Indian Time - A Voice from the Eastern Door

A well-known producer and Native American advocate faces allegations of fabricating her Cherokee ancestry. A respected tribal watchdog group has asserted that she exploited authentic Indigenous voices and viewpoints for personal benefit.

Heather Rae, 56, a producer of multiple films starring celebrities like Elliot Page, is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures’ Indigenous Alliance and formerly led the Sundance Institute’s Native American initiative.

Rae, who was born in California and grew up in Idaho, is most recognized for “Frozen River,” a Sundance Award-winning film that received an Oscar nomination, and the 2005 documentary “Trudell,” which chronicles the life of prominent Native American John Trudell.

Throughout her career, Rae has been celebrated for her claimed Cherokee heritage, earning a title as a top visionary by Variety in 2009 and holding prominent positions in two major film organizations’ Native American divisions.

She was recently chosen to facilitate an apology from the Academy to Sacheen Littlefeather’s estate, the Native American activist who famously declined Marlon Brando’s 1973 Best Actor Oscar to draw attention to her community’s struggles.

However, following her death in October, Littlefeater’s two remaining sisters exposed her ethnic identity as Hispanic, not Native American.

The Tribal Alliance Against Frauds (TAAF) now alleges that Rae is another example of a “Pretendian” - an individual who falsely asserts Indigenous ancestry - and provides historical census records and birth certificates to support their case.

A report detailing the investigation states that Rae, presenting herself as a Cherokee producer, has built an impressive career and become a key figure in Native American media production, serving on boards and as a gatekeeper for Native artists.

The report continues, pointing out that even a brief examination of her family tree reveals her career is based on a falsehood: Heather Rae is a white woman with no trace of Native American lineage, Cherokee or otherwise. In short, she has none.

The report includes a 1969 divorce certificate for Rae’s parents, Vernon and Barbara Bybee, in which they are identified as white. TAAF officials claim that upon further investigation into Rae’s ancestry, it becomes increasingly evident that neither parent had any connections to the Cherokee tribe that their daughter has been claiming.

Census records dating back to the 1700s show that an ancestor on Rae’s father’s side arrived in Virginia from England before the Pilgrims.

Regarding her mother, whom Rae credits with her Cherokee ancestry, records provide little to no proof of any such connection.

The report emphasizes her distinctly “Anglo-American” origins, stating that her father’s side primarily consisted of Mormons residing in Utah and Idaho since the mid-1800s. Records also reveal that Rae’s ancestors lived in areas once part of the Cherokee Nation, such as Kentucky and Tennessee, but as white, European settlers.

Rae’s great-great-great grandparents, Byrum Lee Bybee (1799-1864) and Elizabeth Lane (1802-1867), were the first in the family to journey west as Mormon pioneers from Kentucky. Rae’s paternal grandmother, Ethel Harper Bybee, is the great-granddaughter of English immigrant and Mormon Pioneer Thomas Harper, an advocate of polygamy.

The document goes on to describe how Rae’s earliest known male ancestor came from England and married a 16-year-old bride in Salt Lake City in 1883 while still married to Rae’s great-great-great grandmother. These ancestors predominantly hailed from the British Isles, mostly England, making Rae a true Anglo-American.

According to the report published on March 11, Rae’s father’s side, which she never attributed to her “half Cherokee” heritage, were mainly white Mormons. The report features over a dozen documents dating back to the 1700s, all of which indicate that every individual in Rae’s family identified as white.

The documentation provided by the agency, responsible for monitoring the increasingly prevalent “Pretendian” phenomenon, includes divorce records, birth and death certificates, military registration cards, and genealogical reports showing no indication of Native American ancestry.

Lianna Costantino, the TAAF’s director, has since confirmed the report’s authenticity and her agency’s involvement in the research. In a statement released on Sunday, the representative condemned Rae for her alleged actions, asserting that such behavior further marginalizes the already disadvantaged Native American community.

Costantino stated that being an American Indian person is about more than self-identification; it is about who acknowledges you as a member. She added, “It’s much more than just race. We are citizens of sovereign nations. Being an Indian is a legal, political distinction.”

Rae, whose real last name is Bybee, previously claimed to be half-Cherokee, stating, “my mother was Indian and my father was a cowboy.” Numerous news outlets have echoed this assertion, identifying the producer as having a Cherokee mother.

Nonetheless, the report’s authors admit there may be a remote chance that Rae’s claim of Cherokee heritage is linked to her great-great-great-great grandmother on her mother’s side, Jane E. Lassiter.

Lassiter was born in South Carolina in 1807 and passed away in Oklahoma in 1889, during a time when the region was considered Indian Territory.

Her father, Archibald Lassiter, born in North Carolina in 1775, was a white settler who received Cherokee lands in Georgia through an 1832 lottery following “the removal of Cherokees from their homelands,” according to the report.

The TAAF notes that this lottery was “exclusively for non-Cherokees.”

Furthermore, the group states that winning such a lottery, if anything, serves as “conclusive evidence of the ancestor NOT being Cherokee” and demonstrates that Rae’s family stories “lack factual basis.”

The group also mentions that “even if Archibald was 1/8th Cherokee, as claimed by his descendants,” this would make Rae merely 1/2048th Cherokee.

The report remarks, “She has more Pennsylvania Dutch (early German immigrant) ancestry than that – which is not a lot either compared to her British ancestry.”

Apart from her prominent role within the Indigenous Alliance - a leading global organization dedicated to Native American outreach initiatives - Rae also serves as a “narrative change strategist” for IllumiNative. This organization, led by trailblazing and visionary Native women, focuses on advancing racial and social justice causes.

Rae was heralded as a visionary by Variety in 2009 while the outlet touted her half-Cherokee heritage.