and opened up their own business, Cruz Saddlery. I was called the N-word. When she was 12, she and her grandfather visited the historic Roman Catholic church Carmel Mission, where she was horrified to see the bones of a Native American person on display in the museum. CNN On its face, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' apology to Sacheen Littlefeather earlier this year appeared to be a long overdue righting of wrongs. According to Sacheen and others at the Academy Awards program, actor John Wayne, loudly cursing, had to be held back by security. [9] In an interview after her Academy Awards appearance, Fortunate Eagle confirmed that Littlefeather had supported the protest at Alcatraz;[27] however, according to an article published after Littlefeather's death, activist LaNada War Jack, who was at Alcatraz, said Littlefeather was not there. She added, "We need to keep our sense of humor about this at all times. Sacheen Littlefeather was born on 14 November 1946 in Salinas, California, USA. Native American and Indigenous identity is deeply complex and layered, especially in the United States, and these communities have long battled erasure and misrepresentation, the Academy Museum said in a statement to CNN. [69][70][71][72][73] This claim has since been disputed by film historian Farran Nehme and biographer Scott Eyman. I used to hike the hills of San Francisco every day, she says. Over the years, she became an icon, saying in interviews that she was White Mountain Apache and Yaqui, that she participated occupation of Alcatraz and that she was blacklisted by the film industry. Still, others dont always realize the extent of the damage. Native Viewpoint was created by Akwesasne Mohawk journalist, editor, and public speaker Vincent Schilling. Being Native American is often viewed in the US as a race or ethnicity. I think awards in this country at this time are inappropriate to be received or given until the condition of the American Indian is drastically altered. stated via The Hollywood Reporter. Text & Image (screenshot) = Uncertain. In La Trays view, assessments about whether Littlefeather or anyone else has a legitimate claim to being Native should be at the discretion of tribes. [9], In 1972, Brando played Vito Corleone in The Godfather, which many critics consider one of the greatest films of all time. [41] A year later in October 1973, due to her Academy Award appearance fame, they ran the photographs of Littlefeather as a stand-alone feature. Today they are almost expected, but in 1973 it was radical. She was an actress, known for The Trial of Billy Jack (1974), Counselor at Crime (1973) and Johnny Firecloud (1975). Offers may be subject to change without notice. [28] Later, though, Littlefeather said she was blacklisted by the Hollywood community and received threats. I thought about Marlon in his early days with his mother. It would seem that the respect for principle and the love of ones neighbor have become dysfunctional in this country of ours, and that all we have done, all that we have succeeded in accomplishing with our power is simply annihilating the hopes of the newborn countries in this world, as well as friends and enemies alike, that were not humane, and that we do not live up to our agreements. [20], While she attended California State College at Hayward (now California State University, East Bay) and studied dramatics and speech, she continued to cultivate a Native American identity. [9][106] In 1991, Littlefeather was reported to be recovering from radical cancer surgery. Transcript Actor and activist Sacheen Littlefeather, best known for declining Marlon Brando's 1973 Oscar to protest Hollywood's treatment of Native Americans, has died at the age of 75. He was able to share those real emotions with an audience. So there were two promises I had to keep. As a result, she improvised her speech. During. I'm Apache and I am president of the National Native American Affirmative Image Committee. But hopefully I can share some of these things while Im here. Littlefeather talks about the end of life with the same composure and dignity she exhibited that night in 1973. Littlefeather, who died on Oct. 3, gave her speech in place of Marlon Brando, who declined the award for Best Actor that year after playing Vito Corleone in The Godfather.. And the reasons for this being are the treatment of American Indians today by the film industry excuse me and on television in movie reruns, and also with recent happenings at Wounded Knee. For this, we offer both our deepest apologies and our sincere admiration." Shortly after Littlefeather's death, Navajo writer and activist Jacqueline Keeler interviewed Littlefeather's two sisters, who said that their family is not Native American and that Littlefeather fabricated her Native American ancestry. All rights reserved. Later that night, before she announced the Best Actress winner, Raquel Welch said, "I hope the winner doesn't have a cause. The emotional burden you have lived through and the cost to your own career in our industry are irreparable. There are some who feel that Keelers report on Littlefeather and her investigations into other alleged Pretendians are discouraging for people who are trying to reconnect with tribal communities they have been severed from.
