Sacheen Littlefeather, who refused Marlon Brando’s Oscar, spent decades pretending to be Native American, say sisters

The sisters say that their California-born father’s family was in fact Mexican – and Littlefeather’s real name was Maria Louise Cruz. Photo: AP

And the award for decades-long appropriation goes to...

Sacheen Littlefeather, the late actress and activist who claimed to be of White Mountain Apache heritage and at the 1973 Academy Awards criticised Hollywood’s treatment of Native Americans while refusing the best actor Oscar on behalf of Marlon Brando after his win for The Godfather, in fact spent decades lying about her Native American ancestry, her sisters told The San Francisco Chronicle.