OCTOBER 3, 2022:
The actor and activist who declined Marlon Brando’s 1973 Academy Award for “The Godfather” on his behalf in an indelible protest of how Native Americans had been portrayed on screen has died. Sacheen Littlefeather was 75. Her niece confirmed that Littlefeather died peacefully Sunday (Oct. 2, 2022), surrounded by loved ones at her California home. The family said the cause was breast cancer. Littlefeather’s appearance at the 1973 Oscars would become one of the ceremony’s most famous moments. Littlefeather said she was “red-listed” from the industry afterward. The academy apologized to her earlier this year, and she said she would do it again.
AUGUST 17, 2022:
NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly 50 years after Sacheen Littlefeather stood on the Academy Awards stage on behalf of Marlon Brando to speak about the depiction of Native Americans in Hollywood, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has apologized to her for the abuse she endured. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on Monday says that it will host Littlefeather, now 75, for an evening of “conversation, healing and celebration” on Sept. 17, 2022. In making the announcement, the Academy Museum shared a letter sent June 18 to Littlefeather by David Rubin, academy president, about the iconic Oscar moment. Rubin wrote: “For too long the courage you showed has been unacknowledged.”
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