The sisters reveal that Sacheen Littlefeather, who ran the affairs of indigenous peoples, was not an Indian.
American activist and actor Sacheen Littlefeather lied about his ethnicity. He was not actually an Indian belonging to the White Mountain Apache tribe, reveals Littlefeather’s sister Trudy Orlando San Fransico Chronicle (you are moving to another service) – publication.
– He lived in a fantasy world and died in his fantasy, Orlandi says according to the article.
Several American media reported on the topic, for example Insider (you switch to another service) and Vanity Fair (you are switching to another service).
Littlefeather, whose real name was Marie Louise Cruz, died of breast cancer that spread to the lungs at the age of 75 in early October.
Littlefeather has said in interviews that his father belonged to the indigenous peoples of North America and that his mother was a European-American.
Littlefeather also said that he was ethnically part of the American White Mountain Apache tribe, but that he grew up mostly with his mother’s parents.
Littlefeather’s other sister, Rosalind Cruz told the San Fransico Chronicle that in reality the siblings’ father was Mexican and the family has nothing to do with indigenous peoples.
– It was all a scam. This is disgusting both to indigenous peoples and to our own parents, Cruz said.
Members of the White Mountain Apache tribe told the San Fransico Chronicle that no evidence of Littlefeather’s membership in the tribe has been found.
Became famous for his rapture at the Oscars
Littlefeather became famous in 1972 for a prank at the Oscars. Littlefeather took the stage Marlon Brandon on behalf of picking up an Oscar for his role in the movie The Godfather. Littlefeather was dressed in a traditional Native American costume.
Marlon did not want to accept the award, as he criticized the US film industry’s portrayal of Native Americans as distorted.
Brando hoped that Littlefeather would refuse the award for him at the gala and read a speech that Brando had written.
On live TV, during Littlefeather’s speech, he was interrupted by boos. The speech also caused applause, but Littlefeather himself later said that he had experienced racism at the gala. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences apologized for the incident last June.