Oscar: Academy makes historic apology to indigenous

In 1973, Marlon Brandon won the Oscar for Best Actor for his role as Vito Corleone in The Godfather. But he did not attend the ceremony, nor did he want to receive the statuette. In his representation, he then sent the actress and activist Sacheen Littlefeather, whom he asked to read a speech he had written. The boycott of the award was aimed at protesting the treatment of Native Americans in film, often portrayed in a negative light and without many opportunities to represent themselves on screen, let alone tell their stories.

Almost 50 years later, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scienceswhich organizes the ceremony, came this Monday to announce a “conversation, healing and celebration” event, scheduled for September 17, with performances by Native American artists and production of Bird Runningwaterformer programmer Sundance Institute. And he disclosed that he formally apologized to the actress for the way she was treated during the ceremony.

At the high, littlefeather took the stage after Roger Moore and Liv Ullmann announce the winner of Oscar for Best Actor. Wearing a suede dress and traditional loafers, the actress spoke for just a minute, with no time to read the entire speech. Her appearance surprised everyone who was watching the show. In a room almost entirely composed of white people, she was greeted with applause, having seen some people make an offensive gesture towards Native Americans. She then spoke of the protest in Wounded Knee, at south dakotawhere a historic massacre took place in 1890, to criticize the treatment of native populations by the government of the United States.

Backstage, John Wayne, star of numerous westerns, was allegedly prevented by six security guards from forcibly taking the actress off the stage. Without reaching for the statuette, littlefeather left the stage. After the event, several rumors circulated about her: that she wasn’t really Native American, that she was the girlfriend of blandbetween others.

The Academy now recalls, in a statement available on its official website, that because of this symbolic act, the actress saw her career “boycotted”, having also been “attacked and personally harassed and discriminated against over the last 50 years”. The text also cites a letter signed by the now former president of the Academy, David Rubin, and sent to the actress in June. “The attacks she received (…) were pointless and unjustifiable,” it reads. “The emotional burden you bore and the cost [que o protesto representou] to your career in our industry are irreparable. The courage he showed has not been recognized for a long time.”

The actress’ reaction is also mentioned in the statement. It begins with the following comment: “As for the Academy’s apology, we Indians are very patient people – it’s only been 50 years!”.

Source: This news about Oscar was originally published in All Pop, and reproduced with permission from the site.