Following her death, Sacheen Littlefeather’s sisters deny claims of American Indian heritage.
article goes into great detail about Sacheen Littlefeather’s family tree. Born Marie Louise Cruz , Keeler says there is no evidence to suggest anything but white heritage on her mother’s side and Mexican on her father’s. It was restoring their father’s name that ultimately inspired the sisters to come forward, they said. The Oxnard, California-born man, “never drank,” according to Orlandi, and was not mentally ill, refuting her sister’s claims.
The sisters recalled that they used to make clothing at a local 4-H club, and used materials from the Sacheen Ribbon company, and suspect this was the name’s actual inspiration.. At the time, she was trying to break into Hollywood and had already done a shoot forAt the 1973 ceremony, she wore traditional clothing and made a short statement about Hollywood’s treatment of Native Americans.