The actress and Apache native said on stage at the time that Brando was “unfortunately unable to accept this very generous award.” He wanted to protest once morest Hollywood’s treatment of Native Americans. The audience reacted partly with applause, but partly with boos.
Littlefeather later said Western star John Wayne wanted to physically attack her and six security guards had to hold him back. Backstage, some of those present mocked them with stereotypical indigenous war cries. Memories of the Wayne incident were revived in March when actor Will Smith punched comedian Chris Rock at the Oscars following he made a joke regarding Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
Littlefeather, then 26, was one of the first to use her Oscars performance as a stage for a political message. By her own admission, the speech cost her another career as an actress. Before that she was seen in the Italian-Spanish crime thriller “In the dozen to hell”. The speech haunted Littlefeather for years to come. The US film critic Roger Ebert claimed in a 2004 obituary for Brando that she was not an indigenous person at all. Littlefeather forced a counter-notice.
“The cost of a career is irreparable”
“The abuse you suffered because of that statement was unjustifiable and unwarranted,” Oscar Academy President David Rubin wrote to Littlefeather last June. “The emotional burden you have endured and the cost of your career in our industry are irreparable.” Littlefeather’s courage has also gone unrecognized for far too long. “We sincerely apologize for this and at the same time express our sincere admiration.”
The letter was published in response to Littlefeather’s invitation to speak at the Oscar Museum in Los Angeles. The museum has made it its mission to openly address difficult chapters in Hollywood history, such as racism. How Littlefeather was treated following her speech in 1973 is already being discussed in the museum.
Littlefeather: “We indigenous people are patient people”
Littlefeather responded to the apology letter with humor. She never thought she’d hear the apology while she was alive. “We indigenous people are very patient people – it was only 50 years ago!” Indigenous people have learned to react to adversity with humor. “It’s our method of survival.”
In an interview with the British “Guardian” last year, the now 75-year-old spoke openly regarding her cancer. She has metastatic breast cancer that has spread to the lungs, she said. But she hasn’t lost her sense of humor: the illness is a “full-time job,” she said. “If you’re lazy, you shouldn’t be applying for cancer.”
