March 16, 1991 - “There are a lot of wanna-be Indians in there,” Paradise said from outside the audition, which she helped organize. “It bothers me. There’s no shortage of Indian talent.”…

Indian Wanna-Bes Display Creative Genealogy

1991 March 16, The Los Angeles Times 

By Bob Pool

      The audition hall was loaded with pale faces as 100 actors answered a casting call for “Native American males… willing to undergo rigorous training prior to filming” for a remake of the 1936 movie classic “The Last of the Mohicans.” 

      Near the front of the line was brown-haired, blue-eyed Lance Patak.

      “I’m Indian,” insisted Patak, 18, of Hollywood.

      “I’m 7%. What was that tribe – lemme think. It starts with Ch. Say something with Ch,” he said, shrugging.

      Was he Cheyenne? Chumash? Chippwea?

      Patak though it over a moment before finally answering. “It’s Czechoslovakian.”

      Patak wasn’t the only one at Thursday evening’s Hollywood audition for whom American Indian culture may have been a foreign commodity. And some Native Americans in the crowd were not happy about that.  

 “These people are just taking away jobs from a lot of Indian people,” said Delbert Pomani, 30, of Oceanside, a full-blooded Sioux who worked in the film “PowWow Highway.”

      “I lived on a reservation all my life. In know what being an Indian is all about,” he said.

      “I’m an Indian in disguise,” said Mike Haney, 35, of Glendale, who has had roles as drug agents and a Marine in past films. “Maybe I can be a cowboy.”

      Preppy-looking Stanley Howard, 36, of Hollywood, resembled the attorney he recently portrayed in “LA Law.” “I’m 1/16th Cherokee,” Howard said. “I’d be a damn good half-breed in this.”

      Shannon Ratigan, 32, of Woodland Hills, whose most recent role, was in “Life Stinks,” said he is part Canadian Indian and is “a good canoesman and stuff – I’m in a good shape.”

      Fabian Cordova, 31, of Conoga Park declared himself “part Apache – a small percentage. A very small percentage.” He said he has portrayed the legendary Aztec Montezuma in children’s shows at Forest Lawn Memorial Park and is “athletic… I run 10Ks and lift weights.”

      Kelly Cross, 24, had an indoors, collegiate look – although he claimed Cherokee ancestry on his mother’s side. “I’ll get a tan if I get a part,” he said.

      The most Indian-looking things about Lionel Denson, 25, of Van Nuys were his moccasin-type shoes. “Hey, there were black Indians,” said Denson, who has acted in “Harlem Nights” and “Murder, She Wrote.” …..

      “I won’t cut my hair. It’s symbolic of what I am,” said a Menominee named Apesanahkwat, The 42-year-old, who had roles in “Bagdad Café,” “Annie Oakley,” and “Dudes,” said his braided, gray-streaked hair has not been cut in 15 years.

      More than 225 Native Americans are registered as actors with the Hollywood-based American Indian Registry for the Performing Arts, said Bonnie Paradise, executive director of the nonprofit group.

      “There are a lot of wanna-be Indians in there,” Paradise said from outside the audition, which she helped organize. “It bothers me. There’s no shortage of Indian talent.”… 

1991 March 16, The Los Angeles Times