Nearly a year and a half ago, the late Sacheen Littlefeather became the face of Native identity fraud when skepticism about her background was publicized shortly after her death in October 2022. Now, one of her friends and former associates has come forward with genealogical records that indicate the activist best known for refusing Marlon Brando’s 1973 Oscar on his behalf may have had Indigenous ancestry after all.
Gayle Anne Kelley, whom Littlefeather first approached to produce her 2018 documentary short Sacheen: Breaking the Silence, commissioned a private investigator to look into Littlefeather’s background after Native independent journalist Jacqueline Keeler (Diné/Dakota) published an explosive report in the San Francisco Chronicle alleging that she was not Apache and Yaqui on her father’s side, as she had claimed, but rather Mexican. (That her mother’s side is white has never been disputed.)
“My heart was broken, and I was very concerned...
Gayle Anne Kelley, whom Littlefeather first approached to produce her 2018 documentary short Sacheen: Breaking the Silence, commissioned a private investigator to look into Littlefeather’s background after Native independent journalist Jacqueline Keeler (Diné/Dakota) published an explosive report in the San Francisco Chronicle alleging that she was not Apache and Yaqui on her father’s side, as she had claimed, but rather Mexican. (That her mother’s side is white has never been disputed.)
“My heart was broken, and I was very concerned...
- 3/7/2024
- by Rebecca Sun
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
CBC newsmagazine The Fifth Estate has aired its Buffy Sainte-Marie exposé.
The hourlong documentary episode, presented by senior investigative reporter Geoff Leo, alleges that the singer-songwriter — considered the first Indigenous winner of an Academy Award — has been fraudulently posing as Native throughout her 60-year career.
While the specifics about Sainte-Marie’s background varied as they appeared in articles and other materials over the years — The Fifth Estate found news clippings referring to her as Algonquin, Mi’kmaq and Cree — eventually her accepted (and authorized) biography was that she was born in 1941 on Cree land in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan and removed from her birth family and adopted by a white American family, the Sainte-Maries, as part of a government policy known as the Sixties Scoop. Later, as a young adult, she reconnected with the Cree people and was adopted by descendants of Chief Piapot according to Cree ways.
But...
The hourlong documentary episode, presented by senior investigative reporter Geoff Leo, alleges that the singer-songwriter — considered the first Indigenous winner of an Academy Award — has been fraudulently posing as Native throughout her 60-year career.
While the specifics about Sainte-Marie’s background varied as they appeared in articles and other materials over the years — The Fifth Estate found news clippings referring to her as Algonquin, Mi’kmaq and Cree — eventually her accepted (and authorized) biography was that she was born in 1941 on Cree land in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan and removed from her birth family and adopted by a white American family, the Sainte-Maries, as part of a government policy known as the Sixties Scoop. Later, as a young adult, she reconnected with the Cree people and was adopted by descendants of Chief Piapot according to Cree ways.
But...
- 10/28/2023
- by Rebecca Sun
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
On Saturday, a bombshell report from the opinion pages of the San Francisco Chronicle whipped up #NativeTwitter into a frenzy. The report, authored by Jacqueline Keeler (Diné/Yankton Dakota Sioux), claimed that venerated White Mountain Apache/Yaqui activist Sacheen Littlefeather had fudged her identity and, according to Littlefeather’s sisters, wasn’t actually Native.
This comes four months after the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences sent Littlefeather an apology for her mistreatment at the 1973 Oscars, when she stepped in for Marlon Brando and declined the award because of Hollywood’s portrayal of Native Americans.
And it comes mere weeks after Littlefeather’s death.
For the controversial reporter Keeler, who’s been accused multiple times of conducting unethical and racially charged “witch hunts” to “out Pretendians,” the timing seemed awkward at best and arch at worst.
Not only that, but Keeler’s article has stirred up a lot of complicated emotions for Native people,...
This comes four months after the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences sent Littlefeather an apology for her mistreatment at the 1973 Oscars, when she stepped in for Marlon Brando and declined the award because of Hollywood’s portrayal of Native Americans.
And it comes mere weeks after Littlefeather’s death.
For the controversial reporter Keeler, who’s been accused multiple times of conducting unethical and racially charged “witch hunts” to “out Pretendians,” the timing seemed awkward at best and arch at worst.
Not only that, but Keeler’s article has stirred up a lot of complicated emotions for Native people,...
