WEBVTT - 1973: Marlon Brando Cannot Accept This Very Generous Award 0:00:00.340 --> 0:00:04.420 this year. Obviously people are talking about the will smith 0:00:04.420 --> 0:00:08.230 slap and they have been referring back to your speech. 0:00:09.369 --> 0:00:12.430 Well, I have one thing to say about that. 0:00:13.450 --> 0:00:15.120 I didn't do it. 0:00:20.810 --> 0:00:26.580 Glad you made that clear. This is Sacheen little feather 0:00:26.590 --> 0:00:30.720 whose appearance at the 1973 Academy Awards on behalf of 0:00:30.720 --> 0:00:34.440 Marlon Brando recently went viral in reaction to will smith 0:00:34.440 --> 0:00:38.390 slapping chris rock at the 2022 Academy Awards ceremony. 0:00:38.960 --> 0:00:42.450 But there was a threat of violence that you faced 0:00:42.460 --> 0:00:43.540 that evening 0:00:44.280 --> 0:00:47.270 and I wonder if you're open to talking about that 0:00:48.330 --> 0:00:51.420 backstage, behind me, 0:00:51.970 --> 0:00:53.290 John Wayne 0:00:54.140 --> 0:01:00.680 was very incensed, he attempted to assault me on stage. 0:01:00.840 --> 0:01:05.520 He had to be restrained by six security men in 0:01:05.520 --> 0:01:09.360 order to prevent him from doing exactly that 0:01:10.319 --> 0:01:13.370 there is no footage of john Wayne, the Hollywood actor 0:01:13.370 --> 0:01:18.660 famous for playing cowboys reacting to session speech. But several people, 0:01:18.670 --> 0:01:22.309 including the Director of that evening's awards, have confirmed these 0:01:22.310 --> 0:01:22.920 accounts 0:01:23.730 --> 0:01:27.310 that night Marlon Brando was nominated for Best Actor for 0:01:27.310 --> 0:01:31.080 his role as Don Corleone in The Godfather. He had 0:01:31.080 --> 0:01:34.080 asked Sachin to attend the ceremony in his place and 0:01:34.080 --> 0:01:37.440 if he won to refuse the award on his behalf 0:01:37.450 --> 0:01:41.550 accepting the award for Marlon Brando in The Godfather 0:01:44.410 --> 0:01:47.860 Before session went on stage that night, the producer of 0:01:47.860 --> 0:01:50.530 the ceremony told her that she would be arrested if 0:01:50.530 --> 0:01:52.410 she did not keep her speech to under a minute. 0:01:52.740 --> 0:01:54.300 The standard speech time. 0:01:54.880 --> 0:01:58.000 I knew I had to do everything in 60 seconds 0:01:58.000 --> 0:02:01.630 or less. I saw the police officers waiting in the 0:02:01.630 --> 0:02:06.580 wings to take me in handcuffs off the stage. 0:02:07.250 --> 0:02:10.519 Here is the speech that made john Wayne so angry 0:02:10.690 --> 0:02:14.300 that he needed to be restrained from charging the stage. Hello, 0:02:14.590 --> 0:02:18.530 my name is Sacheen little feather. I'm Apache and I'm 0:02:18.530 --> 0:02:23.660 president of the National Native American Affirmative Image committee. I'm 0:02:23.660 --> 0:02:29.940 representing Marlon Brando this evening. He very regretfully cannot accept 0:02:30.130 --> 0:02:32.210 this very generous award. 0:02:32.990 --> 0:02:36.829 And the reasons for this being are the treatment of 0:02:36.830 --> 0:02:40.519 american indians today by the film industry, 0:02:41.770 --> 0:02:42.740 excuse me 0:02:51.780 --> 0:02:54.690 and on television, in movie reruns 0:02:55.850 --> 0:02:58.990 and also with recent happenings at wounded knee. 0:02:59.780 --> 0:03:02.760 I beg at this time that I have not intruded 0:03:02.770 --> 0:03:07.660 upon this evening and that we will in the future. 0:03:07.669 --> 0:03:13.540 Our hearts and our understandings will meet with love and generosity. 0:03:13.550 --> 0:03:16.250 Thank you On behalf of Marlon Brando. 0:03:19.830 --> 0:03:25.010 I carried myself as a dignified indian woman would carry herself. 