Indian chief decries film

McClatchy Tribune

MAHWAH, N.J.

The new film “Out of the Furnace” is a “hate crime” against American Indians because of the way it depicts New Jersey’s Ramapough Indians, said Dwaine Perry, chief of the group.

The plot deals with drugs and violence with a backdrop of people living in trailer homes that some say is based on the Ramapough community. Members of that community, which dates back hundreds of years, live in portions of Mahwah, Ringwood and nearby New York State.

“The Ramapough Lenape Indians are a well-organized, socially accepted and culturally significant group of residents who live and work in our community, raise families and attend our schools,” said Bill Laforet, superintendent of Mahwah schools.