Sacheen Littlefeather was a Native American actress, model and civil rights activist. She passed away at 75 on October 2.
In 1973, Marlon Brando won the Academy Award for Best Actor for portraying the mob boss Vito Corleone in ‘The Godfather‘. She was sent on his behalf .
She boycotted the ceremony as a protest against Hollywood’s depiction of Native Americans and to draw attention to the standoff at Wounded Knee.
Her speech met with a mixed response of booing and applause.
She had come up with a 15-page letter but was threatened by a producer to be physically removed and arrested if her speech exceeded 60 seconds.
In June this year, after 49 years of the incident, the Academy Award finally apologized to her at an event named ‘An Evening with Sacheen Littlefeather‘.