0:03:25.610 --> 0:03:30.810 I spoke with courage with dignity with honor. I did 0:03:30.810 --> 0:03:34.690 not use my fist. I did not use profanity and 0:03:34.690 --> 0:03:38.800 I did not use a loud and egregious voice. I 0:03:38.800 --> 0:03:42.580 spoke from my heart because the heart and the heartbeat 0:03:42.710 --> 0:03:46.950 is the voice of all indigenous people everywhere. And that 0:03:46.950 --> 0:03:48.700 is exactly what happened 0:03:49.460 --> 0:03:51.380 In 60 seconds or less 0:03:56.470 --> 0:03:58.980 in this week's episode. We are going to tell the 0:03:58.980 --> 0:04:02.440 behind the scenes story of Sachin speech and break down 0:04:02.440 --> 0:04:05.530 the political and cultural forces at play. That led to 0:04:05.530 --> 0:04:06.270 that moment 0:04:06.900 --> 0:04:10.340 And later in the episode, we'll hear from singer songwriter 0:04:10.350 --> 0:04:13.510 and the first indigenous person to win an Oscar Buffy 0:04:13.510 --> 0:04:17.450 Sainte Marie. She tells us about her reaction to Sachin 0:04:17.450 --> 0:04:20.650 speech as well as what she believes the academy's role 0:04:20.650 --> 0:04:23.779 should be in relation to social justice movements. 0:04:35.450 --> 0:04:39.870 In 1973, Sacheen Little Feather was both an activist and 0:04:39.870 --> 0:04:43.540 an actress. She says what inspired her to begin acting 0:04:43.550 --> 0:04:46.830 in part was the fact that her father was deaf. 0:04:46.890 --> 0:04:50.290 I couldn't communicate with him in sign language like my 0:04:50.290 --> 0:04:53.710 mother did. So I had to communicate through 0:04:54.420 --> 0:05:00.380 other ways and basically had to act out for him 0:05:00.390 --> 0:05:04.110 the messages. So you you were performing out of a 0:05:04.110 --> 0:05:09.609 kind of necessity. Family necessity. Yes, absolutely. And when I 0:05:09.610 --> 0:05:11.150 was in grade school 0:05:11.740 --> 0:05:15.489 I got to play several parts in several different plays 0:05:16.050 --> 0:05:19.800 and enjoyed the experience. Of course there was a lot 0:05:19.800 --> 0:05:23.280 of racially, you know, prejudice back then as well. 0:05:23.960 --> 0:05:28.020 We were called the N word in grade school 0:05:29.690 --> 0:05:35.330 and when I went to visit Mississippi Alabama and the 0:05:35.330 --> 0:05:39.510 Southern states, I was made to drink out of the 0:05:39.510 --> 0:05:41.560 black drinking faucet 0:05:42.150 --> 0:05:50.160 and use the black bathrooms and I felt heard saw 0:05:50.170 --> 0:05:54.060 and knew that there were great injustices going on 0:05:54.920 --> 0:05:57.140 not only as an indian person 0:05:57.940 --> 0:06:01.539 but with all people of color. Were you thinking that 0:06:01.550 --> 0:06:04.630 acting could be a way that you could 0:06:05.910 --> 0:06:09.600 make a difference in terms of these issues. I think 0:06:09.600 --> 0:06:11.520 in terms of acting, 0:06:12.620 --> 0:06:15.020 I felt that there should be 0:06:15.779 --> 0:06:22.169 native people. Black people asian people, chicano people. 0:06:22.760 --> 0:06:26.570 I felt that there should be an inclusion of everyone, 0:06:27.279 --> 0:06:31.300 a rainbow of people that should be involved in creating 0:06:31.300 --> 0:06:32.670 their own image. 0:06:33.330 --> 0:06:36.140 I want to ask you about some of the ways 0:06:36.140 --> 0:06:37.200 that you 0:06:37.740 --> 0:06:43.100 you know, encountered images of indigenous people on screen. I mean, 0:06:43.100 --> 0:06:47.280 did you have strong feelings about the western when you 0:06:47.279 --> 0:06:51.020 were growing up? Did you immediately see this as a problem? 0:06:51.839 --> 0:06:57.099 I think that everybody who saw Westerns who was native 0:06:57.110 --> 0:06:58.680 wanted to be a cowboy. 