Did Sacheen Littlefeather lie about her identity?
In a startling new interview, Sacheen Littlefeather’s sisters said the late campaigner was a liar, fraud, and not Native.
Trudy Orlandi and Rosalind Cruz both told the San Francisco Chronicle that they are “Spanish.” and not Native American. The sisters stated Littlefeather was born Marie Louise Cruz but changed her name after rediscovering her Native American origins and protesting as a young lady.
Orlandi said, “It’s a lie. … My father was who he was. His family came from Mexico, and my dad was born in Oxnard.”
Littlefeather, who memorably rejected Marlon Brando’s Best Actor Oscar for “The Godfather” at the 1973 Academy Awards, died last month. Her lung metastasized breast cancer killed her at 75 on Oct. 2.
Littlefeather said Hollywood “blacklisted” her after her Brando advocacy.
Cruz stated, “It is a fraud,” before adding, “It’s disgusting to the heritage of the tribal people. And it’s just … insulting to my parents.”
Cruz stated, “It is a fraud,” before adding, “It’s disgusting to the heritage of the tribal people. And it’s just … insulting to my parents.”
Both women say they were not invited to the funeral. They said Littlefeather’s childhood abuse was her main issue.
The sisters said seeing mom “being venerated as a saint” after her death was tough because their father, whom Littlefeather alleges was an aggressive drinker, never drank or mistreated them.
They claim their paternal grandfather inspired Littlefeather’s account of an abusive parent.
“My father was deaf, and he had lost his hearing at 9 years old through meningitis,” Cruz stated. “He was born into poverty. His father, George Cruz, was an alcoholic who was violent and used to beat him. And he was passed to foster homes and family. But my sister, Sacheen, took what happened to him.”
“You’re not going to be a Mexican American princess,” Orlandi said. “You’re going to be an American Indian princess. It was more prestigious to be an American Indian than it was to be Hispanic in her mind.”
Sister said, “Sacheen did not like herself. She didn’t like being Mexican. So, yes, it was better for her that way to play someone else. … The best way that I could think of summing up my sister is that she created a fantasy. … She lived in a fantasy, and she died in a fantasy.”
The interview with Native American journalist and activist Jacqueline Keeler casts doubt on its reliability. Deadline says Keeler “known for co-creating the #NotYourMascot hashtag in 2013,” which led Washington’s NFL team to change its name and design.
Keeler published “a public list” of “non-Native people who I or other Native American people suspect or proved to have manufactured their Native identities for personal gain.”