How a Massive Hollywood Scandal From 1973 Helped Inspire This Neil Young Deep Cut
Neil Young’s song “Pocahontas” was partly inspired by Marlon Brando’s controversial 1973 Oscars protest over the treatment of Native Americans. The episode, in which activist Sacheen Littlefeather declined Brando’s Best Actor award on his behalf, caused a sharp reaction in Hollywood and later influenced Young’s criticism of colonialism and American culture.
Young also drew on Hart Crane’s poem “The Bridge” and the history of Pocahontas, who was taken prisoner by English colonists, converted to Christianity and died in England in her early twenties. “Pocahontas” references Brando, Hollywood and Indigenous displacement; it was released on Young’s 1979 album Rust Never Sleeps.
- Brando’s 1973 Oscars protest helped inspire Neil Young’s “Pocahontas”.
- The song links Hollywood with colonial violence against Native Americans.
- “Pocahontas” appeared on Young’s 1979 album Rust Never Sleeps.
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Marlon Brando was one of Hollywood’s best-known actors when he won the Best Actor Oscar in 1973 for The Godfather. He did not attend the ceremony, and Native American activist Sacheen Littlefeather appeared in his place to decline the award and speak about the portrayal and treatment of Native Americans in the film industry and wider US society.
The protest prompted a hostile response from parts of the audience and became a prominent moment in debates about representation in Hollywood. Littlefeather’s account was limited by the ceremony’s organisers, while the event drew widespread media attention and criticism as well as support.
Pocahontas was a Powhatan woman associated with the early English colony at Jamestown in the 17th century. Historical accounts say she was held by English colonists, converted to Christianity, travelled to England and died there; her life has since often been retold in simplified or fictionalised forms.