Columnist Accuses Sacheen Littlefeather of Falsifying Native Identity - Hollywood Reporter

Three weeks aft Sacheen Littlefeather’s passing, a writer has travel guardant with claims that the celebrated activistic and erstwhile histrion spent her beingness fraudulently posing arsenic a Native American. Littlefeather died connected Oct. 2 of metastasized bosom crab astatine property 75.

In a piece published successful the San Francisco Chronicle’s Open Forum sentiment conception connected Saturday, Jacqueline Keeler (Diné/Dakota) alleges that Littlefeather, who cemented her popular civilization bequest erstwhile she took the signifier astatine the 1973 Academy Awards to diminution the champion histrion Oscar connected Marlon Brando’s behalf, was of Mexican and achromatic descent. During her lifetime, Littlefeather, whose commencement sanction was Marie Louise Cruz, identified arsenic Apache and Yaqui connected her father’s side. (That her parent was achromatic has not been disputed.)

Keeler writes that according to her probe of humanities documents, the lineage of Littlefeather’s begetter traces to Mexico, not the Apache and Yaqui territories successful Arizona, and that determination are nary records of household members’ enrollment successful immoderate tribes based successful the onshore present known arsenic the United States. Furthermore, Keeler interviewed Littlefeather’s younger sisters Rosalind Cruz and Trudy Orlandi, who said that Littlefeather lied astir their household and invented her Native origins successful an effort to basal retired successful the amusement industry. The sisters told Keeler that they had kept quiet, reasoning Littlefeather’s fame would fade, but that they were troubled by seeing her “venerated arsenic a saint.” They added that they learned of Littlefeather’s decease done the news. On Friday, they appeared astatine Littlefeather’s ceremonial mass, wherever Cruz took to the pulpit and told the assembled mourners that their sister had lived with a lifelong intelligence unwellness and maligned her parents with her accounts of a difficult, abusive childhood.

In her column, Keeler writes that she began investigating Littlefeather’s past arsenic portion of her ongoing probe into “Pretendians,” a database she began compiling successful January 2021 of individuals who falsely assertion Native identity. Keeler and her database are considered controversial wrong the Indigenous community, with immoderate arguing that her probe methods are unclear and that she has doxxed individuals without beardown evidence. “I don’t privation to springiness Keeler’s shtick oxygen,” tweeted Rutherford Falls showrunner and co-creator Sierra Ornelas connected Saturday aft Keeler’s file was published.

This summer, Littlefeather returned to nationalist consciousness erstwhile the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences formally apologized to her for the mistreatment and manufacture blacklisting she experienced aft the 1973 Oscars. (She was archetypal accused of being a performer for prosecute posing arsenic a Native American backmost then.) Littlefeather was feted astatine the Academy Museum during an evening of reflection and solemnisation of Native American civilization successful September, 2 weeks earlier her death.

The Academy declined to remark connected the latest accusations. The Hollywood Reporter has reached retired to Keeler for comment.