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Columnist Accuses [Mexican...] Sacheen Littlefeather [Warren...] of Falsifying Native Identity
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Leroy N. Soetoro
Oct 22, 2022, 10:35:14 PM10/22/22
to
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/sacheen-littlefeather-
accused-heritage-1235246782/
An Indigenous writer has published an opinion piece that includes
interviews with the estranged sisters of the late activist.
Three weeks after Sacheen Littlefeather’s passing, a writer has come
forward with claims that the celebrated activist and former actress spent
her life fraudulently posing as a Native American. Littlefeather died on
Oct. 2 of metastasized breast cancer at age 75.
In a piece published in the San Francisco Chronicle’s Open Forum opinion
section on Saturday, Jacqueline Keeler (Diné/Dakota) alleges that
Littlefeather, who cemented her pop culture legacy when she took the stage
at the 1973 Academy Awards to decline the best actor Oscar on Marlon
Brando’s behalf, was of Mexican and white descent. During her lifetime,
Littlefeather, whose birth name was Marie Louise Cruz, identified as
Apache and Yaqui on her father’s side. (That her mother was white has not
been disputed.)
Keeler writes that according to her research of historical documents, the
lineage of Littlefeather’s father traces to Mexico, not the Apache and
Yaqui territories in Arizona, and that there are no records of family
members’ enrollment in any tribes based in the land now known as the
United States. Furthermore, Keeler interviewed Littlefeather’s younger
sisters Rosalind Cruz and Trudy Orlandi, who said that Littlefeather lied
about their family and invented her Native origins in an attempt to stand
out in the entertainment industry. The sisters told Keeler that they had
kept quiet, thinking Littlefeather’s fame would fade, but that they were
troubled by seeing her “venerated as a saint.” They added that they
learned of Littlefeather’s death through the news. On Friday, they
appeared at Littlefeather’s funeral mass, where Cruz took to the pulpit
and told the assembled mourners that their sister had lived with a
lifelong mental illness and maligned her parents with her accounts of a
difficult, abusive childhood.
In her column, Keeler writes that she began investigating Littlefeather’s
history as part of her ongoing research into “Pretendians,” a list she
began compiling in January 2021 of individuals who falsely claim Native
identity. Keeler and her list are considered controversial within the
Indigenous community, with some arguing that her research methods are
unclear and that she has doxxed individuals without strong evidence. “I
don’t want to give Keeler’s shtick oxygen,” tweeted Rutherford Falls
showrunner and co-creator Sierra Ornelas on Saturday after Keeler’s column
was published.
In an email response to The Hollywood Reporter, Keeler said she spoke to
Littlefeather’s sisters last week for more than six hours. Keeler noted
that this marked her first conversation with them and that she came into
contact with the sisters after Cruz noticed Keeler’s tweets sharing
research and documentation about their father’s family. According to
Keeler, these tweets spurred Cruz to contact the White Mountain Apache’s
Office of Vital Records before the interviews with Keeler took place.
This summer, Littlefeather returned to public consciousness when the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences formally apologized to her for
the mistreatment and industry blacklisting she experienced after the 1973
Oscars. (She was first accused of being a performer for hire posing as a
Native American back then.) Littlefeather was feted at the Academy Museum
during an evening of reflection and celebration of Native American culture
in September, two weeks before her death.
The Academy declined to comment on the latest accusations.
Oct. 22, 3:35 p.m. Updated with Keeler’s email response.
--
"LOCKDOWN", left-wing COVID fearmongering. 95% of COVID infections
recover with no after effects.
No collusion - Special Counsel Robert Swan Mueller III, March 2019.
Officially made Nancy Pelosi a two-time impeachment loser.
Donald J. Trump, cheated out of a second term by fraudulent "mail-in"
ballots. Report voter fraud: sf.n...@mail.house.gov
Thank you for cleaning up the disaster of the 2008-2017 Obama / Biden
fiasco, President Trump.
Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.
President Trump boosted the economy, reduced illegal invasions, appointed
dozens of judges and three SCOTUS justices.
accused-heritage-1235246782/
An Indigenous writer has published an opinion piece that includes
interviews with the estranged sisters of the late activist.
Three weeks after Sacheen Littlefeather’s passing, a writer has come
forward with claims that the celebrated activist and former actress spent
her life fraudulently posing as a Native American. Littlefeather died on
Oct. 2 of metastasized breast cancer at age 75.
In a piece published in the San Francisco Chronicle’s Open Forum opinion
section on Saturday, Jacqueline Keeler (Diné/Dakota) alleges that
Littlefeather, who cemented her pop culture legacy when she took the stage
at the 1973 Academy Awards to decline the best actor Oscar on Marlon
Brando’s behalf, was of Mexican and white descent. During her lifetime,
Littlefeather, whose birth name was Marie Louise Cruz, identified as
Apache and Yaqui on her father’s side. (That her mother was white has not
been disputed.)
Keeler writes that according to her research of historical documents, the
lineage of Littlefeather’s father traces to Mexico, not the Apache and
Yaqui territories in Arizona, and that there are no records of family
members’ enrollment in any tribes based in the land now known as the
United States. Furthermore, Keeler interviewed Littlefeather’s younger
sisters Rosalind Cruz and Trudy Orlandi, who said that Littlefeather lied
about their family and invented her Native origins in an attempt to stand
out in the entertainment industry. The sisters told Keeler that they had
kept quiet, thinking Littlefeather’s fame would fade, but that they were
troubled by seeing her “venerated as a saint.” They added that they
learned of Littlefeather’s death through the news. On Friday, they
appeared at Littlefeather’s funeral mass, where Cruz took to the pulpit
and told the assembled mourners that their sister had lived with a
lifelong mental illness and maligned her parents with her accounts of a
difficult, abusive childhood.
In her column, Keeler writes that she began investigating Littlefeather’s
history as part of her ongoing research into “Pretendians,” a list she
began compiling in January 2021 of individuals who falsely claim Native
identity. Keeler and her list are considered controversial within the
Indigenous community, with some arguing that her research methods are
unclear and that she has doxxed individuals without strong evidence. “I
don’t want to give Keeler’s shtick oxygen,” tweeted Rutherford Falls
showrunner and co-creator Sierra Ornelas on Saturday after Keeler’s column
was published.
In an email response to The Hollywood Reporter, Keeler said she spoke to
Littlefeather’s sisters last week for more than six hours. Keeler noted
that this marked her first conversation with them and that she came into
contact with the sisters after Cruz noticed Keeler’s tweets sharing
research and documentation about their father’s family. According to
Keeler, these tweets spurred Cruz to contact the White Mountain Apache’s
Office of Vital Records before the interviews with Keeler took place.
This summer, Littlefeather returned to public consciousness when the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences formally apologized to her for
the mistreatment and industry blacklisting she experienced after the 1973
Oscars. (She was first accused of being a performer for hire posing as a
Native American back then.) Littlefeather was feted at the Academy Museum
during an evening of reflection and celebration of Native American culture
in September, two weeks before her death.
The Academy declined to comment on the latest accusations.
Oct. 22, 3:35 p.m. Updated with Keeler’s email response.
--
"LOCKDOWN", left-wing COVID fearmongering. 95% of COVID infections
recover with no after effects.
No collusion - Special Counsel Robert Swan Mueller III, March 2019.
Officially made Nancy Pelosi a two-time impeachment loser.
Donald J. Trump, cheated out of a second term by fraudulent "mail-in"
ballots. Report voter fraud: sf.n...@mail.house.gov
Thank you for cleaning up the disaster of the 2008-2017 Obama / Biden
fiasco, President Trump.
Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.
President Trump boosted the economy, reduced illegal invasions, appointed
dozens of judges and three SCOTUS justices.
David Dalton
Oct 24, 2022, 8:29:35 PM10/24/22
to
On Oct 23, 2022, Leroy N. Soetoro wrote
(in article <lnsAF38C73DE8...@0.0.0.2>):
Plenty of Mexicans have indigenous ancestry.
--
David Dalton dal...@nfld.com https://www.nfld.com/~dalton (home page)
https://www.nfld.com/~dalton/dtales.html Salmon on the Thorns (mystic page)
"Early morning jubilators; Up to no good instigators; ... Sons of long
forgotten races; That the darkest night embraces." (Ron Hynes & D.O'D.)
(in article <lnsAF38C73DE8...@0.0.0.2>):
--
David Dalton dal...@nfld.com https://www.nfld.com/~dalton (home page)
https://www.nfld.com/~dalton/dtales.html Salmon on the Thorns (mystic page)
"Early morning jubilators; Up to no good instigators; ... Sons of long
forgotten races; That the darkest night embraces." (Ron Hynes & D.O'D.)
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