0:06:59.220 --> 0:07:02.330 I think that there is 0:07:02.900 --> 0:07:09.000 a desire to be identifying with the winner. You know, 0:07:09.000 --> 0:07:11.060 who wants to identify with the loser? 0:07:11.930 --> 0:07:19.840 Well, I saw native people as being stereotyped. There was 0:07:19.840 --> 0:07:25.010 a Hollywood indian, the movie indian and then the real indian, 0:07:26.240 --> 0:07:30.270 there were two indians, one that was not real and 0:07:30.270 --> 0:07:31.310 one that was real 0:07:32.590 --> 0:07:35.480 and I knew the one that was real, that had 0:07:35.480 --> 0:07:38.870 nothing to do with the screen. Indian with the Hollywood 0:07:38.870 --> 0:07:39.390 indian 0:07:40.000 --> 0:07:44.280 and under the domination of that stereotype. We couldn't get 0:07:44.280 --> 0:07:48.840 jobs in the industry and represent ourselves as we really are. 0:07:48.930 --> 0:07:54.610 There was job discrimination and the movie industry basically looked 0:07:54.610 --> 0:07:59.510 like Clorox factory. I mean, it was so white, it 0:07:59.510 --> 0:08:03.630 was ridiculous. What sorts of opportunities were there for you 0:08:03.630 --> 0:08:07.560 when you were starting your acting career? Well, very few 0:08:07.820 --> 0:08:12.410 except I got a few jobs with italian film crews 0:08:12.960 --> 0:08:19.540 because in those days I was considered exotic and that 0:08:19.540 --> 0:08:23.870 meant that you didn't get employment very often because you 0:08:23.870 --> 0:08:30.650 were too exotic for mainstream. You heard that rather than 0:08:30.660 --> 0:08:34.410 we won't hire you because you're a person of color, 0:08:36.150 --> 0:08:38.550 no matter what your credentials were, 0:08:39.110 --> 0:08:44.280 no matter how good you were. Period, especially in ads 0:08:44.290 --> 0:08:47.980 and advertising, you didn't use a bar of soap, you 0:08:47.980 --> 0:08:49.849 didn't use laundry detergent, 0:08:50.690 --> 0:08:55.370 you didn't drink coca cola. We were just non existent 0:08:55.770 --> 0:08:57.730 and no one ever questioned that. 0:08:58.520 --> 0:08:59.880 I questioned it. 0:09:00.740 --> 0:09:03.740 I questioned it when I refused the Academy Award for 0:09:03.740 --> 0:09:07.140 Marlon Brando in 1973. 0:09:08.070 --> 0:09:11.290 I want to talk a lot about what happened that night. 0:09:11.300 --> 0:09:14.390 But I think part of the important context is your 0:09:14.390 --> 0:09:17.480 work as an activist and your interest as an activist. 0:09:17.490 --> 0:09:20.940 You had participated in the Alcatraz occupation 0:09:21.800 --> 0:09:25.150 And you brought awareness to what was happening at wounded knee, 0:09:25.150 --> 0:09:28.410 the occupation there. And it would be really helpful I 0:09:28.410 --> 0:09:31.109 think to hear you talk about what that moment was 0:09:31.110 --> 0:09:36.790 like in the early 1970s in terms of native struggle 0:09:36.800 --> 0:09:38.210 and organizing 0:09:38.380 --> 0:09:43.330 many native americans have parents who went to american indian 0:09:43.330 --> 0:09:47.170 boarding schools, whether they were run by the government or 0:09:47.170 --> 0:09:52.300 run by the churches because the churches were instrumental in 0:09:52.300 --> 0:09:58.709 grabbing indian land from indians and keeping that land for themselves. 0:09:59.340 --> 0:10:03.200 And this is a way 0:10:03.750 --> 0:10:11.089 That making child napping legal was taking Children away at 0:10:11.090 --> 0:10:14.880 the age of four and 5 from the parents 0:10:15.929 --> 0:10:18.359 and keeping them in boarding schools 0:10:19.110 --> 0:10:22.850 In the US there were over 400 boarding schools operating 0:10:22.850 --> 0:10:26.390 from the late 1800s up until as recently as the 0:10:26.390 --> 0:10:31.450 1960s with the express intention to assimilate indigenous Children by 0:10:31.450 --> 0:10:33.410 removing them from their families, 0:10:34.059 --> 0:10:38.690 keep the child but destroy everything about the indian, destroy 0:10:38.690 --> 0:10:43.560 everything about the culture, destroy the language, destroy the native 0:10:43.559 --> 0:10:48.500 american spiritual belief system and turn the native american into 0:10:48.500 --> 0:10:52.260 a dominant society, person with dominant society values. 