Sacheen Littlefeather surprised viewers members when she received up onstage on the 1973 Academy Awards ceremony on behalf of Marlon Brando.
The now-75-year-old was booed, laughed at and heckled for refusing Brando’s award for Greatest Actor in “The Godfather.”
Now, virtually 50 years later, the Academy of Movement Image Arts and Sciences has provided her a formal apology.
“The abuse you endured due to this assertion was unwarranted and unjustified,” wrote former Academy President David Rubin within the notice. “The emotional burden you might have lived by means of and the associated fee to your personal profession in our trade are irreparable.
“For too lengthy the braveness you confirmed has been unacknowledged. For this, we provide each our deepest apologies and our honest admiration,” he continued.
Whereas a letter was despatched to Littlefeather in June with a quick apology, an occasion on the Academy Museum will likely be held on Sept. 17 for the amends to be learn in full.
She may also be part of a dialog with producer Chook Runningwater, co-chair of the academy’s Indigenous Alliance.
“Concerning the Academy’s apology to me, we Indians are very affected person folks — it’s solely been 50 years! We have to preserve our humorousness about this always. It’s our methodology of survival,” Littlefeather stated in a press launch on Monday.
“I by no means thought I’d reside to see the day for this program to happen, that includes such fantastic Native performers and Chook Runningwater,” she continued.
Again in 1973 on the forty fifth Academy Awards, Littlefeather refused to just accept Brando’s golden statuette and gave a one-minute speech about Hollywood stereotyping folks of Native-American descent. She additionally touched upon the Wounded Knee protest in South Dakota that was occurring on the time.
The handle in the end prompted Littlefeather to be boycotted and harassed.
“It is a dream come true. It's profoundly heartening to see how a lot has modified since I didn't settle for the Academy Award 50 years in the past,” the activist continued in her reflection on Monday. “I'm so happy with every one that will seem on stage.”
In his assertion, Rubin provided a message of hope for Native Individuals going ahead.
“At the moment, almost 50 years later, and with the steerage of the Academy’s Indigenous Alliance, we're agency in our dedication to making sure indigenous voices — the unique storytellers — are seen, revered contributors to the worldwide movie neighborhood,” he stated.
“An Night With Sacheen Littlefeather” is free to the general public; nonetheless, visitors should register on-line and reserve their spot.
“We hope you obtain this letter within the spirit of reconciliation and as recognition of your important function in our journey as a corporation,” Rubin advised Littlefeather within the academy’s assertion. “You might be ceaselessly respectfully engrained in our historical past.”
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