In 1973, Sacheen Littlefeather, a member of the Screen Actors Guild, became the first Native American woman to stand onstage at the Academy Awards ceremony, on behalf of Marlon Brando. Her refusal — on Brando’s request — to accept his award for Best Actor in “The Godfather” sparked a commotion in the theater and a controversy that brought attention to the plight of Indigenous people in the United States. Host Marco Werman tells the story, and its update: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is formally apologizing to Littlefeather for the mistreatment she experienced during her speech and in the years to follow.
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