Sacheen Littlefeather, the native American actress, model, and activist died from breast cancer on October 2, 2022, at the age of 75. She is known for works like Trial of Billy Jack(1975), Shoot the Sun Down(1978), and Real Injun(2009). The native Indian was also married to Charles Koshiway who died in 2021.
For now, Littlefeather will always be remembered for her activism and as the woman who rejected an Oscar nomination on behalf of Marlon Brando. Aside from this, here are all the details about her life and death.
A Look Into The background of Sacheen Littlefeather
She was born Marie Louise Cruz to Geroldine Marie Barnitz and Manuel Ybarra Cruz on November 14, 1946. Her mother was white while her father was native Indian. Despite many claims that her mother left due to her abusive father, Littlefeather revealed that she left her parents at the age of three due to her parent’s mental illness.
Moreso, she and her two sisters spent their younger years in poverty, and at some point, they had to stay with their maternal grandparents. While she is generally believed to have only sisters, an obituary was made for a brother who died of AIDS in 1990.
Moving forward, her parents may have come back together as they started a saddle business. Her relationship with her parents had a deep impact on her as she later adopted the name Sacheen after the pet name her father used to call her while Littlefeather comes from the feather she wore in her hair.
Littlefeather’s attended the North Salinas High School in 1964 after which she moved to Hartnell Junior College where she got good grades in food and fashion. She later enrolled at the California State College to study dramatics and speech due to her need to communicate with her deaf father.
A Look At Littlefeather’s Career in The Entertainment Industry
Littlefeather started pursuing a career in modeling in 1969 when she moved to San Francisco Bay area. The pictures she used for her portfolio were snapped by Kenneth Cook.
After that initial start, she also helped to organize pageants with Native Indian themes.
While this was part of her self-identification with her native identity, she soon appeared on the Playboy spread tagged 10 Little Indians. The spread was canceled but she was later featured alone later on.
Away from modeling, Littlefeather acted in movies like The Trial of Billy Jack.
Being a woman of many gifts, she soon moved back to school to study native American medicine. While her decision had something to do with experiencing collapsed lungs when she was 29 years old, she also wanted to help her people.
As a result, she dedicated her time to teaching at St Mary’s Traditional Indian Medicine for many years.
The Salinas-born Stood up for the Native Indians
For most of her life, she was committed to pushing the native Indian cause, especially in the media. Dating back to when she was 17 Littlefeather began visiting reservations in Arizona. Those visits put love of her people and identity in her.
In fact, she started learning from the old people who came from different reservations as she and other young people learned how to be Indian.
It is not surprising that she was among the protesters in the Occupation of Alcatraz, the struggle by Native Indians to reclaim the Island.
While she could not stay on the Island, she also protested against the budget cuts by President Nixon’s government.
At some point, Littlefeather also claimed to have renounced her American citizenship during the Wounded Knee occupation, the occupation of Wounded Knee in South Dakota by the American Indian Movement. Whatever the case, she may have regained it as the Federal government forced the occupation out.
Through her activism, she founded the;
- Seattle’s Red Earth Indian Theater Company
- American Indian Registry for Performing Arts
She Rejected Marlon Brando’s Oscar Award in 1973
As an entertainer, she was against the stereotyping of native Indians in movie and television roles. Soon enough, she accepted to represent Marlon Brando during the 1973 Academy Awards. As the story goes, Brando like Sacheen was against the stereotyping of native Indians in entertainment. He pushed his cause when he was nominated for his role as Vito Corleone in The Godfather(1972).
Brando who had met with Littlefeather at some point gave her his written speech to read out in the event that he won the award. But when the presenter, Liv Ullman, named him the winner and she went on stage, many booed her while others cheered her.
In the end, she did not read Brando’s speech but made her point about the stereotyping of Native Americans in film and television and also drew attention to the issues at the Wounded knees reservation. Thus, she became the first native Indian to make such a statement at the award.
Her Rejection of The Oscar Led to Many Changes
While appearing to reject an Oscar is rare, inviting someone to represent another to reject it is another story. At the time Littlefeather rejected Brando’s Oscar, actors like John Wayne had to be restrained from removing her off the stage while the academy for Motion pictures had to restrict acceptance of awards by proxy.
Moreso, her career was affected in both a good and bad way. It led to many appearances on both television and radio where she continued to share her ideas.
On the downturn, Littlefeather was backlisted at the height of the Wounded Knee controversy.
Thankfully, things turned around for the activist in the decades following her Oscar rejection. In 2022, the academy apologized to her over the incident that had happened more than four decades prior. The full statement was later read at an event tagged An Evening with Sacheen Littlefeather in September.
Other actors have referred to her bravery, one of such is Jada Smith’s boycott in 2016. She was also honored with a Brando award in 2019.
Did She Represent Brando In Exchange for Medical Bills?
Over the years, many questions have come up about her 1973 representation of Brando. While many accounts state how they met, there are speculations that she may have also represented him to pay for her health bills.
This claim comes from a 1974 statement regarding her role. She revealed how her failing health led her to a doctor and it was the Godfather actor that paid for it. Subsequently, she may have represented him to reject his Oscar award to repay him.
How She Met and Married Her Husband
Having made a name for herself as an activist, it was not surprising that she met another native Indian, Charles Koshiway Johnson at a pow wow. Prior to this, Littlefeather had dreamt of meeting a man wearing a white stetson cowboy hat.
True enough, her dream came to pass when she met him the following day. Thus began a lifetime relationship that include a marriage that lasted 32 years. The pair shared a great love for their Indian identity.
He was born in 1942 in Oklahoma to Charles Johnston and Thelma Gertrude. Charles moved to California with his family on an Indian relocation when he was just two years.
He fought in the Vietnam war and upon his return, he concentrated on his activities like traditional straight dancing, bird calling, and serving as an elder among his people.
Sadly, Charles and Littlefeather’s marriage came to an end when he died on November 22, 2021.
The Actress and Activist and Her Husband Had an Adopted Daughter
Though they had a marriage that lasted for over three decades, Littlefeather and her husband did not have any biological child. Notwithstanding they had an adopted daughter, Coleen.
Unlike them, their daughter, Coleen is of Korean descent.
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The Truth About Sacheen Littlefeather’s Death At The Age of 75
Sacheen Littlefeather’s sad death on October 2, 2022, due to metastasized breast cancer was quite shocking as revealed by her family’s statement. Prior to her death, the activist suffered many health challenges over the years.
She survived tuberculosis at the age of four. Over the years, she has been through a mental institution which she survived. Her history with cancer started with a diagnosis in 1991 and had to be operated upon. By 1999, she revealed that she had colon cancer. Nonetheless, she managed to pull through.
Shockingly, she was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer in 2018. While the former health practitioner battled with the disease, it later moved to her lungs and complicated her health.
Notwithstanding her many battles with sickness, she always managed to continue pursuing her dream for the Native Indians as well as her career.
Having lived as a champion for the cause of native Indians both on screen and off screen, Sacheen Littlefeather’s death in 2022 at the age of 75 adds to the 30% of deaths by breast cancer in the US. Nonetheless, she has left a legacy of selflessness and loyalty to her identity as a native Indian.
