In 1973, Marlon Brando sent a Native American actress, Sacheen Littlefeather, to reject his Best Actor Oscar for “The Godfather.” Instead, she offered a firm, passionate plea for better Hollywood representation of Native Americans.
But Brando and Littlefeather’s story didn’t begin there. Four years earlier, both Littlefeather and Brando had taken part in a remarkable takeover of Alcatraz Island — an occupation that is is the subject of our latest “Shoot This Now” podcast. We invite you to listen on Apple or right here.
The takeover of Alcatraz by Native American activists was one of the most dramatic, and wittily subversive, protests in American history. In November 1969, the activists landed on the island and declared that they had “discovered” it — just as Europeans had claimed to discover America, even though it was obviously already populated.
They held the island for 19 months, even as federal negotiators, the Coast Guard and the FBI tried to drive them off.
They issued the Alcatraz Proclamation, which included bitterly funny but pointed criticisms of U.S. policy — and offered the same price for Alcatraz that Europeans had paid for Manhattan. (Twenty-four dollars, according to legend.) They also asked that the island, which had not been used as a prison since 1963, be turned into a site dedicated to Native American studies and spirituality.
Their cause drew support from celebrities like Brando and Jane Fonda, who visited Alcatraz, and rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival, which donated money for a boat called the Clearwater that carried activists to the island.
Among those activists was Sacheen Littlefeather, a college student at the time.
The Alcatraz Occupation was a time of cultural awakening for Littlefeather. An Apache and Yaqui born Marie Cruz Sacheen, she learned more about her cultural identity from the other Native Americans who took part in the occupation, she told the Native Times in 2010. She said her Navajo friends gave her the name “Sacheen,” which means “little bear.”
Brando’s activism for Native Americans predated Alcatraz. In 1964, Brando was arrested but not charged for taking part in a “fish-in” that Native Americans staged on the Puyallup River. He and Fonda were among several celebrities who visited Alcatraz to show support for the activists.
But Brando and Littlefeather apparently didn’t meet at Alcatraz. The Globe and Mail said they first made contact when she wrote him a letter asking if he was truly interested in Native American peoples’ rights. He called into the radio station where she worked about a year later, she said.
She told the Native Times she met Brando in Washington, DC, when she was giving a presentation to the Federal Communications Commission.
“I was a spokesperson, so to speak, for the stereotype of Native Americans in film and in television. All I was saying was, we don’t want Chuck Conner playing Geronimo,” she told the the Native Times.
Littlefeather told the Globe and Mail that Brando asked her just one day ahead of the Oscars time if she would decline the award on his behalf. She didn’t have an evening dress, so she wore a traditional one made of buckskin.
At the March 27, 1973, ceremony, Littlefeather took to the stage when Brando was announced as Best Actor. When Roger Moore offered her the Oscar, she held out her palm to refuse it.
Littlefeather said she would give the news media a copy of a letter Brando had written about atrocities committed against Native Americans. You can read it here.
She told the audience that Brando was declining the award because of “the treatment of Indians today by the film industry …”
And she was interrupted by rude noises and boos.
“Excuse me,” she said, to applause that drowned out the boos, then continued her statement.
“… and on television in movie re-runs, and also with recent happenings at Wounded Knee.”
Sacheen Littlefeather, this year
She was referring to a standoff between Native Americans and government agents in Wounded Knee, South Dakota, where Native Americans were staging another demonstration to stand up for their rights. She later told the Los Angeles Times that the FBI had tried to black out news about Wounded Knee, but that the Oscar broadcast helped publicize it.
Littlefeather ended her remarks by saying she hoped that in the future, “our hearts and our understanding will meet with love and generosity.”
She left the stage to more applause. But when she left, she said, none other than John Wayne was waiting, ready to physically remove her. He had starred in exactly the kinds of films she had talked about.
“He had to be restrained by six security men,” she told the Globe and Mail.
Littlefeather was scrutinized after the speech, and even falsely accused of being an imposter. Though she wanted to be an actress, the industry shut her out, she said. She went on to work in health and nutrition.
“I am working with death and dying at the present time in hospice work. That has been particularly beautiful for me, a great honor to work with those people who are crossing over to the spirit world,” she told the Globe and Mail in 2016.
In March, a representative for Littlefeather said she was battling cancer.
“I want my legacy here on earth to be that I spoke the truth,” Littlefeather said in a statement. “As women, we have been used to being silenced and we are silenced no more. When I look at other women, I look at them now as bonding together. Different nationalities of women need to support other nationalities of women as one unit together.”
Brando died in 2004, at the age of 80.
Here are Littlefeather’s remarks at the 1973 Oscars:
17 Podcast Recommendations for Your Coachella Drive, From 'Ear Hustle' to 'Lovett or Leave It' to 'The Nod'
You're bored in the car, at the gym, cleaning your place. The answer is podcasts. We've assembled a new list about all the things that fascinate you, from politics to avoiding politics to comedians to comics to cults. Strap on those headphones.
