Mixing history and Hollywood is a tricky formula. When it comes down to it, it's about finding a balance between staying true to historical components while creating a compelling story that will in turn become a box office hit.

This time, a Native American tribe based in the mountains of northern New Jersey is saying that Hollywood's got it all wrong when it comes to its representation in Out of the Furnace, starring Woody Harrelson, Christian Bale, Zoe Saldana, Casey Affleck and Forest Whitaker.

Members of the Ramapough Native American tribe (who do not have federal recognition but identify themselves as an American ethnic group recognized as a tribe by New York and New Jersey) claim that the film "paints a derogatory picture of their group as inbred social outcasts" and are suing the creators of Out of the Furnace.

Last week, members of the Ramapough Lunaape Nation filed a $50 million federal lawsuit against the makers of Out of the Furnace in Newark, N.J., alleging that screenwriters Scott Cooper and Brad Inglesby use too many details specific to the Ramapough people to be considered coincidence. They say the film embarrasses and shames them, according to ABC News.

Out of the Furnace, which has fueled the heated controversy, stars Bale as a man trying to find his missing brother, who has gotten involved with a bare-knuckle fighting ring in the mountains of New Jersey.

Harrelson, who plays the villian, has the last name DeGroat, which is common among the Ramapough, The Associated Press points out. Tribal members identify as descendants of the Lenape or Lunaape Nation, with some Dutch and other European ancestry in their heritage. Most of the 17 plaintiffs in the suit have the DeGroat last name. The suit claims "that unsavory characters in the film have last names that are common among the Ramapough and that it perpetuates negative and unfounded stereotypes."

Also according to the suit, Harrelson's character is the leader of a gang of "inbreds," who are depicted as lawless, drug-addicted, poor and violent, and live in the "mountains of New Jersey." In addition, the film also uses the term "Jackson Whites," a historically derogatory term for the Ramapough, and refers to "the inbred mountain folk of Jersey."

"The plaintiffs, who are mostly from New Jersey and New York, with one from Tennessee, seek punitive and compensatory damages and allege defamation, mental anguish and emotional distress," the AP adds. "They say the use of the names along with the geographic location 'make for a ready association between these plaintiffs and the movie.'

"Ramapough Chief Dwaine Perry, who is not party to the suit, held a news conference when the movie was released to denounce it as a 'hate crime.'"

This isn't the first time the tribe has faced alleged discrimination -- it claims its members "have been the target of shame and embarrassment before, when their schools were segregated from white schools in north Jersey and when descriptions of their communities were included in publications such as 'Weird NJ,'" ABC News reports.

According to the AP, "Relativity Media, which released the film this month, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press. But a representative told other news outlets that the company couldn't comment because it hadn't seen or had time to review the suit."

The Ramapough Lunaape Nation commented on an article by The New Yorker that points out the alleged mistakes made by Out of the Furnance.

"Thank you Mr. Mcgrath for seeing thru the ruse of this tragedy of a film," the Ramapough Lunaape Nation said on its official website.

Check out both the trailer of Out of the Furnace and the history of the Ramapough Lunaape Nation:

The Ramapough Lunaape Nation is made up of people who live in the Ramapo Mountains along the New York-New Jersey border about 25 miles west of New York City. Learn more about its interesting history below: