The Cherokee Nation is distancing itself from a prominent Hollywood filmmaker, confirming Heather Rae isn’t a tribal citizen and hasn’t benefited from production incentives on the reservation.

A star of the hit film Prey wants to find out the “truth” about his supposed tribal ancestry. But Hollywood studios don’t share the same commitment.

“We cannot allow them to take any more power away from us,” says Crystal Echo Hawk, founder and executive director of IllumiNative.

A growing number of Indian Country organizations are distancing themselves from Walter Roy Echo-Hawk Jr. following revelations of the criminal charge against the prominent artist.