0:10:53.300 --> 0:10:57.950 So in the late 60s, in the early 1970s 0:10:58.640 --> 0:11:02.250 was there a particular way in which folks were coming 0:11:02.250 --> 0:11:05.490 to consciousness that they were organizing in a way that 0:11:05.490 --> 0:11:08.300 was especially important at that time. 0:11:09.179 --> 0:11:12.290 There was the american indian movement 0:11:13.030 --> 0:11:14.439 and its followers 0:11:15.059 --> 0:11:18.310 and they were the ones that were wounded knee. In 0:11:18.309 --> 0:11:22.660 South Dakota. The american indian movement was a militant civil 0:11:22.660 --> 0:11:26.189 rights group similar to the black panthers or militia that 0:11:26.190 --> 0:11:30.349 was raising consciousness and fighting for indigenous issues. A month 0:11:30.360 --> 0:11:34.130 before solutions appearance at the Academy Awards members of the 0:11:34.130 --> 0:11:39.559 American Indian movement along with 200 oglala Lakota activists seized 0:11:39.559 --> 0:11:42.610 control of the small town of wounded knee. South Dakota 0:11:42.620 --> 0:11:44.420 taking citizens hostage 0:11:44.590 --> 0:11:47.550 and demanded the U. S. Government make good on treaties 0:11:47.550 --> 0:11:49.590 respecting indigenous land ownership. 0:11:50.690 --> 0:11:53.270 The american indian movement wanted to bring attention to the 0:11:53.270 --> 0:11:57.410 broken promises of the US government and the impoverished living conditions. 0:11:57.410 --> 0:11:59.770 Indigenous peoples were forced to endure. 0:12:00.580 --> 0:12:03.939 Here's russell means one of the leaders of the occupation 0:12:03.960 --> 0:12:07.490 talking about those conditions from wounded knee at the time, 0:12:07.580 --> 0:12:13.360 we are suffering starvation, hunger, inadequate shelter, inadequate warmth in 0:12:13.360 --> 0:12:14.530 climate type of weather, 0:12:15.550 --> 0:12:17.559 there was a great injustice there 0:12:18.179 --> 0:12:21.140 the way that native american indian people were treated. 0:12:22.070 --> 0:12:27.200 And so the american indian movement came there within hours 0:12:27.200 --> 0:12:30.320 of the occupation police had surrounded the town 0:12:30.870 --> 0:12:35.910 and as a result the FBI came in and there 0:12:35.910 --> 0:12:41.059 was a media blackout at wounded knee. Federal officials were 0:12:41.059 --> 0:12:44.820 blocking press from speaking to the indigenous activists as part 0:12:44.820 --> 0:12:48.750 of their military tactic to squash the occupation. Now when 0:12:48.750 --> 0:12:53.900 I came up on the podium to represent Marlon Brando, 0:12:54.650 --> 0:12:59.360 I mentioned in my speech, wounded knee, 0:13:17.550 --> 0:13:22.440 Let's talk about how you um arrived at that moment 0:13:23.370 --> 0:13:25.670 of going on stage and giving this speech. 0:13:26.360 --> 0:13:29.910 When did you meet Marlon Brando? How did how did 0:13:29.910 --> 0:13:33.930 you connect with him and how did this plan develop 0:13:33.940 --> 0:13:36.939 that you would stand in for him at the Academy Awards. 