Influential actor and activist Sacheen Littlefeather has passed away at 75. Littlefeather was an Apache/Yaqui model and actor who mostly appeared in films in the 1970s, such as The Trial of Billy Jack, Winterhawk, and Johnny Firecloud. She was also an Indigenous rights activist who would go on to appear in the 2009 documentary Real Injun, which explores the role of Indigenous people in film.
Littlefeather is most wildly known for her appearance at the 1973 Academy Awards, where she stood in for actor Marlon Brando. Brando was nominated for his role as Vito Corelone in The Godfather, and was considered the favorite to win. However, Brando chose not to attend the Oscars at the last minute, boycotting the ceremony to draw attention to the standoff at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. Brando asked Littlefeather to take the stage in his place should he win, giving her a pre-written speech to read on his behalf. Brando won for Best Actor, and Littlefeather took the stage, but due to awareness of time constraints, she condensed Brando's 739-word speech to a shorter message bringing attention to the representation of Native Americans in film and television, and to the siege at Wounded Knee. Though Littlefeather's speech was brief and courteous, she was met with a mix of boos and cheers from a divided audience. In June of this year, Littlefeather received an official apology from the Academy.
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Littlefeather died on October 2, 2022, surrounded by her loved ones in her home in Novato, California, as reported by THR. She was 75, and passed from metastatic lung cancer. Littlefeather battled cancer since the 1990s, when she was diagnosed with colon cancer. In 2018, she developed stage 4 breast cancer, which was a recurrence of the breast cancer she was first diagnosed with in 2012. The cancer metastized in recent years, leading to terminal illness.
Sacheen Littlefeather's Impact Stretched Beyond The Screen
With serious health issues that lasted her entire life, Littlefeather worked closely in health and medicine after the famous Oscars speech. In the late 1980s, she became involved with the American Indian AIDS Institute of San Francisco, and worked at an AIDS hospice that was founded by Mother Teresa. Littlefeather was also the recipient of several awards, including the 1986 Traditional Indian Medicine Achievement Award and an Achievement Citation from the Catholic Health Association of the United States.
Though Littlefeather is perhaps best known for her speech at the Academy Awards, her role as an Indigenous activist and a healthcare activist had a substantial impact. The Academy issued their apology to her only months before her death, but she described receiving it as "a dream come true." Littlefeather brought attention to many important Indigenous issues, especially the portrayal of Native Americans on-screen, and her work will never be forgotten.