- 10/23/2022
- by Laura Clark
- Variety Film + TV
Three weeks following the death of Sacheen Littlefeather, the activist who famously accepted Marlon Brando’s Oscar for “The Godfather” at the 1973 Academy Awards, a new column alleges that Littlefeather had been posing as a Native American through her life.
Published Saturday in the San Francisco Chronicle, the piece features quotes from Littlefeather’s sisters, Rosalind Cruz and Trudy Orlandi, who called the activist’s identity as a Native American a “lie.”
Notably, several Native American writers and activists have denounced the Chronicle column on social media, saying that its writer, Jacqueline Keeler, has long-exercised a vendetta against Littlefeather, among other figures she calls “Pretendians.” They also say Littlefeather’s sisters thought they were of Native American ancestry until Keeler informed them they weren’t.
“Her desire to weed out Pretendians has led to a violent vendetta against genuinely reconnecting Natives who don’t meet colonial standards,” wrote CarlyMButton on Twitter.
Published Saturday in the San Francisco Chronicle, the piece features quotes from Littlefeather’s sisters, Rosalind Cruz and Trudy Orlandi, who called the activist’s identity as a Native American a “lie.”
Notably, several Native American writers and activists have denounced the Chronicle column on social media, saying that its writer, Jacqueline Keeler, has long-exercised a vendetta against Littlefeather, among other figures she calls “Pretendians.” They also say Littlefeather’s sisters thought they were of Native American ancestry until Keeler informed them they weren’t.
“Her desire to weed out Pretendians has led to a violent vendetta against genuinely reconnecting Natives who don’t meet colonial standards,” wrote CarlyMButton on Twitter.
- 10/22/2022
- by J. Kim Murphy
- Variety Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
Three weeks after Sacheen Littlefeather’s death, a writer has come forward with claims that the celebrated activist and former actress spent her life fraudulently posing as a Native American. Littlefeather died Oct. 2 of metastasized breast cancer at age 75.
In a piece published in the San Francisco Chronicle’s Open Forum opinion section Saturday, Jacqueline Keeler (Diné/Dakota) alleges that Littlefeather, who cemented her pop culture legacy when she took the stage at the 1973 Academy Awards to decline the best actor Oscar on Marlon Brando’s behalf, was of Mexican and white descent. During her lifetime, Littlefeather, whose birth name was Marie Louise Cruz, identified as Apache and Yaqui on her father’s side. (That her mother was white has not been disputed.)
Keeler writes that according to her research of historical documents, the lineage of Littlefeather’s father traces to Mexico, not...
Three weeks after Sacheen Littlefeather’s death, a writer has come forward with claims that the celebrated activist and former actress spent her life fraudulently posing as a Native American. Littlefeather died Oct. 2 of metastasized breast cancer at age 75.
In a piece published in the San Francisco Chronicle’s Open Forum opinion section Saturday, Jacqueline Keeler (Diné/Dakota) alleges that Littlefeather, who cemented her pop culture legacy when she took the stage at the 1973 Academy Awards to decline the best actor Oscar on Marlon Brando’s behalf, was of Mexican and white descent. During her lifetime, Littlefeather, whose birth name was Marie Louise Cruz, identified as Apache and Yaqui on her father’s side. (That her mother was white has not been disputed.)
Keeler writes that according to her research of historical documents, the lineage of Littlefeather’s father traces to Mexico, not...
- 10/22/2022
- by Rebecca Sun
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Sacheen Littlefeather – the Native American activist renowned for declining Marlon Brando’s Oscar for “The Godfather” and who died earlier this month – was not in fact Native American, her sisters have claimed, according to writer Jacqueline Keeler.
In an Oct. 22 Opinion column in the San Francisco Chronicle by Keeler – an Indigenous writer who has been investigating individuals she suspects of falsely claiming Native identity since 2021 – Littlefeather’s biological siblings Rosalind Cruz and Trudy Orlandi said that the actress and Native American civil rights icon falsified her Apache and Yaqui heritage.
“It is a fraud,” Cruz said. “It’s disgusting to the heritage of the tribal people. And it’s just … insulting to my parents.”
Also Read:
Film Academy Apologizes to Sacheen Littlefeather for Backlash to 1973 Marlon Brando Acceptance Speech
Littlefeather was born Maria Louise Cruz in 1946 to a white mother and Mexican father. According to Orlandi, their father – who Littlefeather...
