Tom Danehy makes a mistake in calling Marie Cruz a "fake-ass" indian. Actually Ms. Cruz is descendant from tribes in our area: her paternal father being from the White Mountain Reservation. The name "Sacheen LittleFeather" was falsified, but the "indian woman" was authentic. Ms. Cruz spent the last 30 years working on behalf of native issues, including health and youth issues. Brando had a long history of providing assistance to Native Americans, before and after the Oscar event. The reason he rejected the Oscar in March, 1973 was because in February, 1973, the Pine Ridge reservation town of Wounded Knee had been seized by the American Indian Movement. When Oscar Night came on in 1973, Native Americans were in violent struggle against the United States in Wounded Knee, and Brando drew attention to the situation, mentioning Wounded Knee specifically in his written speech. I don't scorn Danehy's lack of journalistic discipline, because he was writing a humor piece, but I hope that he would at least not continue to defame a Native woman. He should apologize to the local tribes for the error.
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