“It is a fraud”: Sacheen Littlefeather’s family claims late activist lied about her native American ancestry

The late American actress Sacheen Littlefeather's ancestry has been called out by her own family.

In an article published on October 22 in the San Francisco Chronicle, Littlefeather's sisters, Rosalind Cruz and Trudy Orlandi, claimed that the late actress' identity as a Native American is a "lie."

Sacheen Littlefeather previously claimed to belong to the White Mountain Apache and Yaqui tribes from her father's side. Dismissing the late actress' claims, Orlandi stated:

"It's a lie My father was who he was. His family came from Mexico. And my dad was born in Oxnard."

Sacheen's other sister, Cruz, claimed:

"It is a fraud. It's disgusting to the heritage of the tribal people. And it's just … insulting to my parents."

Sacheen Littlefeather came to the spotlight in 1973 at the 45th Academy Awards when she renounced the Oscar in the Best Actor category on behalf of Marlon Brando to protest the film industry's treatment of Native Americans.

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Sacheen Littlefeather's family records could not found in any tribal records

As per the San Francisco Chronicle, the tribal authorities could not provide any records of Sacheen Littlefeather or her family's enrollment into White Mountain Apache heritage, a claim she first made in the 1970s.

In later years, the actress also claimed to be a descendent of the Yaqui people, a tribe comprising people from both Mexico's Sonora and Arizona.

Littlefeather was born in 1946 as Maria Louise Cruz in Salinas, Arizona. Her mother, Gertrude Barnitz, was white, while her father, Manuel Ybarra Cruz, was born to Mexican immigrants.

In the article, Littlefeather's sisters revealed that they were not in touch with the late actress during the time of her death. Orlandi stated:

“Sacheen did not like herself. She didn’t like being Mexican. So, yes, it was better for her that way to play someone else.”

Littlefeather's other sister 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.”

Sacheen's sisters also claimed that they did not have an "impoverished" and "violent" childhood, which the late actress claimed to have gone through in the 1970s.

As per The Wrap, Littlefeather claimed to have seen her alcoholic father abuse her mother, a claim refuted by her sisters stating that it was actually their father, Manuel Ybarra Cruz, who was abused by his alcoholic father. Orlandi told the San Francisco Chronicle that Sacheen used her father's violent upbringing as her own.

"My father was deaf, and he had lost his hearing at 9 years old through meningitis. 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."

As for her infamous Oscar speech, on September 17, 2022, the Academy apologized to the late actress 50 years after the incident. The organization held "An Evening With Sacheen Littlefeather" to honor the actress and featured performances and speeches by Native Americans, followed by an official apology.

Sacheen Littlefeather passed away on October 2 at the age of 75 after battling breast cancer.