This is interesting...

In 1973, actress Sacheen Littlefeather stepped on stage at the Oscars on behalf of Marlon Brando, identifying herself as a member of the Apache tribe and turning down his award because of the way Native Americans were treated in the U.S. Now, her two sisters are saying she lied — their family is not Native American.

Littlefeather, who died earlier this month at age 75, was active in the Native American Bay Area community. During her speech at the Oscars, she said she was president of the National Native American Affirmative Image Committee. In an interview published in a San Francisco Chronicle opinion column over the weekend, her biological sisters, Rosalind Cruz and Trudy Orlandi, said Littlefeather did not tell the truth that night.-
[cbsnews.com]

Another similar incident comes to mind regarding those who had faked native American heritage. In the 1970's there was a television PSA that featured a supposed native American actor by the name of Iron Eyes Cody, a commercial in which Cody was shedding tears over how polluted the country had become. Only problem was, Cody was not a native American and in fact was of Italian ancestry. Keep America Beautiful, the organization behind that PSA, should have been ashamed of themselves.- [en.wikipedia.org]