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This year's Oscars In Memoriam segment will pay tribute to American actress Sacheen Littlefeather. She permanently etched her place in Oscars history with her infamous speech at the 45th Academy Awards. Littlefeather (born Marie Louise Cruz) died of cancer on October 2, 2022, aged 75.
However, her family isn't happy with it and they insist that it would be the “biggest blunder in the history of the Oscars.” They also accused the Academy of having the “need to keep covering up for themselves.”
Terming Sacheen Littlefeather a “pretender,” her sister Rosalind Cruz recently emphasized to The Post that they don’t have any Native American heritage. Cruz first made the claim after Littlefeather's death.
Sacheen Littlefeather shot into the limelight when she refused to accept Marlon Brando’s Best Actor Oscars trophy for The Godfather in 1972 on his behalf. The star actor reportedly cited Hollywood’s misrepresentation of Native-American natives as the reason.
What was Sacheen Littlefeather’s speech on behalf of Marlon Brando?
During the 45th Academy Awards in 1972, presenters Liv Ullmann and Roger Moore announced Marlon Brando’s name. At the time, the then-noted Native American civil rights activist Sacheen Littlefeather came up on stage.
Moore then extended the trophy and Littlefeather refused it, giving rise to one of the most iconic and memorable moments in Oscars history.
During her time with the mic, she said:
“Hello. My name is Sacheen Littlefeather. I'm Apache and I am president of the National Native American Affirmative Image Committee. I'm representing Marlon Brando this evening and... he very regretfully cannot accept this very generous award.”
She added that the reason they couldn't accept the award was because of the treatment of American Indians by the film industry. She continued:
“Excuse me – and on television in movie reruns, and also with recent happenings at Wounded Knee.”
Why Littlefeather’s family doesn’t want an Oscars tribute to her?
Last year, shortly after Littlefeather’s death, her sister Rosalind Cruz shared that the Oscars speech had left their family in complete astonishment.
As she debunked the Apache claim, Rosalind said that it was a "bogus identity" that her sister had deliberately concocted. She added that the latter did so while "wearing a borrowed buckskin dress for maximum impact." She even said:
“The shocking moment marked the first time, to my knowledge, that my eldest sister claimed she was part of a tribe.”
Eventually, when her sisters Cruz and Trudy Orlandi learned about the Oscars tribute, they wrote to the Academy in February 2023. They requested the Academy to:
“Immediately cease and desist from lionizing or perpetuating the myth of Sacheen Littlefeather."
They added that any tribute to Littlefeather should be removed to protect their family as well as the public from the "continued sham."
However, the Academy didn’t respond and an unfazed Cruz said:
“These people have no moral compass. It’s an insult to Native Americans, and the Academy is endorsing somebody they know is a fraud.”
Notably, a few months before her demise, the Academy apologized to Littlefeather for the boycott and harassment she endured due to her speech. Even at that time, she stuck to her “Indian” identity and accepted the apology.
The Oscars 2023 is slated to be held on Sunday, March 12, 2023.
