Native American Activist Sacheen Littlefeather Who Declined Marlon Brando’s Oscar At The 1973 Academy Awards Died

Sacheen Littlefeather passed away on Sunday, Oct. 2. She was 75. The native American activist had carved her place in history when she declined the Oscar for actor Marlon Brando at the 1973 Academy Awards.

According to her caretaker, Littlefeather died in her home in Novato, California where she was surrounded by her family. She had been constantly struggling with breast cancer since 2018 which worsened over the recent years, reports said.

Her death came just two weeks after being honored in a celebration hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She even spoke about her imminent death.

“I’m crossing over soon to the spirit world and you know, I’m not afraid to die," she said during the event."Because we come from a we/us/our society. We don’t come from a me/I/myself society. And we learn to give away from a very young age. When we are honored, we give.”

While announcing her death on Sunday night the academy formally apologized to Littlefeather for the way it treated her in June following the 1973 Oscars.

Littlefeather had to face a tremendous amount of backlash from media outlets and conservative Hollywood elites after she made her appearance. She later went on to say that the protest stunt killed her acting career as her guild membership was revoked. She was evidently blacklisted from the industry.

She said “I was blacklisted — or, you could say, ‘redlisted,’” Littlefeather said in a 2018 documentary about her life. “Johnny Carson, Dick Cavett, and others didn’t want me on their shows. … The doors were closed tight, never to reopen.”

Now almost 50 years later, this June, an apology finally came to Littlefeather from then-AMPAS president David Rubin. The apology from Rubin was followed by praises for the activist. On the other hand, the Academy's apology actually shocked Littlefeather which she had revealed through her recent statements.

The statement by Littleflower in which she says “Please, when I’m gone, always be reminded that whenever you stand for your truth, you will be keeping my voice, and the voices of our nations, and our people, alive,” will always be remembered as her final message to the world.