Native American activist Sachin Littlefeather has died at the age of 75. Her death comes months after the Oscars organization apologized for the way she was treated at the awards ceremony.

Littlefeather, who was a white mother and a father of mixed Apache-Yaqui descent, sent Marlon Brando the Academy Awards in 1973. When he won Best Actor for his The Godfather, I went up on stage to reject the award on his behalf. She politely refused to receive the figurine from Roger Moore.

Brando wanted to use this gesture to protest the racist way Hollywood had for years portrayed the indigenous people of the American continent. He also wanted to draw attention to a protest he had made Redskins In the town of wounded knee, where a large force of police surrounded the demonstrators.

Brando gave an eight-page speech to Littlefeather, who took the stage in traditional attire. However, the director only allowed her to speak for a minute.

The public responded to her message with mixed reactions. She was greeted but booed here and there too. Littlefeather and Brando were cursed in the public eye afterwards. After the event, she hardly managed to find work as an actress. She summed up the effect: “The doors closed and stayed shut.”

Only this year was the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences we apologize About the way you were treated. “For too long the courage you showed has not been recognized,” President David Rubin wrote in a letter. “We offer our deepest apologies and admiration for this.”

Littlefeather gladly accepted the generous apology. “Not just for me, but for all of our peoples who need to hear and deserve it.” She also attended an Academy-themed night afterward about her work and prejudice in the West.

It was the Academy that announced her death to the world. Little Feather had been battling breast cancer for some time. She died surrounded by loved ones and will be buried with her husband, who died last year.