Nearly 50 many years later, the Apache and Yaqui actor and activist mentioned she would do it all of again “in a heartbeat. ”
In an interview with Variety ahead of an look this weekend at the Academy Museum of Movies , Littlefeather shown on the now popular 60-second speech she gave whenever she declined an Oscar on behalf of Marlon Brando.
“I did not do this totally for Marlon. I did not do that on my account, ” she told the publication. “I did this for any Native people all over the place who suffered from racial prejudice and elegance. I did it for any of those who were given birth to under the umbrella of genocide, in the United States, and Canada, and for most of us who have suffered through extreme stereotypes which were not of our choosing. ”
Littlefeather also discussed how the girl was shunned by entertainment world after her speech, which referenced the battle at Wounded Knee . That same yr, members of the United states Indian Movement entertained the South Dakota town but experienced resistance from federal government law enforcement.
“(The FBI) went around Showmanship and told people not to hire me. If they did, they will shut their film production down, inch she said. “In addition, other people were let on speak shows like Johnny Carson, Merv Griffin, and other popular talk shows. They could carry on there and talk about me, but I was never allowed to embark on them and signify myself. ”
Brando, unlike many in the industry, remained an ally. The two met through Brando’s interest in Indigenous issues and Littlefeather said the girl appreciated the actor’s “ability to see with the baloney and the bias. ”
“He understood ethnic prejudice in a way that many people do not, and that has been refreshing to me, inch she added.
Littlefeather’s comments come about a month after the School of Motion Picture Artistry and Sciences said this had apologized for the abuse she endured during and after the girl speech. On Sunday, the Academy is definitely hosting a conversation with Littlefeather in an occasion that will also feature other Indigenous artists and speakers.