Sacheen Littlefeather Dies 2 Months After Academy Apologized Over Her Treatment At Oscars 1973

Sacheen Littlefeather, an actor and Native American activist, who on behalf of Marlon Brando declined to receive his Oscar for 'The Godfather,' has passed away at 75, according to an announcement by the Academy of Motion Pictures.?

According to theguardian.com, Littlefeather was suffering from breast cancer. According to the report, The Academy took to Twitter to announce the actress-activist's death on Sunday night.?

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The Hollywood Reporter reported that Littlefeather's caretaker said she died at 12:00 PM on Sunday.Littlefeather was surrounded by her loved ones at her home in the Northern California city of Novato during her last moments.?

Sacheen Littlefeather's death comes two months after the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Ampas), the body that oversees the Oscars, apologized to her over her treatment at the 1973 Academy Awards ceremony when she declined the Oscar award on behalf of Marlon Brando after he refused to accept it as a protest in support of Native American rights.?

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While refusing to accept the statuette from presenters Roger Moore and Liv Ullmann for Marlon Brando, Littlefeather in her speech clarified that Brando's stance was due to “the treatment of American Indians by the film industry".?

She also spoke about the Wounded Knee massacre by the American Indian Movement (AIM) in her speech.Her speech was not taken well by the audience, and many made offensive gestures toward her.?

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Reportedly, American actor John Wayne had to be restrained by security guards backstage from assaulting Littlefeather, who was 26 years old at the time. Hollywood even blacklisted her after the award ceremony. However, her appearance has been described as “powerful" according to the official statement issued by Ampas.?

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in its apology letter to Littlefeather said, "a powerful statement that continues to remind us of the necessity of respect and the importance of human dignity”.?

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To this, Littlefeather had responded by saying, “Regarding the Academy’s apology to me, we Indians are very patient people – it’s only been 50 years! We need to keep our sense of humour about this at all times. It’s our method of survival.”?

Academy claims Littlefeather was the first Native American woman to ever appear onstage at the Oscars. She was born in 1946 and was raised by her maternal grandparents as her parents were mentally unfit.?

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