The tweet, accompanied by an image of the Apache and Yaqui actress, read: “Sacheen Littlefeather, Native American civil rights activist who famously declined Marlon Brando’s 1973 Best Actor Academy Award, dies at 75.”While no cause of death was immediately given, Littlefeather disclosed in a Facebook post in January last year that she had metastasized breast cancer.Brando was also reacting to the response of federal law enforcement to the occupation of the South Dakota town of Wounded Knee by members of the American Indian Movement.Her short speech, for which she wore a buckskin dress and moccasins, was met with a mixture of boos and applause.A letter from former Academy President David Rubin to Littlefeather said the abuse she endured was “unwarranted and unjustified.”He added: “The emotional burden you have lived through and the cost to your own career in our industry are irreparable.For this, we offer both our deepest apologies and our sincere admiration.”Describing the apology as a “dream come true,” Littlefeather said: “We Indians are very patient people – it’s only been 50 years!"