The lack of Natives at the Oscars.
Wes Studi made history this year when he became the first Native American to present at the Academy Awards. Yes, we’re celebrating that because in case you didn’t know, Natives have been absent from this prestigious award show.
Below are some (depressing) facts that show how little Natives are represented at the Oscars:
- Throughout its 90-year history, only three Natives have ever been nominated for any of the awards. In 1971, Chief Dan George was nominated for best supporting actor for his role in ‘Little Big Man’. In 1983, Buffy Sainte-Marie was nominated for original song ‘Up Where We Belong’, which she won. In 1991, Graham Greene was nominated for best supporting actor for his role in ‘Dances With Wolves’.
- Technically speaking, no Native American actors have ever been nominated for an Oscar. All of the Natives mentioned above are from Canada.
- In 1973, Sacheen Littlefeather refused the Academy Award for Best Actor on the behalf of Marlon Brando to protest Hollywood’s awful treatment of Native Americans and to support the American Indian Movement at Wounded Knee.
- Humorist Will Rogers (Cherokee) hosted the Oscars in 1934.
And that’s about it because that’s how invisible we are.
