Sacheen Littlefeather, Indigenous actor dies at 75

At the 1973 Academy Awards, Sacheen Littlefeather declines the Academy Award for Best Actor on behalf of Marlon Brando, who won for his role in The Godfather.  She holds a letter from Brando in which he explains that he refused the award in protest of American treatment of Native Americans.

Sacheen Littlefeather, the Native American actress and attorney best remembered for turning down the best actor Oscar for Marlon Brando at the 1973 Academy Awards, has died at 75. Robinson Herrera, an FSU professor who studies the social and cultural history of Latin America, reflects on Littlefeathers life and legacy as an indigenous figure.

“Native Americans continue to be the most likely to be killed by police, reservations continue to lack necessities like accessible health care, and roughly three in 10 Native American children drop out of school before graduating high school,” Herrera said.

Herrera believes it’s important to not only honor Littlefeather’s work, but to continue to push for indigenous equality, especially in Tallahassee where the Seminole tribe once lived.

“In many ways, Ms. Littlefeather can serve as a role model for those seeking to forge allies with Native and Indigenous peoples. Someone must listen to their concerns, take their voices seriously, and help dismantle the enduring stereotypes that cast Native Americans and indigenous peoples as ersatz relics of a false nostalgic past,” he said. “Resistance Ms. Littlefeather’s relentlessness reminds us all that despite centuries of oppression, Native and Indigenous peoples continue to fight for the equality denied them.”

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