The night of the 45th Academy Awards, the tuxedo’d and tiara’d denizens of Hollywood expected Marlon Brando to show up on stage and accept his best actor accolade for “The Godfather.”
Instead, they got Sacheen Littlefeather.
Political statements at the Oscars have become so commonplace in recent times, it’s hard to keep track of them all. But the words of a young Native American actress who took to the podium to protest the mistreatment of her people in 1973 continue to stand out to this day.
The story originally published on wbur Here and Now.