{"id":105208,"date":"2022-08-16T06:11:43","date_gmt":"2022-08-16T11:11:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/?p=105208"},"modified":"2022-08-16T06:11:43","modified_gmt":"2022-08-16T11:11:43","slug":"film-academy-apologizes-to-littlefeather-for-1973-oscars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/2022\/08\/16\/film-academy-apologizes-to-littlefeather-for-1973-oscars\/","title":{"rendered":"Film Academy Apologizes to Littlefeather for 1973 Oscars"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"VOA \u2014 NEW YORK \u2014\u00a0<\/span>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 films, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences apologized to her for the abuse she endured.<\/p>\n

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on Monday said that it will host Littlefeather, now 75, for an evening of \u201cconversation, healing and celebration\u201d on September 17.<\/p>\n

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\"FILE<\/div>\n<\/div>
FILE – Sacheen Littlefeather tells the audience at the Academy Awards ceremony that Marlon Brando was declining to accept his Oscar as best actor for his role in “The Godfather,” March 27, 1973. The move was meant to protest Hollywood\u2019s treatment of American Indians.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

When Brando won best actor for \u201cThe Godfather,\u201d Littlefeather, wearing buckskin dress and moccasins, took the stage, becoming the first Native American woman ever to do so at the Academy Awards. In a 60-second speech, she explained that Brando could not accept the award due to \u201cthe treatment of American Indians today by the film industry.”<\/p>\n

Some in the audience booed her. John Wayne, who was backstage at the time, was reportedly furious. The 1973 Oscars were held during the American Indian Movement’s two-month occupation of Wounded Knee in South Dakota. In the years since, Littlefeather has said she’s been mocked, discriminated against and personally attacked for her brief Academy Awards appearance.<\/p>\n

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 called Littlefeather’s speech \u201ca powerful statement that continues to remind us of the necessity of respect and the importance of human dignity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe abuse you endured because of this statement was unwarranted and unjustified,\u201d wrote Rubin. \u201cThe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Littlefeather, in a statement, said it is \u201cprofoundly heartening to see how much has changed since I did not accept the Academy Award 50 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRegarding the Academy\u2019s apology to me, we Indians are very patient people \u2014 it\u2019s only been 50 years!\u201d said Littlefeather. \u201cWe need to keep our sense of humor about this at all times. It\u2019s our method of survival.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the Academy Museum event in Los Angeles, Littlefeather will sit for a conversation with producer Bird Runningwater, co-chair of the academy’s Indigenous Alliance.<\/p>\n

In a podcast earlier this year with Jacqueline Stewart, a film scholar and director of the Academy Museum, Littlefeather reflected on what compelled her to speak out in 1973.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt that there should be Native people, Black people, Asian people, Chicano people \u2014 I felt there should be an inclusion of everyone,” said Littlefeather. “A rainbow of people that should be involved in creating their own image.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VOA \u2014 NEW YORK \u2014\u00a0Nearly 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 films, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences apologized to her for the abuse she endured. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":105210,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-recposts"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.2","language":"en","enabled_languages":["fa","en"],"languages":{"fa":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105208"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105208\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105212,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105208\/revisions\/105212"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}