It was at the 1973 Academy Awards that Marlon Brando was awarded the second gold statuette of his career for his unrivaled performance in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather. His competitors in this category were such giants as Laurence Olivier, Peter O’Toole and Michael Caine. However, while presenting the award, Liv Ullman announces Brando’s name, the audience erupts in applause, and on stage comes … Sachin Littlefeather. A Native American woman dressed in traditional Apache clothing says she is here on behalf of an actor to reject – not accept – an award to protest the treatment and portrayal of Native Americans in the film and television industry. Her speech lasts about a minute before she leaves to scattered applause and hoots.

Sachin Littlefeather, who died Sunday at the age of 75, returned a few days ago on September 17 for yet another Academy Awards, this time intended as an apology for the hostility she faced almost half a century ago at the Oscars. At the time, prominent guests such as Raquel Welles, Clint Eastwood, and Michael Caine criticized Littlefeather’s political meddling on camera. The organizers warned her that if she stayed on stage for more than a minute, she would be removed by force. But with her fearless attitude, she achieved her goal.

“They treated me in the usual stereotypical way that they are supposed to ‘cut’ people. Some challenged me and I ignored them. I kept walking straight next to a couple of armed guards, held my head high and was proud to be the first indigenous person to make that political statement at the Oscars,” she said in a later interview.

As early as February 1973, the small town of Wounded Knee in South Dakota was occupied by supporters of the Native American Movement who were protesting the treatment of the indigenous population by the then US government. A month later, with initial public interest waning, the media withdrew entirely, cutting off broadcasts from the area, which was now under a tight police cordon. However, on the night of the Oscars, Brando warned the squatters to tune in for the awards ceremony. Littlefeather took the stage and, among other things, addressed the situation in Wounded Knee. The media boycott was thwarted.

In the decades that followed, Sachin Littlefeather continued to be active while working in theater and health care. In an interview, she said that Hollywood “blacklisted her” after the events surrounding the awards, although she had a few small roles in films along the way. However, regarding the end, he said: “When we die, we know that we are going to the spirit world from whence we came. We accept it as warriors with pride, not defeatism, looking forward to meeting our ancestors who will be there at our last breath and greet us on the other side with a great feast for us.”