In an Oct. 22 Opinion column in the San Francisco Chronicle by Keeler – an Indigenous writer who has been investigating individuals she suspects of falsely claiming Native identity since 2021 – Littlefeather’s biological siblings Rosalind Cruz and Trudy Orlandi said that the actress and Native American civil rights icon falsified her Apache and Yaqui heritage.
“It is a fraud,” Cruz said. “It’s disgusting to the heritage of the tribal people. And it’s just … insulting to my parents.”
Also Read:
Film Academy Apologizes to Sacheen Littlefeather for Backlash to 1973 Marlon Brando Acceptance Speech
Littlefeather was born Maria Louise Cruz in 1946 to a white mother and Mexican father. According to Orlandi, their father – who Littlefeather...
- 10/22/2022
- by Harper Lambert
- The Wrap
The San Francisco Chronicle published an investigative report Saturday that claims Oscars and Native American icon Sacheen Littlefeather – best known for her appearance on behalf of Marlon Brando to refuse his Best Actor Academy Award for The Godfather — was not who she claimed to be.
Her sisters said in the article that Littlefeather, who died earlier this month shortly after receiving an official apology from the Academy, was not of Apache heritage, but rather half-Mexican. They also said she did not grow up with an abusive father, or in terrible poverty.
Littlefeather’s sisters, Orlandi and Rosalind Cruz, approached Native American journalist and activist Jacqueline Keeler to tell their story. Keeler is known for co-creating the #NotYourMascot hashtag in 2013, which brought about a name change for the NFL’s Washington team. She also authors a “Pretendians” list, exposing people who make false claims of American Indian heritage.
The Chronicle article...
Her sisters said in the article that Littlefeather, who died earlier this month shortly after receiving an official apology from the Academy, was not of Apache heritage, but rather half-Mexican. They also said she did not grow up with an abusive father, or in terrible poverty.
Littlefeather’s sisters, Orlandi and Rosalind Cruz, approached Native American journalist and activist Jacqueline Keeler to tell their story. Keeler is known for co-creating the #NotYourMascot hashtag in 2013, which brought about a name change for the NFL’s Washington team. She also authors a “Pretendians” list, exposing people who make false claims of American Indian heritage.
The Chronicle article...
- 10/22/2022
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
After she took the stage in Marlon Brando’s place at the 1973 Academy Awards, Sacheen Littlefeather became known as one of the entertainment industry’s most prominent activists for Native Americans and other Indigenous people. Rather than accept Brando’s best actor Oscar, which he had just won for his performance in “The Godfather,” Littlefeather, who died earlier this month, declined the awards and used her time on stage to criticize Hollywood’s on and offscreen treatment of Native Americans. The move prompted some outrage, leading the Academy to issue a belated apology to Littlefeather earlier this year.
When she took the stage, her first words were: “Hello. My name is Sacheen Littlefeather. I’m Apache.” But a new report alleges that might not have been true.
In a bombshell story by Native American journalist Jacqueline Keeler for the San Francisco Chronicle, Littlefeather’s sisters Rosalind Cruz and Trudy Orlandi...
When she took the stage, her first words were: “Hello. My name is Sacheen Littlefeather. I’m Apache.” But a new report alleges that might not have been true.
In a bombshell story by Native American journalist Jacqueline Keeler for the San Francisco Chronicle, Littlefeather’s sisters Rosalind Cruz and Trudy Orlandi...
- 10/22/2022
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
Just weeks after the death of Sacheen Littlefeather — the actress and activist who declined Marlon Brando’s 1973 Oscar win for The Godfather on his behalf and was blacklisted in Hollywood — her biological sisters have revealed that she fabricated her Native American ancestry.
The two sisters of Littlefeather (born Marie Louise Cruz) told the San Francisco Chronicle that, despite Littlefeather’s claims of being White Mountain Apache, their father was actually Mexican with no tribal identity; genealogical records also traced the Cruz family history to Mexico City with no known ties to the tribal nations there.
The two sisters of Littlefeather (born Marie Louise Cruz) told the San Francisco Chronicle that, despite Littlefeather’s claims of being White Mountain Apache, their father was actually Mexican with no tribal identity; genealogical records also traced the Cruz family history to Mexico City with no known ties to the tribal nations there.
- 10/22/2022
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.