0:13:36.950 --> 0:13:41.050 I lived in san Francisco not far from Francis ford 0:13:41.050 --> 0:13:45.630 Coppola Francis ford Coppola is of course the director of 0:13:45.630 --> 0:13:49.640 the Godfather trilogy. And I used to walk the hills 0:13:49.650 --> 0:13:51.160 of san Francisco 0:13:51.700 --> 0:13:55.020 which is quite a feat because they're very steep. But 0:13:55.020 --> 0:13:58.320 that was my exercise and I used to walk by 0:13:58.320 --> 0:14:01.930 Francis ford Coppola's house every day and he used to 0:14:01.929 --> 0:14:05.660 sit out on his porch. I had read many articles 0:14:05.660 --> 0:14:11.969 about Marlon Brando being interested in native american indian people 0:14:12.140 --> 0:14:17.790 but I had wondered if Marlon Brando was very sincere 0:14:17.900 --> 0:14:21.010 in his interest in native american indian people 0:14:21.560 --> 0:14:25.520 or was he just studying up for a film role. 0:14:28.110 --> 0:14:32.410 So I wrote a letter to him but I didn't 0:14:32.410 --> 0:14:33.690 know where to send it. 0:14:34.360 --> 0:14:38.800 And it was a very sincere letter and I knew 0:14:38.800 --> 0:14:42.610 that Francis ford Coppola had directed him and The Godfather. 0:14:43.350 --> 0:14:49.860 So I asked Francis ford Coppola when I was walking 0:14:49.860 --> 0:14:51.030 by one day 0:14:51.560 --> 0:14:53.720 as an attractive young woman, 0:14:54.360 --> 0:14:58.160 I called out to him and I said hello and 0:14:58.160 --> 0:15:01.370 I introduced myself and he asked me to come up 0:15:01.370 --> 0:15:03.450 on his porch. And I did and I began a 0:15:03.450 --> 0:15:05.040 conversation with him 0:15:05.700 --> 0:15:08.270 and eventually I told him I had this letter from 0:15:08.270 --> 0:15:09.290 Marlon Brando 0:15:10.070 --> 0:15:12.430 and I said but I don't know where to send it. 0:15:13.420 --> 0:15:16.630 So he helped me to send that letter. 0:15:17.500 --> 0:15:20.990 I waited a year. I was working at the radio 0:15:20.990 --> 0:15:26.000 station K. F. R. C. Finally one day a year 0:15:26.000 --> 0:15:28.510 later at the radio station 0:15:29.320 --> 0:15:31.730 I got this very mysterious call. 0:15:32.630 --> 0:15:34.430 So they put the call through 0:15:35.640 --> 0:15:37.400 and he said to me 0:15:38.280 --> 0:15:41.930 in his voices that he had 0:15:43.110 --> 0:15:45.460 oh I bet you don't know who this is. 0:15:46.470 --> 0:15:49.050 And I said sure I do. And he said well 0:15:49.050 --> 0:15:49.860 who is it? 0:15:50.450 --> 0:15:52.380 And I said it's Marlon Brando. 0:15:54.440 --> 0:15:57.590 And he he laughed and I said well you sure 0:15:57.590 --> 0:16:00.860 beat indian time all the hell I told them 0:16:02.070 --> 0:16:04.840 And he laughed again and we laughed 0:16:05.640 --> 0:16:08.280 and we just talk like we're old friends 0:16:08.870 --> 0:16:13.520 about everything that was native, if he was playing a 0:16:13.520 --> 0:16:16.150 part of the native or if he was really interested 0:16:16.150 --> 0:16:18.050 in native american indian people 0:16:19.120 --> 0:16:21.210 and we had a great conversation 0:16:21.900 --> 0:16:25.830 and from then on we just became phone buddies, 0:16:26.600 --> 0:16:29.970 he used to call me at home and then I 0:16:29.970 --> 0:16:33.450 would fly down and spend time with he and his 0:16:33.450 --> 0:16:35.670 family as a house guest. 0:16:36.660 --> 0:16:40.200 And uh, I just knew him as a human being. 0:16:40.880 --> 0:16:42.840 I was interested in him 0:16:43.530 --> 0:16:50.140 as a fellow activist and also as just a person period. 0:16:50.150 --> 0:16:52.020 It sounds like you got to a place where you 0:16:52.020 --> 0:16:54.720 did feel that he was sincere in the interest that 0:16:54.720 --> 0:16:58.860 he was showing. Absolutely yes, I did. So when did 0:16:58.860 --> 0:17:02.640 he start to talk to you about the plan? The 0:17:02.640 --> 0:17:07.000 possibility that you would accept the Oscar on his behalf 0:17:07.000 --> 0:17:09.040 if he were to win. And he was clearly a 0:17:09.040 --> 0:17:11.780 frontrunner for winning the academy Award that year. 0:17:12.320 --> 0:17:17.090 So he called me on a saturday 0:17:18.310 --> 0:17:20.740 and the academy awards was the next day, 0:17:21.920 --> 0:17:23.700 That's how fast it happened. 