Things Littlefeather

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Thingsen Littlefeather (born November 14, 1946 in Salinas , California as Marie Cruz ) is an American actress and Native American activist of the American Indian Movement (AIM).

Littlefeather achieved greater notoriety when she appeared on behalf of Marlon Brando and with his authorization at the Academy Awards on March 27, 1973 in traditional Apache clothing that was unusual for the occasion . At this appearance, which was not expected by the audience and the media in the international live broadcast , she justified Brando's refusal to accept the Oscar as best leading actor for his role in the film The Godfather in an initially short speech . The rejection came among other things out of protest against the treatment of the Indians by the American film industry.

Littlefeather, highlighted in her role as spokeswoman for the internationally successful film star Marlon Brando, set a demonstrative symbol for the civil rights of the Indians in the USA , and thus - together with the absent Brando - drew the attention of a global public to the one that has been held for one month AIM occupation of the village of Wounded Knee in the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota .

Life

Marie Cruz was born in Salinas, California in 1946. Her mother was French-German-Dutch descent, her father came from the western Apaches scoring White Mountain Apaches and the Yaqui -Indianern from. She was mostly raised by her maternal grandparents. After graduating from high school, Cruz adopted the name Dingchen Littlefeather to emphasize her Native American origins.

Littlefeather supported the Indian activist group Indians of All Tribes in 1969, which occupied Alcatraz Island from November 20, 1969 . The Indians referred to a contract from the year 1868, which promised every Indian the use of former federal territory, if this was no longer needed.

Littlefeather began acting in the early 1970s, initially at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco . She then worked for KFRC Radio in San Francisco and appeared in various television commercials. She then took on minor roles in various films, including in the Italian production Im Dozen zum Hölle at the side of Martin Balsam and Tomás Milián . In 1970 she won the Miss American Vampire beauty pageant . A photo series made for Playboy with 10 Indian models, including Littlefeather, was not printed because of the occupation of Wounded Knee by militant members of the AIM since the end of February 1973 . However, Littlefeather's single photos appeared in a later issue of men's magazine in October 1973.

When Marlon Brando was to receive the Oscar for his leading role in The Godfather in 1973 , he declined to attend the award ceremony and wanted to send an AIM activist to the event instead. Brando knew Littlefeather from a previous meeting in Washington, DC , where she had given a presentation on race and minority issues to the Federal Communications Commission .

Brando asked Littlefeather to represent him at the Oscars. He wrote a lengthy speech to draw attention to centuries of oppression of Native American civil rights, the misrepresentation of Indians in Hollywood films, and the ongoing protests of Wounded Knee. Littlefeather, who appeared at the event in traditional Apache clothing, was only able to give an improvised speech after the announcement by Roger Moore and Liv Ullmann due to the 60-second time limit. While she received some applause for her speech, she was booed from other quarters. The co-hosts Clint Eastwood and Raquel Welch referred directly to the incident with little jokes at the moderation of the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Actress. The Oscar presenter Michael Caine criticized Brando for not coming himself and for having sent Littlefeather “to boo” instead.

Littlefeather later delivered the entire speech backstage to the journalists in attendance. According to her own assessment, the incident ended her beginning acting career. She was later also accused of only playing the role of Indian activist. The film critic Roger Ebert claimed in an obituary for Brando in 2004 that Littlefeather was not a real Indian. The activist had Ebert publish a corresponding reply.

Littlefeather continued to work on the radio after the Oscar incident. In the early 1980s, Littlefeather co-founded the National American Indian Performing Arts Registry , a non-profit organization that advocates the use of Indians in film and television production. Littlefeather was a consultant for the television show Dance in America : A Song for Dead Warriors , which received an Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography in 1984.

In 1992 she worked for two television productions for the Public Broadcasting Service , Remember Me Forever and The Americas Before Columbus . In 2009 she appeared in the 2010 Peabody Award- winning documentary Hollywood Indians (Reel Injun) by filmmaker Neil Diamond .

She was also committed to helping Native American AIDS and is active in the Archdiocese of San Francisco as the coordinator of the San Francisco Kateri Circle , which keeps the memory of the Indian Kateri Tekakwitha , who was beatified in 1980 and canonized in 2012, and brings together Native American and Catholic believers. She appears regularly at Indian festivals and powwows . Dingen Littlefeather lives in San Rafael, California and continues to be an activist for Indian rights in the San Francisco Bay Area .

Filmography

  • 1973: To Hell by the Dozen (Il consigliori)
  • 1973: Mass murder in San Francisco (The Laughing Policeman)
  • 1974: The Superschnüffler (Freebie and the Bean)
  • 1974: The Trial of Billy Jack
  • 1975: Johnny Firecloud
  • 1975: Winterhawk
  • 2005: Biography - Marlon Brando: The Agony of Genius (Documentation)
  • 2009: Hollywood Indians ( Reel Injun, documentary)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j What would Dingeen Littlefeather say? at nativetimes.com, accessed January 9, 2012
  2. ↑ Miss American Vampire Pageant 1970 ( Memento of the original from January 20, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at tenebrouskate.blogspot.com, accessed January 9, 2012 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / tenebrouskate.blogspot.com
  3. ↑ a b c Brando was a rebel in the movies, a character in life at rogerebert.suntimes.com, accessed January 9, 2012
  4. ↑ Dingen Littlefeather: Oscar Award Acceptance on Behalf of Marlon Brando at americanrhetoric.com, accessed on January 9, 2012
  5. ↑ a b Bruce Elliott Johansen: The Praeger Handbook on Contemporary Issues in Native America . Praeger, 2007, ISBN 978-0275991395 , page 205, online version
  6. ^ Text of the full speech at nytimes.com, accessed January 9, 2012
  7. Jump up ↑ Dance in America: A Song for Dead Warriors at emmys.com, accessed January 9, 2012
  8. ↑ Littlefeather recounts price of native activism at cbc.ca, accessed January 9, 2012
  9. ↑ Welcome to the San Francisco Kateri Circle ( Memento of the original dated November 5, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at human2human.org, accessed January 9, 2012 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.human2human.org
personal data
SURNAME Littlefeather, things
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Cruz, Marie (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American actress and Native American activist
DATE OF BIRTH November 14, 1946
PLACE OF BIRTH Salinas , California , United States