Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Apologizes To Sacheen Littlefeather

Sacheen Littlefeather -GLOBE PHOTOS

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recently announced its apology to Sacheen Littlefeather for her mistreatment at the 1973 Oscars. The statement of apology will be read on September 17, 2022, at the Academy Museum event honoring Littlefeather. This statement is in response to Littlefeather’s encounter with hecklers booing her onstage at the Oscars and threatened with arrest and physical assault when she protested Native American mistreatment.

Then 26 years old, Littlefeather took the stage at the 1973 Oscars as requested by actor Marlon Brando’s. Brando wished for Littlefeather to decline the best actor award for his role in The Godfather on his behalf. Before going on stage, she was told not to touch the statuette on Brando’s instructions, and to keep her comments to 60 seconds as ordered by the then-show producer Howard Koch. Koch even threatened to send security to arrest her if she went past time. While explaining that Brando’s decision was the result of his dislike of the treatment of Native Americans in the film industry, Littlefeather experienced backlash on and off stage. There were claims that actor John Wayne had to be restrained from storming the stage to assault her. Her identity and integrity were soon under scrutiny, and the federal government even threatened to shut down any talk shows or productions that put her on the air.

The statement of apology will be read in full on September 17 at the Academy Museum event honoring Littlefeather. She will participate in a conversation with producer Bird Runningwater, co-chair of the Academy’s Indigenous Alliance. Runningwater first reached out to Littlefeather on behalf of the Academy as part of the museum’s ongoing efforts to revisit the organization’s past and determine its future through a more expansive, inclusive lens. After nearly 50 years of harassment and discrimination, Littlefeather will receive recognition for her activist work in protesting Native American mistreatment.

Read the Academy’s full apology to Sacheen Littlefeather below.

June 18, 2022

Dear Sacheen Littlefeather,

I write to you today a letter that has been a long time coming on behalf of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, with humble acknowledgment of your experience at the 45th Academy Awards.

As you stood on the Oscars stage in 1973 to not accept the Oscar on behalf of Marlon Brando, in recognition of the misrepresentation and mistreatment of Native American people by the film industry, you made a powerful statement that continues to remind us of the necessity of respect and the importance of human dignity.

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.

We cannot realize the Academy’s mission to “inspire imagination and connect the world through cinema” without a commitment to facilitating the broadest representation and inclusion reflective of our diverse global population.

Today, nearly 50 years later, and with the guidance of the Academy’s Indigenous Alliance, we are firm in our commitment to ensuring indigenous voices—the original storytellers—are visible, respected contributors to the global film community. We are dedicated to fostering a more inclusive, respectful industry that leverages a balance of art and activism to be a driving force for progress.

We hope you receive this letter in the spirit of reconciliation and as recognition of your essential role in our journey as an organization.  You are forever respectfully engrained in our history.

With warmest regards, David Rubin
President, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences