Sacheen sisters claim She Fabricated Native American Ancestry: “She lived in a Fantasy”

• Littlefeather’s two sisters revealed in a shocking interview with the San Francisco Chronicle that she had lied about her Native American ancestry
• Had previously been known by the family as “Deb” after the actress, model, and Native American civil rights activist passed away at age 75 earlier this month. “
• She claimed to be a member of the White Mountain Apache and Yaqui tribes on her father’s side.

 The legacy of Sacheen Littlefeather has been questioned by her family. Littlefeather’s two sisters revealed in a shocking interview with the San Francisco Chronicle that she had lied about her Native American ancestry and had previously been known by the family as “Deb” after the actress, model, and Native American civil rights activist passed away at age 75 earlier this month.

“It’s a lie,” Trudy Orlandi said of her sister. “My father was who he was. His family came from Mexico. And my dad was born in Oxnard.”

Rosalind Cruz, Littlefeather’s other sister, added: “It is a fraud. It’s disgusting to the heritage of the tribal people. And it’s just … insulting to my parents.”

Littlefeather gained notoriety in 1973 at the 45th Academy Awards when she refused the Oscar for Best Actor on behalf of Marlon Brando in protest of how the film business treated Native Americans. She claimed to be a member of the White Mountain Apache and Yaqui tribes on her father’s side.

Littlefeather endured public ridicule over the years for the historic broadcast moment in addition to being threatened with arrest if her speech exceeded 60 seconds and alleged physical violence from John Wayne, who she claimed tried to storm the stage.

Littlefeather spoke to PEOPLE in 1990 about the backlash she experienced after her Oscars moment. She announced that her career in Hollywood had been destroyed by the remarks, adding, “I’m officially retired as the refuser of Academy Awards.”

“I went up there thinking I could make a difference,” explained Littlefeather. “I was very naive. I told people about oppression. They said, ‘You’re ruining our evening.'”

Littlefeather received an apology from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in August for the abuse she received nearly 50 years earlier. At a celebration held last month at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, she accepted the apologies and was recognized on stage.

On Sunday, October 2, Littlefeather passed away from metastatic breast cancer at her Marin County, California, home in the company of her loved ones.

“Littlefeather dedicated her life to the health and wellness of Native people everywhere,” read a press release at the time. “She was known for her sense of humor, quick wit, and fierce advocacy for Native American and Indigenous communities.”

Cruz and Orlandi came forward to clear their parents’ names because Littlefeather, who said her father was a violent alcoholic who mistreated them and their white mother, is “being worshipped as a saint,” according to Cruz and Orlandi.

She lied about having a rough background, which she actually borrowed from their father’s childhood experience, and Orlandi claimed it “infuriates me.”

“My father was deaf, and he had lost his hearing at 9 years old through meningitis,” Cruz said. “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.”

The Chronicle discovered family records in Mexico that date as far back as 1850; since 1880, everyone has been classified as either white or Mexican. Additionally, Littlefeather and any surviving or deceased family members were not listed in the White Mountain Apache tribe’s enrollment records.

Orlandi continued: “I believe the simplest way to describe my sister is to say that she invented a fantasy. She both lived and passed away in a fantasy.”

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