The Oscars apologize to Sachin Littlefeather, the Indigenous woman who received the Marlon Brando award.

The Hollywood Academy, which awards the prestigious Oscars every year, announced on Monday that it had sent a letter of apology. Sachin Littlefeatheran indigenous woman who took the stage in place of Marlon Brando when he won Best Actor in 1973.

“When you took the stage at the Oscars in 1973 to refuse to accept the Oscars on behalf of Marlon Brando in protest of the film industry’s misrepresentation and mistreatment of Native Americans, you made a powerful statement that continues to remind us of the need to respect and the importance of human dignity,” said David Rubin, current President of the Academy, in a letter.

The letter, although dated June 18, was made public this Monday as the institution confirmed that Littlefeather will be the protagonist of an event organized at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles (USA) on September 17 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of that moment.

What happened at the Oscars in 1973?

In 1973 Marlon Brando He won an Oscar for Best Actor for playing the iconic Vito Corleone in The Godfather, but the actor, known for his activism, didn’t show up on the red carpet and refused to take the stage.

In her place was a 26-year-old girl known as Sachin Littlefeather and dressed in Apache clothing to receive an award she avoided touching and to protest Hollywood’s discriminatory treatment of Native Americans.

While his brief performance was met with applause from the audience, it was also met with boos, racist gestures, and subsequent jokes from gala hosts Raquel Welch and Clint Eastwood.

Apologies to Sachin Littlefeather

“The insults you were subjected to for this statement were unfounded. The emotional toll you have experienced and the damage to your own career in our industry is irreparable,” the president said.

“For too long your courage has gone unrecognized. For this, we offer both our deepest apologies and our sincere admiration,” he added.

In its turn, Sachin Littlefeather responded with a statement joking about the “patience” of indigenous communities.

“About the Academy’s apologies, we are very patient people. It’s only been 50 years! We must always keep a sense of humor, this is our method of survival,” added the woman, now 75 years old.

Per Marlon Brandowho had already won an Oscar for his role in On the Quay in 1954, there was no retribution for the refusal of the award: the Academy continues to consider him the winner of that edition and nominated him the following year for Last Tango to Paris.

(According to EFE).

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