Black Indian Video Documentary Released

September 2000

  The first in -depth documentary looking at the history and circumstances both historic and contemporary of America's Black Indians was released recently by Rich-Heape Films Inc.  The documentary is called, "Black Indians: An American Story."  The documentary covers a vast number of perspectives, within 60 minutes, interviewing Black Indians form New England, to Oklahoma, with input from scholars, and writers as well.  The video is presented well, and does a good job at presenting the diversity among not only Native Americans but African Native people in particular.  The New England experience of African-Native history was represented as was the perspective of Black Indians in the Carolinas, to the Oklahoma Black Indians, both Freedmen and Oklahoma Native Cherokees.

 The one drawback in the film is that in an effort to include noted scholars on the topic, the noted scholar Daniel Littlefield was omitted, and replaced  by another scholar of the same name.  Daniel Littlefield, the author of 4 books on African-Native people, is actually a specialist in English literature and American Indian writing, and it was he who was erroneously by-passed. Meanwhile, the video includes a scholar from South Carolina, who is a history professor..  It is surprising that the Littlefield in the documentary did not excuse himself from the project, since his area of expertise is not Oklahoma Freedmen. Fortunately, the professor Littlefield in the film did not make any historical errors in the arena that is not his forte. 

In spite of this drawback the  documentary is noteworthy and deserves a look.  

The video can be ordered from Rich Heape Films.