American Native

In 2011 I was contacted by a television producer named Corey Bobker about whether I was willing to be interviewed for the film based on my book, The Ramapo Mountain People. When I finally viewed "American Native," I was dismayed to find out that they omitted major parts of my interview, especially those parts that refute the points made by my critics. Yet they included attacks against me and my integrity.

They also included extensive interviews with an anthropologist named Christine Gabrowski. a tribal lawyer named Arlinda Locklear, and an archaeologist named Ed Lenik. But they fail to note that Gabrowski is the principal anthropologist at a business that contracts with non-recognized tribes to help them gain recognition, Locklear is a Lumbee Indian (a so-called tribe that has partial recognition by an act of Congress and has failed to obtain full recognition from the Bureau of Indian Affairs), and Lenik has only a masters degree in anthropology. Nor did they conduct interviews I suggested with two independent- minded scholars: Dr.David Oestreicher, a Rutgers Ph.D. in anthropology who taught the Ramapoughs Delaware Indian words, dances, crafts, and traditions; nor Dr. Robert S. Grumet, another Rutgers Ph.D. who is an expert on Lenape leadership based on a study of the signers of Indian land deeds.

I have asked Steven Oritt to post my entire interview on the "American Native" website, which is what reputable documentaries have done. But neither he nor Bobker have done so.