0:17:24.320 --> 0:17:27.990 And he swore me to secrecy not to tell anybody 0:17:28.420 --> 0:17:29.629 which I did not. 0:17:30.910 --> 0:17:34.600 And I flew down to his house 0:17:35.350 --> 0:17:39.940 and I asked him about my wardrobe because I really 0:17:39.940 --> 0:17:43.429 didn't have anything to wear except for my pow wow dress, 0:17:43.500 --> 0:17:46.540 a northern style buckskin dress 0:17:47.550 --> 0:17:51.959 and moccasins and hair ties. So you could say basically 0:17:51.960 --> 0:17:55.010 he chose my wardrobe for me because he did, 0:17:55.590 --> 0:18:00.340 I didn't have any evening gown or evening where? And 0:18:00.340 --> 0:18:03.560 I went down to his house and he was very 0:18:03.560 --> 0:18:10.520 busy and his secretary typing up this acceptance speech should 0:18:10.520 --> 0:18:11.280 he win. 0:18:12.230 --> 0:18:14.859 And I was kept basically in the dark. 0:18:15.650 --> 0:18:21.070 So it was really late in the day when his 0:18:21.070 --> 0:18:28.660 secretary gave me this long speech to read like eight pages, right, eight, Yeah. 0:18:29.250 --> 0:18:34.260 And so I I said to myself, wow, this is 0:18:34.260 --> 0:18:36.869 pretty long, I don't think I could do this. 0:18:37.690 --> 0:18:42.179 And when I got to the Academy Awards, Howard Koch, 0:18:42.180 --> 0:18:46.709 who was the producer of the Academy Awards Show itself, 0:18:46.780 --> 0:18:47.970 said to me, 0:18:48.640 --> 0:18:55.150 If you read that speech or go over 60 seconds, 0:18:55.210 --> 0:19:00.510 I'm going to have you arrested. That's when Sachin knew 0:19:00.510 --> 0:19:03.460 that she would have to improvise and not read off 0:19:03.460 --> 0:19:06.790 of the statement Marlon Brando and his secretary had written 0:19:06.810 --> 0:19:11.429 and his name was called as best actor. 0:19:12.130 --> 0:19:14.869 And so I knew what I had to do 0:19:15.890 --> 0:19:21.290 and I was praying beforehand the whole time for the 0:19:21.290 --> 0:19:23.170 strength and the courage 0:19:23.790 --> 0:19:25.740 to do what I needed to do. 0:19:27.859 --> 0:19:30.250 And my ancestors were with me, 0:19:33.060 --> 0:19:36.340 50 million people were watching the broadcast that night. 0:19:37.200 --> 0:19:40.790 The immediate reaction in the room was mixed as we noted, 0:19:40.800 --> 0:19:44.590 john Wayne was furious and people reacted with a mixture 0:19:44.590 --> 0:19:46.330 of booing and applause 0:19:46.840 --> 0:19:51.340 According to Sachin, there were consequences. You have said that 0:19:51.350 --> 0:19:55.030 after giving your speech that you were red listed 0:19:55.570 --> 0:19:57.740 and could you talk about what you mean by that, 0:19:57.740 --> 0:20:01.000 what that meant in terms of your career 0:20:02.109 --> 0:20:08.300 in the industry, the FBI, I found out, went around 0:20:08.310 --> 0:20:12.830 to studios, I have a friend who was with a 0:20:12.830 --> 0:20:17.820 particular studio and she told me Sachin the FBI were 0:20:17.820 --> 0:20:21.850 just here and they told us that if we would 0:20:21.859 --> 0:20:25.090 ever hire you they would shut us down. Shut our 0:20:25.090 --> 0:20:27.070 production down. So 0:20:27.340 --> 0:20:30.460 there were lies that were printed about me in the press. 0:20:30.490 --> 0:20:34.300 There were lies going around about me altogether. Said I 0:20:34.300 --> 0:20:37.330 rented my buckskin dress that I was an indian. I 0:20:37.330 --> 0:20:41.490 was a mexican actress that it was all a publicity 0:20:41.490 --> 0:20:47.350 stunt etcetera etcetera etcetera. Nothing could be further from the truth. 