'Lived in fantasy': Sacheen Littlefeather's sisters call her 'fraud', say she lied about being Native American
Sacheen Littlefeather, the activist known for declining Marlon Brando’s Oscar for ‘The Godfather’ and who died earlier this month on October 2, was not a Native American, claims her biological sisters Rosalind Cruz and Trudy Orlandi. Trudy said, “It’s a lie. My father was who he was. His family came from Mexico. And my dad was born in Oxnard.”
In a tumultuous appearance on the 1973 Academy Awards stage, Sacheen 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.” Now in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Rosalind said, "It is a fraud. It’s disgusting to the heritage of the tribal people. And it’s just … insulting to my parents.”
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Commenting further, the sisters said that they have not known Native American/American Indian ancestry. They are identified as “Spanish” because of their father’s side and insisted their family had no claims to a tribal identity. Trudy 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.”
Sacheen was born Maria Louise Cruz in the year 1946 to a WHITE mother and a Mexican father. According to Trudy, their father, who Sacheen 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," said Trudy, and Rosalind added by saying, "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.”
Backlash and apology for Oscars' speech in 1973
In 1973, Marlon Brando sent Sacheen to refuse his Oscar for his performance in 'The Godfather' as an act of protest against the entertainment industry’s portrayal of Native Americans, reports The Wrap. However, that led to backlash. Responding to that after five decades, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences sent a letter of apology to Sacheen in August of this year, who tagged the treatment she received for her speech as “unwarranted and unjustified.”
Former Academy President David Rubin wrote, "You made a powerful statement that continues to remind us of the necessity of respect and the importance of human dignity. The abuse you endured because of this statement was unwarranted and unjustified. The emotional burden you have lived through and the cost to your own career in our industry are irreparable,” Rubin continued. “For too long the courage you showed has been unacknowledged. For this, we offer both our deepest apologies and our sincere admiration."