Heather Rae: Indegenous activists accuse Oscar-nominated Hollywood producer of faking Cherokee heritage
NEWPORT BEACH, CALIFORNIA: Oscar-nominated producer Heather Rae, 56, who serves on the Academy of Motion Pictures’ Indigenous Alliance, has been accused of faking her Cherokee heritage by the Native American watchdog group. The Tribal Alliance Against Frauds (TAAF), which claims to be a Native group exposing “frauds pretending to be American Indian people or tribes when they are not,” is demanding her to drop “false claims” that she was half Cherokee.
TAAF accused her of profiting from usurping “real American Indian voices and perspectives," as per the New York Post. A research compiled by the group showed Rae had no ancestors recognized by the three Cherokee nations- the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, the Eastern Band of Cherokee and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians. Also, her parents’ divorce certificate lists them both as White. In adddition to this, census records showed her maternal grandfather’s ancestors identified as White.
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Who is Heather Rae?
Born on October 1, 1966, in Venice, California, but raised in Idaho, Rae is best known for 2008's ‘Frozen River', ‘Tallulah’ in 2016 and ‘Bull’ in 2019, as per IMDb. She has been married to Russell Friedenberg, an award-winning producer, since July 1999. They have three children and the eldest one is actress Johnny Sequoyah, who currently stars in the reboot of 'Dexter'.
Rae, who claimed that her mother Barbara Riggs was Cherokee and whose latest film 'Fancy Dance' was partly funded by the Cherokee Nation, was named as a top visionary while noting her half-Cherokee roots by Variety in 2009.
As per the New York Post, Rae has a tattoo of Selu, a Cherokee corn goddess. In 2016, she reportedly said in a conference in New Zealand, “I grew up in the state of Idaho, which is in Pacific Northwest, in the US. And, um, my mom was Indian and my dad’s a cowboy. I am not conflicted – I mean, there are times. It was interesting at home.”
However, TAFF argued that she was far from being half-Indian. A report citing the research charges stated, as per DailyMail, "Heather Rae has built a long and impressive resume as a Cherokee producer, positioning herself as perhaps the central figure in Native American media production, sitting on boards and acting as a gatekeeper for Native artists. Yet even a cursory look into her family tree points to this career being built on a lie: Heather Rae is a white woman who is wholly lacking even the most minute bit of Native American ancestry, Cherokee or otherwise. Put simply, she has none. Zero."
Did Sacheen Littlefeather lie about her ancestry?
Rae was thanked by the Academy in 2022 for brokering an apology to Sacheen Littlefeather, the activist known for declining Marlon Brando’s Oscar for ‘The Godfather’ which led to blacklisting her from the industry. However, after Littlefeather's death on October 2, 2022, her biological sisters Rosalind Cruz and Trudy Orlandi claimed she was not a Native American. Trudy said, “It’s a lie. My father was who he was. His family came from Mexico. And my dad was born in Oxnard," as per San Francisco Chronicle.
In an appearance on the 1973 Academy Awards stage, Littlefeather, who was born Maria Louise Cruz in the 1946 to a White mother and a Mexican father, said in her Oscars rejection speech, "I spoke my heart, not for me, myself, as an Indian woman but for we and us, for all Indian people … I had to speak the truth. Whether or not it was accepted, it had to be spoken on behalf of Native people.” Commenting on this, her sister Rosalind said, "It is a fraud. It’s disgusting to the heritage of the tribal people. And it’s just … insulting to my parents.”
The sisters said that they did not know about any Native American/American Indian ancestry and were identified as “Spanish” because of their father. They insisted their family had no claims to a tribal identity. Orlandi said, “I mean, you’re not gonna be a Mexican American princess. You’re gonna be an American Indian princess. It was more prestigious to be an American Indian than it was to be Hispanic in her mind.”
According to Orlandi, their father, who Littlefeather claimed was a member of the White Mountain Apache and Yaqui tribes, was born in Oxnard, California, to Mexican immigrants. "Sacheen did not like herself. She didn’t like being Mexican. So, yes, it was better for her that way to play someone else," Orlandi said while Cruz added, "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.”