0:20:47.869 --> 0:20:52.320 But ultimately Sachin was not concerned about what Hollywood or 0:20:52.320 --> 0:20:56.350 the government thought about her or her speech. People who 0:20:56.350 --> 0:21:01.890 sent me notes of congratulations were Coretta scott King, the 0:21:01.890 --> 0:21:07.510 widow of martin Luther king and also cesar Chavez also 0:21:07.510 --> 0:21:08.600 my own people 0:21:09.240 --> 0:21:10.290 and others 0:21:11.010 --> 0:21:14.659 who counted in my life who I admired and I 0:21:14.660 --> 0:21:19.460 knew that I had done the right thing irregardless of 0:21:19.460 --> 0:21:23.100 what other people had said or did to me. 0:21:23.869 --> 0:21:26.320 I knew I had done the right thing 0:21:35.910 --> 0:21:40.820 coming up, legendary folk singer, songwriter Buffy Sainte Marie, 0:21:51.180 --> 0:21:54.150 Buffy Sainte Marie was the first indigenous person to win 0:21:54.150 --> 0:21:56.730 an Oscar. 0:22:00.200 --> 0:22:02.430 The winner is Jack Cichy Buffy Sainte Marie, 0:22:04.980 --> 0:22:09.540 She won for Best Original Song in 1983. She co 0:22:09.540 --> 0:22:12.510 wrote up where we belong for the movie and officer 0:22:12.510 --> 0:22:16.030 and a gentleman. It was performed by Joe Cocker and 0:22:16.030 --> 0:22:16.980 Jennifer Warrants. 0:22:32.590 --> 0:22:34.280 Thank you for me too, 0:22:35.920 --> 0:22:42.629 marty Stuart Levin joe conquer jennifer warren's kurtz over my mom, 0:22:42.640 --> 0:22:43.990 my little boy Cody 0:22:44.950 --> 0:22:47.429 and most of all, my husband Jack nature gave me 0:22:47.430 --> 0:22:49.660 the chance to be a part of opportunity. Gentlemen, thank 0:22:49.660 --> 0:22:50.510 you very much. 0:22:53.080 --> 0:22:57.360 Buffy Sainte Marie. It's wonderful to see you always. Thanks 0:22:57.359 --> 0:23:01.830 jackal and you two in 1983 you became the first 0:23:01.830 --> 0:23:05.090 indigenous person to win an Oscar. Could you talk about 0:23:05.090 --> 0:23:09.690 that experience? Did it really uh, strike you that you 0:23:09.690 --> 0:23:12.260 were making history at that moment when your name was 0:23:12.260 --> 0:23:15.639 called and you went up on stage. Oh no, I 0:23:15.640 --> 0:23:19.240 never know. I never thought about that until recently when 0:23:19.240 --> 0:23:22.030 people have been phrasing it like that. No, 0:23:22.240 --> 0:23:25.700 yes. I was the first indigenous person to win an 0:23:25.700 --> 0:23:28.340 Oscar and it was up where we belong from an 0:23:28.340 --> 0:23:30.670 officer and a gentleman. I wrote the melody for them. 0:23:30.670 --> 0:23:35.100 So when it came to be that we had been 0:23:35.100 --> 0:23:37.750 nominated and we knew we were going to go to 0:23:37.750 --> 0:23:42.430 the Oscar ceremony. Oh, I had this pink sparkly sequined dress. 0:23:42.430 --> 0:23:45.050 I mean it was so wonderful but we didn't really 0:23:45.050 --> 0:23:50.350 expect to win. And then we did. And it was just, 0:23:50.359 --> 0:23:52.000 it was just astounding 0:23:52.400 --> 0:23:55.530 the previous time an indigenous person was on the Academy 0:23:55.530 --> 0:24:00.109 awards stage with Sacheen little feather. 10 years earlier, Buffy 0:24:00.109 --> 0:24:03.119 had caught it on tv at the time. She didn't 0:24:03.119 --> 0:24:08.850 know session personally. What was your reaction to her speech? 0:24:09.080 --> 0:24:12.180 Of course I knew marlin And this was 1973 for 0:24:12.180 --> 0:24:17.580 Pete's sakes, 1973 there was a war against indigenous people 0:24:17.590 --> 0:24:21.590 in south Dakota wounded name was going on. 0:24:21.869 --> 0:24:23.859 So what we had to deal with was a little 0:24:23.859 --> 0:24:27.389 bit different from everybody else in that studio audience or 0:24:27.390 --> 0:24:30.830 most of the people watching television. And I was very 0:24:30.830 --> 0:24:33.770 proud of Sachin and I was totally surprised of course. 