Too Little, Too Late? Sacheen Littlefeather and anti-Indigenous Hollywood

On the 2nd of October, actor and activist Sacheen Littlefeather, the woman at the centre of what is one of the most memorable moments of Oscar history, passed away aged 75. Her refusal of Marlon Brando’s Oscar on his behalf caused an uproar in Hollywood, resulting in a barrage of misogynistic and racist abuse, and was a move from which her acting career never recovered. Her crime? Calling out “the treatment of American Indians by the film industry.”

The year is 1973. The Godfather is nominated for 10 awards. Up against Sleuth’s Michael Caine, and Peter O’Toole in The Ruling Class, Marlon Brando is announced the winner of Best Actor for his performance as Vito Corleone. But instead of attending the ceremony himself, Brando sends his friend Sacheen Littlefeather to reject the statuette in his place – an act intended to demonstrate his disagreement with Hollywood’s presentation of Indigenous people, and draw attention to the general abuse of Native Americans at the time. Aged 26, Littlefeather walked to the stage in her full Apache dress with poise and resilience, beginning a speech that would last just 60 seconds, in which she also addressed the Wounded Knee occupation in South Dakota – a protest that, until that evening, had received limited attention due to a media blackout.

Littlefeather revealed in a 2020 podcast episode with the BBC that she left the stage to “the Tomahawk chop and stereotypical sounds” coming from the audience – most of whom booed her, though there was some applause. Just a few of Littlefeather’s many detractors included John Wayne – who was allegedly held back from storming the stage as she spoke – Charlton Heston and Clint Eastwood, all of whom starred in Westerns, which often depicted Native Americans as bloodthirsty, uneducated, highly sexualised or as ‘the defeated people.’

On June 18th 2022, mere months before her death, the Academy finally issued a ‘Statement of Reconciliation’ to Sacheen, in which now-former President of the Academy, David Rubin, apologised for ‘the unwarranted and unjustified’ abuse that she faced at the 1973 event and in its aftermath. Citing the Academy’s mission to ‘inspire imagination and connect the world through cinema’, Rubin stated ‘we are firm in our commitment to ensuring indigenous voices—the original storytellers—are visible, respected contributors to the global film community.’ 

Not only was this apology half a century late, but it also raises questions about the Academy’s intentions, and whether their desire to protect their image when faced with scrutiny is stronger than their desire to effect real change within the institution.

In the years since Littlefeather’s speech, Native voices remain some of the most marginalised and underrepresented. Whilst receiving its fair share of criticism, 2015’s The Revenant was praised by reviewers as taking strides towards inclusivity since it featured Native Americans in the roles of Indigenous characters. These included Duane Howard as Arikara chief Elk Dog. This sensitivity to accuracy is the bare minimum, and arguably not something that warrants commendation or reward, but marks a change from movies such as The Lone Ranger, in which Johnny Depp takes on the role of Native American character Tonto despite being a white man. There appears a pattern of not only underrepresenting Indigenous stories in the film industry – but the use of these few characters to present negative and harmful stereotypes against Native American people. Even animation is not exempt: recent reflection on movies such as 1953’s Peter Pan and Pocahontas from 1993 reveals that the history of Native American misrepresentation in film is long and reprehensible.

However, the future may not be so bleak: last year saw the release of Reservation Dogs, a dark comedy with all-Indigenous writers, co-created by Taika Waititi and Sterlin Harjo. And in 2023, Marvel is set to release Echo, a mini-series with a predominantly Indigenous cast. 

No doubt the 2015 Twitter-based campaign #OscarsSoWhite – which condemned the lack of diversity in Hollywood – was the catalyst for such conversations about creative change. But Sacheen herself marked a turn in political statements at the Oscars, her speech being the first to bring awareness to issues perpetuated by the film industry, and as long as we – audience and actors alike – continue to hold the Academy accountable, there is hope that we may precipitate real change.