Native American civil rights activist Sacheen Littlefeather dies aged 75

Watch: Sacheen Littlefeather has died at the age of 75

Native American civil rights activist Sacheen Littlefeather has died at the age of 75.

The actor, model and civil rights is famous for her appearance at the 1973 Oscars ceremony where she turned down Marlon Brando's Best Actor award for The Godfather on his behalf, as a protest against the representation of Native Americans in film.

The Hollywood Reporter said her caretaker sent out a statement announcing Littlefeather died at noon on Sunday 2 October at her home in Novato, Northern California surrounded by her loved ones.

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Littefeather campaigned throughout her life to tackle the problems facing Native Americans, including poverty, obesity and various health issues, and also worked with AIDS patients.

She suffered tuberculosis as a child which led to various breathing conditions during her life, including collapsed lungs. In 2018 she was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer - a recurrence of breast cancer which had gone into remission in 2012. The cancer spread to her lungs and she was deemed to be terminally ill.

When Littlefeather appeared on stage at the Academy Awards in 1973 as a young apache actor, in place of winner Brando, she was booed by the audience.

Brando had boycotted the ceremony in protest against Hollywood's treatment of Native Americans and asked her to appear in his place.

Littlefeather had been instructed not to touch the Oscar statuette and had been given a typed eight-page speech to read.

But after being told she only had 60 seconds she said: “And the reasons for this being are the treatment of American Indians today by the film industry … and on television in movie reruns, and also with recent happenings at Wounded Knee.”

The audience booed her off stage.

In June 2022 The Academy finally issued an apology to Littlefeather, saying: "The abuse you endured because of this statement was unwarranted and unjustified.

"The emotional burden you have lived through and the cost to your own career in our industry are irreparable. For too long the courage you showed has been unacknowledged. For this, we offer both our deepest apologies and our sincere admiration.”

Read more: Sacheen Littlefeather accepts apology from Oscars over Godfather protest

She told The Hollywood Reporter afterwards: “I was stunned. I never thought I’d live to see the day I would be hearing this, experiencing this. When I was at the podium in 1973, I stood there alone.”