0:24:33.780 --> 0:24:36.000 And he was proud of marlin too because let me 0:24:36.000 --> 0:24:39.360 tell you how it is. Sometimes the american indian movement 0:24:39.359 --> 0:24:42.959 or some of the group would invite a celebrity, you know, 0:24:42.970 --> 0:24:45.850 someone of the level of jane fonda or Marlon brando 0:24:45.850 --> 0:24:48.730 and they would show up all heart, you know, they 0:24:48.730 --> 0:24:51.690 would really, really want to help and all. 0:24:52.000 --> 0:24:54.300 But what do you think the dog on media is 0:24:54.300 --> 0:24:57.440 going to do? They're not there to see our issue 0:24:57.490 --> 0:25:00.179 and we wind up with a great big story about 0:25:00.180 --> 0:25:03.930 our celebrity who was there to help the indians and 0:25:03.930 --> 0:25:08.350 the issue isn't even portrayed accurately, which kind of was 0:25:08.350 --> 0:25:08.860 the point. 0:25:09.590 --> 0:25:12.629 So for Sachin to get up there in front of 0:25:12.630 --> 0:25:17.070 the whole wide world and to represent marlin in that way, 0:25:17.080 --> 0:25:19.440 I thought, I thought it was great. But you know, 0:25:19.440 --> 0:25:23.169 there's a lot to say. We should probably give people 0:25:23.180 --> 0:25:26.090 kind of a feeling about how it was in Hollywood 0:25:26.090 --> 0:25:30.369 for indigenous people, you know? Yeah, yeah. Because that's the 0:25:30.369 --> 0:25:32.869 first thing she said, she talks about the treatment of 0:25:32.869 --> 0:25:35.390 the american indian, maybe you could help us to sort 0:25:35.390 --> 0:25:38.630 of get a sense of the picture that she was describing. 0:25:39.260 --> 0:25:41.320 Well, it's kind of weird. If you, if you look 0:25:41.320 --> 0:25:44.890 at movie history, I guess probably the first thing that 0:25:44.890 --> 0:25:50.070 you would come up with involving indigenous people would pay thomas. Edison, 0:25:50.080 --> 0:25:52.080 I mean he made, he made one of the first 0:25:52.080 --> 0:25:55.660 movies and you know, they were colorful things and interesting things. 0:25:55.670 --> 0:26:00.470 So we started showing up and being portrayed by other 0:26:00.470 --> 0:26:04.010 people in the movies right out of the gate 0:26:04.580 --> 0:26:07.730 too Short. Edison films made in the late 18 hundreds, 0:26:07.740 --> 0:26:12.570 Buffalo dance and Sue ghost dance featuring Sioux tribes members 0:26:12.580 --> 0:26:16.450 are considered to be the first instances of indigenous peoples 0:26:16.460 --> 0:26:17.450 caught on film 0:26:18.109 --> 0:26:21.740 From Robert Flaherty's Nanook of the north in 1922 to 0:26:21.750 --> 0:26:26.370 educational films from the mid-20th century. Indigenous communities have long 0:26:26.369 --> 0:26:29.820 been of interest to documentarians, but the films were almost 0:26:29.820 --> 0:26:32.200 never told from indigenous points of view. 0:26:33.240 --> 0:26:37.709 The University of Arizona's American Indian Film Gallery includes nearly 0:26:37.710 --> 0:26:42.960 500 documentaries. They featured narration that the project's archivists described 0:26:42.970 --> 0:26:47.260 as condescending at best and racist and inaccurate at worst. 0:26:47.270 --> 0:26:51.970 So Buffy was naturally skeptical of projects aimed to capture 0:26:51.970 --> 0:26:59.160 indigenous history. But anyway, in 1967 or 68, I was 0:26:59.160 --> 0:27:02.460 invited to take a role in the Virginia. 0:27:02.890 --> 0:27:06.340 The Virginian was a television series set in late 1800s 0:27:06.340 --> 0:27:10.480 Wyoming and I was offered a role in an episode. 0:27:10.600 --> 0:27:13.590