Before we begin, can we plug for our own podcast? TheWrap's "Shoot This Now" features Matt Donnelly and Tim Molloy talking about stories we want made into movies. We've talked about stories from many of the podcast on this list, including "Atlanta Murder" and "Mic Dicta." Here it is on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Longform Podcast: The three co-hosts talk to the best nonfiction writers alive about how they practice their craft. Our favorite interviews include Chana Joffe-Walt pulling back the curtain on her "This American Life" masterpiece, "Five Women," and Taffy Brodesser-Akner, the best celebrity profiler alive, explaining how she made the best of Nicky Minaj dozing off during an interview.
Business Wars: The latest edition of the podcast from Wondery focuses on the rivalry between DC and Marvel. It begins with a multimillion dollar staredown over the release date of Marvel's "Captain America: Civil War," and then flashes back through the origins of both companies -- including the fact that Superman's creators initially earned only $130 for the Man of Steel.
Mic Dicta: A phalanx of lawyers crack jokes that are actually funny about legal issues that actually matter, like immigration policy and how not to sue an improv troupe. You know: Issues that affect us all.
Dear Franklin Jones: If you love Netflix's "Wild, Wild Country," drink in this eerie story of how intelligent people are lured into cults -- told by Jonathan Hirsch, whose parents were among Jones' followers.
With Special Guest Lauren Lapkus: The two things we've laughed hardest at in the past few months are Lauren Lapkus as a gossiping Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and one of her guests, Joe Wengert, hosting a bizarre episode called "California Supreme Win-Show." Each week Lapkus, a star of Pete Holmes' "Crashing," welcomes a different guest, and together they create a new fake podcast more entertaining than most real podcasts. It's on a brief hiatus, which gives you time to catch up.
Threedom: Lapkus joins comedy podcasting legends Scott Aukerman and Paul F. Tompkins for silly conversations that evolve into ridiculous stories and then brilliant improv games you will never get through without laughing.
Ear Hustle: The only podcast approved by San Quentin prison takes you behind bars to hear from California prisoners who explain prison food, love and sex while doing time, and how cellies share their tight living space. The Radiotopia production is brought to you by Bay Area artist Nigel Poor, who asks all the right questions, and inmate Earlonne Woods, who has all the answers. Season 2, which recently premiered, includes the moving story of an inmate who hugs his mother for the first time in over a decade.
You Must Remember This: Our all-time favorite podcast. If you're interested in Quentin Tarantino's upcoming Manson film, listen to host Karina Longworth's exquisite history of the Manson murders -- including the fascinating figures most people have forgotten. The Hollywood history podcast is on hiatus, but the archived episodes still make the past feel shockingly modern.
The Nod: Brittany Luse and Eric Eddings' podcast is on fire right now. The pair (often hilariously) explore undercovered aspects of African-American life, like the time Luther Vandross very unsubtly shaded En Vogue. The "Chitlins at Bergdorf's" episode is a straight-up masterpiece.
You Made It Weird With Pete Holmes: We assume you already know about Marc Maron's "WTF." But if you want another deep-dive conversation show hosted by a successful comedian, look here. Holmes, star of the aforementioned "Crashing," mixes goofy jokes and impersonations with vulnerable discussions of what it means to be human. His recent re-post of a 2016 talk with Garry Shandling will delight anyone who loved Judd Apatow's "The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling."
Lovett or Leave It: Former Obama speechwriter Jon Lovett recorded his first show the night Donald Trump failed to repeal Obamacare, and if you wanted to hear the sound of liberal glee, this was it. "Lovett or Leave It" is a spinoff from "Pod Save America," part of Crooked Media, a political podcasting business started up by a coterie of former Obama Administration that has quickly come to rule the podcasting world. Lovett is the funniest of the erudite "Pod Save America" crew, providing comic relief from whatever dire news they're discussing on any given week. The pop-culture references make the serious policy talk feel fun.
Sit and Spin Room: If "Lovett or Leave It" makes you want to do something, this podcast will give you good, grassroots ideas for what to do. We started listening to this because one of the hosts, the mysterious LOLGOP, is an old friend. But that simple thrill was quickly replaced by a deep respect for the funny, common-sense approach the podcast takes -- and the way the hosts actually listen to their guests, who deliver the kind of policy discussion you rarely hear in the national media.
Snap Judgment: A radio show/podcast that delivers "This American Life"-style narratives backed by evocative music. Because it recoils from anything that even hints at the 24-hour news cycle, this is the perfect show for when you want an immersive, important story -- but don't want to be bummed out by current events.
Reply All: It's basically "This Internet Life" -- goofier and more relaxed than Ira Glass' gold standard for audio stories, but often every bit as informative and emotional.
The Moth: Storytelling gathering “The Moth” turns some of its best presentations into a weekly radio show and podcast. The theater brings regular people onto its stage to tell their stories, making its podcast a compilation of interesting, off-beat, intense and often funny stories that could cover just about anything.
Love + Radio
Radiotopia's podcast pops up monthly to mostly tell nonfiction stories through deep, fascinating interviews. The "Living Room" episode starts out being about neighbors having sex, then turns into something else entirely. It made the hosts of our "Shoot This Now" podcast cry.
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We make special note of the ones that mention Beyonce, or that she would like
You're bored in the car, at the gym, cleaning your place. The answer is podcasts. We've assembled a new list about all the things that fascinate you, from politics to avoiding politics to comedians to comics to cults. Strap on those headphones.
