And then it all happened so fast when it was announced that he had won. That same year she did a spread in Playboy magazine. [59][60][4] Producer Howard W. Koch, she later said, told her "you can't read all that" in reference to the 739-word speech written by Brando,[61] so she condensed it all into 60 seconds. We turned them into beggars on a continent that gave life for as long as life can remember. [9], Over the years, Littlefeather described her personal experiences with serious health issues, including internal bleeding, collapsed lungs, and cancer. But Littlefeathers case isnt about blood quantum or other factors that keep some Native people from being a part of their communities, she added. and our understandings will meet with love and generosity. There have been Clark Gable, Katharine Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, and many others, but the most famous Oscar speech in history belongs to Marie Cruz, known as Sacheen Littlefeather (and generally referred to by the latter name in media accounts), an actress and Native American activist. There, she received a formal apology from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. I knew that J Edgar Hoover had gone around and told people in the industry not to hire me, because he would shut their talkshow or their production down. There are various reasons that someone with a legitimate link to a tribe might not be enrolled, many of which can be traced back to US policies that sought to erase Native Americans. 2. She only had 60 seconds and was not able to read her entire speech. [32] Littlefeather participated in events related to a year-long celebration of the Americas before Columbus, but there is no record of a PBS show by either name being broadcast in 1992. She was the first woman of colour, and the first indigenous woman, to use the Academy Awards platform to make a political statement. Sacheen Littlefeather has passed away at the age of 75 and although she hasn't made headlines in a while, her speech left a mark on activist history. Here's the transcript of her speech: Hello. Thank you on behalf of Marlon Brando. And Ive been on chemotherapy for quite some time, and daily antibiotics. [8][9] She later said that she "learned early in life that there was probably a place for me in the dramatic art field, acting if you have a parent who's deaf, you naturally have to act out messages to them," referring to communicating with her father. It was more prestigious to be an American Indian than it was to be Hispanic in her mind, Ms. Orlandi told the Chronicle. TallBear avoids the term identity when talking about tribal affiliation and citizenship. [98][99], As a staff member of the American Indian Center, Littlefeather participated in a conference about American Indians in media at the Hotel San Franciscan in 1978. U.S. Copyright 2023 Green Matters. [28] She played the role of Paleflower in Winterhawk, filmed in Kalispell, Montana. [11] She said that the federal government encouraged the blacklisting to abate Native American activism after Wounded Knee. My name is Sacheen Littlefeather. We cheated them out of their lands. Bird Runningwater, co-chair of the Academys Indigenous Alliance on stage with Sacheen Littlefeather at AMPAS Presents An Evening with Sacheen Littlefeather at Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on September 17, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. I mean, youre not gonna be a Mexican American princess. They met in Arizona where mixed-race couples were still illegal so moved to Salinas, California, working as saddle-makers and leather-stampers. Keeler searched records of Littlefeather's family going back to 1850 and did not find evidence of Native ancestry. Thats another fantasy, Ms. Orlandi explained to the Chronicle. Sacheen Littlefeather took to the stage at the 1973 Oscars carrying an eight-page statement from Marlon Brando. I didnt use swearwords. ], Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences[Note: All winners are present except where noted; NOT all winners may have spoken. I'm Apache and I am president of the National Native American Affirmative Image Committee. The acceptance of my dominant cultures ways and my Indian ways together, living peacefully side by side., Now she is one of the elders transmitting knowledge down generations. [7] Academic and journalist Dina Gilio-Whitaker, who studies Native Americans in the US, wrote that the truth about community leaders is "crucial", even if it means losing a "hero", and that the work Littlefeather did is still valuable, but there is a need to be honest about the harm done by pretendians, especially by those who manage to fool so many people that they become iconic, as Littlefeather did. Almost 50 years ago, 26-year-old Sacheen Littlefeather only had a few roles under her belt. One of her neighbours was Francis Ford Coppola. By her early 20s Littlefeather was working as public service director at a San Francisco radio station, and head of the local affirmative action committee for Native Americans, studying representation in film, television and sports (they successfully campaigned for Stanford University to remove their offensive Indian sports team symbol). I'm Apache, and I'm president of the National Native American . 