And now comes this explosive piece from Jacqueline Keeler in the SF Chronic, a Diné/Dakota writer living in Portland who has an ongoing project of identifying what she calls “Pretendians” - non-Native people who falsely claim Indian identity.
Keeler reports a convincing case that the claim of the woman who called herself “Sacheen Littlefeather” to be White Mountain Apache (or a member of any Indian tribe) through her father was bullshit. Littlefeather was born Maria Louise Cruz in 1946. Her parents were Manuel Ybarra Cruz and Gertrude Barnitz. Keeler writes “My review of her father’s side of the family tree, where she claimed her Native heritage, found no documented ties between his extended family and any extant Native American nations in the United States.” Keeler interviewed Littlefeather’s two sisters, who insist both of their parents were Mexican Americans, the father was not (as Littlefeather claimed) an alcoholic or abusive, and that their sister Maria never talked about being Indian until college aged and she wanted to get into modeling and acting. Keeler also researched the background of Littlefeather’s grandparents in Mexico and found no evidence of any formal Indian heritage. Keeler concludes that she was no more Indian than any random Mexican who is likely to have more or less incidental traces of Indian ancestry, but nothing that would constitute tribal identity. This rocks a small but important part of my world, as the Littlefeather episode was a part of my family story, and my parents were in touch with and offered support of different kinds (including financial) to her through intermediaries. I suppose now I should think of my parents as having been defrauded, though they were the type that would rather help someone who was lying than not help someone who needed it, and would never have thought of making a big deal about it. I do owe an apology to Nehme, the author of the piece linked to in the original thread, as I had chided her for implying that Littlefeather was the source if the lie that John Wayne had wanted to assault her at the Oscars. If Keeler is right Littlefeather told more and bigger lies than that. https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/Sacheen-Littlefeather-oscar-Native-pretendian-17520648.php On Sat, 20 Aug 2022 at 7:05 AM Tom Wolper <[email protected]> wrote: > Film historian Farrah Smith Nehme did a deep dive into footage from that > Oscar night and subsequent interviews to see if the incident with Wayne > really happened, and if not, where the story came from. > > > https://selfstyledsiren.substack.com/p/john-wayne-and-the-six-security-men?s=r&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web > > Her conclusion: Wayne was post-surgery for lung cancer and was less than > physically robust. Since Littlefeather was on stage for less than two > minutes and she hadn’t submitted her speech in advance, Wayne wouldn’t have > had enough time to get to the stage from his seat. It’s possible he was > already backstage and expressed anger, but that would have been at Brando > for dissing the Academy and the ceremony. > > The story of the six security men restraining him seems to come from > interviews after Wayne’s death and was an embellishment of what happened > that night. > > On Tue, Aug 16, 2022 at 3:03 PM PGage <[email protected]> wrote: > >> I did watch that night, and my parents were the type that were all in for >> her from the start; my parents were indirectly involved in a group >> supporting the Wounded Knee protest (it was probably my mothers favorite >> Oscar moment of all time). >> >> I think there has been some Public shaming, growing on Twitter since the >> Will Smith incident, as the story about Wayne Having to be restrained from >> physically attacking her got traction. >> >> Still, I agree it was a good idea to do this while she is still alive to >> appreciate it. >> >> On Tue, 16 Aug 2022 at 11:29 AM Tom Wolper <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> I was really touched by this story. I didn’t watch the Oscars that night >>> but I remember friends and classmates sneering at her and I don’t remember >>> any introspection or contrition since then. Too often the public atonement >>> comes only after the target has died. It surprises me in a good way that >>> the Academy stepped up without a public shaming campaign and they can tell >>> Littlefeather that the institution was wrong while she is still alive. >>> >>> On Tue, Aug 16, 2022 at 11:05 AM 'Bob Jersey' via TVorNotTV < >>> [email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> The Native American woman, now 75, who famously gave a rejection speech >>>> in Marlon Brando's behalf for his 1973 Best Actor Oscar for *The >>>> Godfather*, will be honoured in September at the Academy Museum, an >>>> event that will also feature dancing/musical performances and remarks from >>>> Academy officials and another Native, area California Assemblyman James >>>> Ramos (San Bernardino area)... a free, by-reservation livestream has >>>> apparently been booked solid... >>>> >>>> >>>> https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/sacheen-littlefeather-oscars-apology-1235198863/ >>>> (link) >>>> B >>>> >>>> -- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>> Groups "TVorNotTV" group. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>> an email to [email protected]. >>>> To view this discussion on the web visit >>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/0d236c2b-670a-4c03-832b-ab5905874df6n%40googlegroups.com >>>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/0d236c2b-670a-4c03-832b-ab5905874df6n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>>> . >>>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "TVorNotTV" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>> an email to [email protected]. >>> >> To view this discussion on the web visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAJE-FiHux4jtD%2BBW8jT2J8LZDkz5wwSNr43NP%3DF62H4dh7Dh2Q%40mail.gmail.com >>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAJE-FiHux4jtD%2BBW8jT2J8LZDkz5wwSNr43NP%3DF62H4dh7Dh2Q%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>> . >>> >> -- >> Sent from Gmail Mobile >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "TVorNotTV" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> > To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKGtkYLY00HZiXL4cewRqz75g1mivRWCr8ORKVrWt1JuMHVBuA%40mail.gmail.com >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKGtkYLY00HZiXL4cewRqz75g1mivRWCr8ORKVrWt1JuMHVBuA%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAJE-FiHV78XarZu_hBx5hpDiBLhWbzAHcbZ7FTwZjiVM1tzabQ%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAJE-FiHV78XarZu_hBx5hpDiBLhWbzAHcbZ7FTwZjiVM1tzabQ%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- Sent from Gmail Mobile -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. 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