Sacheen Littlefeather Finally Receives New Apology from The Academy
Marie Louise Cruz, known as Sacheen Littlefeather, is finally receiving an apology from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Cruz will be the guest of honor at the event of healing and Indigenous celebration on September 17.
Back in June, Sacheen Littlefeather received a private invitation from the Academy, asking her to return as a guest of honor, where they will formally apologize to her after the horrific incident at the 1973 Academy Awards. Sacheen Littlefeather states, “I was stunned. I never thought I’d live to see the day I would be hearing this, experiencing this.”
In 1973, Littlefeather was just 26 years old when she declined Marlon Brando’s Best Actor win for The Godfather. She stood alone at the podium, where she had to follow one instruction from the legendary actor. She recounts that she could not “touch the statuette (Brando’s order)”, and she had to “keep her comments to 60 seconds (an order from show producer Howard Koch, who told Littlefeather minutes before the award presentation that he had security on hand to arrest her if she went past time).”
sacheen littlefeather at the 1973 oscar ceremony pic.twitter.com/yosNz9MQ45
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She bravely began the speech by stating, “Brando very regretfully cannot accept this very generous award. She continues, “And the reasons for this being are the treatment of American Indians today by the film industry [the audience begins to boo] — excuse me — and on television in movie reruns, and also with recent happenings at Wounded Knee.”
Her courageous plea for justice was met with horrific consequences. She was mocked, threatened, and her career was permanently ruined. The then-Academy president David Rubin writes to Littlefeather, “The abuse you endured because of this statement was unwarranted and unjustified. The emotional burden you have lived through and the cost to your own career in our industry are irreparable. For too long the courage you showed has been unacknowledged. For this, we offer both our deepest apologies and our sincere admiration.”
Sacheen Littlefeather is a hero. At 75, Littlefeather will finally get the apology she deserves, almost fifty years after the incident. In her words from 1973, she pleads, “I beg at this time that … in the future, our hearts, and our understandings will meet with love and generosity.” May her words continue to set an example for generations to come.
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