At the Oscars in 1973, Best Actor winner Marlon Brando sent Sacheen Littlefeather to decline his award for The Godfather.
Littlefeather, whose father was of White Mountain Apache and Yaqui descent, said on stage that Brando would not accept the award because of “the treatment of American Indians today by the film industry”.
The speech was met with derision and Littlefeather with scorn, both in the moment and subsequently, so much so that 49 years later, in 2022, a formal letter of apology was sent to Littlefeather by the Academy Awards.
“The abuse you endured because of this statement was unwarranted and unjustified,” it read.
Detractors were said to have included actor John Wayne, who reportedly caused a commotion backstage in response to the speech.
Hollywood has had a troubled history with Native American representation including casting non-Indigenous actors in Indigenous roles from Johnny Depp in Lone Ranger to Burt Lancaster in Apache.
Lily Gladstone’s winning streak
When Lily Gladstone made history as the first Indigenous woman to win the award for Best Actress in a motion picture drama at the 2024 Golden Globes, she began her acceptance speech by introducing herself in Blackfeet language.
The actor’s father is of Piegan Blackfeet and Nez Perce heritage and Gladstone spent her early childhood living on the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana. Her mother is of European descent.
Gladstone went on to say in English.
“I just spoke a bit of Blackfeet language, the beautiful community nation that raised me, that encouraged me to keep going, keep doing this,” she said.
“I’m here with my mum, who, even though she’s not Blackfeet, worked tirelessly to get our language into our classroom, so I had a Blackfeet language teacher growing up.”
The historic nature of the win wasn’t lost on Gladstone.
“Thank you to all of you, and this is for every little res [reservation] kid, every little urban kid, every little Native kid out there who has a dream, who is seeing themselves represented and our stories told by ourselves in our own words, with tremendous allies and tremendous trust with and from each other.”
Gladstone won for her role as Osage woman Mollie Burkhart in the Martin Scorsese film Killers of the Flower Moon in which she stars opposite Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and Jesse Plemons.
The story is centred on a series of mysterious deaths in Oklahoma in the 1920s when the Osage Nation was flush with oil money.
And while Killers of the Flower Moon has been nominated for 10 Oscars, it’s mainly one that people are talking about – Gladstone’s Best Actress nomination, the first for a Native American woman.
While Gladstone is the first from the US, there have been other Indigenous performers nominated for Best Actress – Keisha Castle-Hughes (Whale Rider) and Yalitza Aparicio (Roma).
Gladstone has already won Best Actress at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, making history as the first Indigenous performer to take out that gong.
She’s won numerous other awards, and while all eyes are on Gladstone for an Oscar, Emma Stone (Poor Things) could cause an upset.
Stone won at the BAFTAs and Critics Choice Awards, and also took out a Golden Globe (Best Female Actor – Motion Picture Musical/Comedy).
While weighing up close contenders for coveted awards at the Oscars, Flinders University film and screen specialist Nick Prescott believes the award belongs to Gladstone.
“Gladstone gave a luminous, powerful, mesmerising performance in Scorsese’s film, which – despite its flaws of over-length and oddly unbalanced writing – managed to address some of the sins of Hollywood’s past,” Dr Prescott said.
“This should be the moment where the Academy tries not just to reward an extraordinary piece of acting, but to atone for one of its members’ notoriously horrifying treatment of a Native American (yes, John Wayne, I’m talking about you, you despicable human).”
Associate lecturer in Creative Arts at Flinders Claire Whitley also has her money on Gladstone, but wonders if history will repeat itself.
“This is the tightest race,” Dr Whitley said.
“Gladstone has won 35 of the precursor awards during this awards season, and Stone has won 25, which is an unusually tight margin.
“Ultimately, I hope the Academy gives it to Gladstone as hers was one of the best performances of last year, and it would be an historically significant win.
“However, the Academy is notoriously conservative, so Stone winning is a real option.”
What’s next for Gladstone, with or without an Oscar?
Gladstone is starring in the upcoming Fancy Dance which will be available to stream on Apple TV+, along with Killers of the Flower Moon.
Fancy Dance is a Sundance Film Festival selection and marks the feature directorial debut for Erica Tremblay, who also co-wrote and produced the film.
The movie is about a Native American hustler who kidnaps her niece from the child’s white grandparents, after her sister goes missing, in hopes of keeping what is left of their family intact.
“As a Native American filmmaker, seeing my community included in the rich tapestry of cinema is a dream come true,” Tremblay said.
The 96th Academy Awards ceremony will take place in Los Angeles at 11am AEDT Monday and will be broadcast on the Seven Network and 7Plus. Follow along via the live blog on the ABC News website