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. [121][122] In 2009, she gave testimony in the documentary Reel Injun about Native Americans in film. [124] She participated in events commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Occupation of Alcatraz, including serving as head pow wow judge. 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. note: When Ms. Littlefeather approaches the podium, she refuses to take the Oscar statuette being offered to her by presenter Roger Moore. . [93][94] Contemporary accounts of the founding of the Red Earth Performing Arts Company by Nez Perce actor and playwright John Kauffman, Jr in 1974 do not mention Littlefeather. She lives in San Francisco. 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. Wounded Knee. On Tuesday, March 27, 1973, Littlefeather represented Marlon Brando at the Academy Awards. ", "Sacheen Littlefeather Once Cheered Cowboys", "Littlefeather discards Oscar memories, finds new dances", "I Believe television program: Father Harry Schlitt and Sacheen Littlefeather", "Alcatraz Miss Chosen as Top Female Vampire", "Official Ceremony Marks Opening Of Fair Tonight", "It's Oscar TimeDo You Know Where Sacheen Littlefeather Is? Littlefeather was not shocked, she says. Brando was announced the Best Actor winner for his role in The Godfather. Upon reaching the podium, Littlefeather declined the Oscar from Roger Moore and spoke: Hello, my name is Sacheen Littlefeather. Others might not qualify under controversial blood quantum standards, which require a certain amount of Indian blood and are a product of US colonialism. I would hope that those who are listening would not look upon this as a rude intrusion, but as an earnest effort to focus attention on an issue that might very well determine whether or not this country has the right to say from this point forward we believe in the inalienable rights of all people to remain free and independent on lands that have supported their life beyond living memory. The two also claim that key parts of Littlefeathers claimed upbringing were fabricated along with her status as a Native American. Keeler concluded that while Littlefeather possibly had Indigenous ancestry, she wasnt connected to the White Mountain Apache or Pascua Yaqui tribes. Debunking a Hollywood myth", "John Wayne and the Six Security Men: An Investigation", "Clint Eastwood Faces Online Scrutiny for 1973 Academy Awards Comment", "Catching up with Sacheen Littlefeather, 40 years after her controversial brush with Oscar history", "Yoko Ono, Sacheen Littlefeather deliver Summer TV Tour into the past", "Sacheen Littlefeather recounts blacklisting, assassination attempts", "Reel Injun: On the Trail of the Hollywood Indian", "Meet the woman who refused Marlon Brando's Oscar and inspired Jada Pinkett Smith's boycott", "Academy Apologizes to Sacheen Littlefeather for Her Mistreatment at the 1973 Oscars (Exclusive)", "Academy Issues Formal Apology to Sacheen Littlefeather for 1973 Oscars: 'I Never Thought I'd Live to See the Day', "A teary John Travolta couldn't distract from Oscars' In Memoriam's missing big names", "38th Annual American Indian Film Festival Awards Ceremony", "NVTV-38th Annual-American Indian Film Festival Award Ceremony 2013", "Medium Rare Looks Inside the Indian Theater", "Dance in America: A Song for Dead Warriors", "Letter made Mandela aware of Indians' plight", "Letting the Indian Go: The Evolution of the Tam Mascot", "Marin resident embarks on American Indian oral history project", "Trustees vote to retain Braves name for Tomales High mascot", "Welcome to the San Francisco Kateri Circle", "The Indian Way: Traditional Indian medicine joins science in the hospital", "St. Mary's to sponsor conference on traditional Indian medicine", "A partnership of a Catholic faith-based health system, nursing and traditional American Indian medicine practitioners", "Indian activist optimistic: Littlefeather says 'Wolves' has helped", "Mother Teresa Is Dead / The Bay Area was close to her heart", "First Lady Joins Memorial by Allen White", "Indian Philosopher's Words Will Come to Life in Play", "Films still stereotype Indians, actor says", "Experience An Historic Celebration The Americas Before Columbus", "Sacheen Littlefeather-Declaration to SD Attorney General's Office", "A Letter to Marlon Brando About Putting an Indian on the Oscar Stage", "Sacheen Littlefeather, who declined Brando's Oscar, dies at 75", "Publicity was not my reason for doing it", "Sacheen Littlefeather, Who Rejected Oscar for Marlon Brando, Has Stage 4 Cancer", "Sacheen Littlefeather, Who Delivered Marlon Brando's Oscar Rejection Speech, Dies at 75", "Sacheen Littlefeather, Activist Who Took the Stage to Decline Marlon Brando's Oscar, Dies at 75", "Sacheen Littlefeather and the Question of Native Identity", "Brando was a rebel in the movies, a character in life", "Oscars' other scandal: The Academy really doesn't want to talk about Sacheen Littlefeather", "The strange, sad tale of Sacheen Littlefeather: Did icon fake a Native American identity? [9][32] She reported having tuberculosis at age four and received treatment in an oxygen tent while hospitalized. Littlefeather ends her speech begging that in the future, our hearts and our understandings will meet with love and generosity. Littlefeather's speech at the 1970 Oscars skyrocketed her to fame. It's disgusting to the heritage of the tribal people. In fact, Cruz said her family didnt previously raise concerns about Littlefeathers claims because they assumed she wasnt hurting anybody.. In her 60-second speech, she introduced herself as Apache and spoke out against Hollywoods treatment of Native Americans. Sacheen Littlefeather was born on 14 November 1946 in Salinas, California, USA. [43] "I was distressed that people should have booed and whistled and stomped, even though perhaps it was directed at myself," Brando later told Dick Cavett. The letter, signed by Betty Cooper, director of the American Indian alcoholism program, and Sally Gallegos, director of the Consortium of United Indian Nations, was credited with Mandela's decision to meet with American Indian leaders in October 1990. He had to be restrained by six security guards. Still, others dont always realize the extent of the damage. Actor John Wayne even had to be restrained from attacking her on stage, at the time. This is about people who have built their careers on claims to Native identity and who do not have any.. [10][9][11] Littlefeather's father was Manuel Ybarra Cruz, a saddlemaker of Mexican descent, born and raised in Oxnard, California,[12] who Littlefeather claimed had White Mountain Apache and Yaqui ancestry;[9][11] however her sisters, as well as researchers who looked into the claim, state he was of Spanish-Mexican ancestry with no tribal identity. [88], In June 2022 the Academy sent Littlefeather a statement of apology, in which the organization's then-president David Rubin wrote: "The abuse you endured because of this statement was unwarranted and unjustified. [95][96] In 1978, it was reported that Littlefeather would travel to Newfoundland with the Greenpeace Foundation to protest the Newfoundland seal hunt along with politicians and other show business personalities. 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. [applause][66], Moore escorted Littlefeather off-stage, past several people critical of her, and towards the press. John Wayne was in the wings, ready to have me taken off stage. 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. I knew Sacheen and I don't think it was her idea at allI am sure Brando recruited her".[86]. [13], Because Littlefeather had been a beloved activist, these reports were met with controversy, challenges, and attacks (e.g., on Keeler), largely on social media. [79] Brando and Littlefeather's protest was generally considered inappropriate for the awards ceremony. Here is the full transcript of her speech: "For 200 years we have said to the Indian people who are fighting for their land, their life, their families and their right to be free: "Lay down your arms, my friends, and then we will remain together. [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. She appeared on live TV in 1973 to refuse an Oscar on . Brando was announced the Best Actor winner for his role in "The Godfather." Upon reaching the podium, Littlefeather declined the Oscar from Roger Moore and spoke: "Hello, my name is Sacheen Littlefeather. here for reprint permission. And Ive been on chemotherapy for quite some time, and daily antibiotics. TallBear and others say this view misconstrues how tribal governments and communities function. "They should have at least had the courtesy to listen to her. And this leads us into terrible pain, into suicide, into alcoholism, into jails. She did not fit in at the white, Catholic school her grandparents sent her to.
