Authentic Native American Arts
Why Buy Authentic?
For generations Native Americans have been taking pride in creating beautiful works of arts and crafts. These works were traditionally made by using ancient techniques passed down to Native Americans by our beloved ancestors. Sadly, Native Americans have more recently become aware that our traditional arts are being reproduced by fraudulent non-Indigenous merchants who are marketing their reproductions as Native American made while posing as real Native artisans.
This type of fraudulence is making unscrupulous merchants millions of dollars selling fake “Native American arts and crafts” while legitimate Native American craftspeople are being run out of business. Consequently this has further created a tragic situation where some estimate at least 40% of traditional crafts have disappeared within tribal communities compared to the crafts made in Native communities in the not-so-distant past.
Often the work produced by fraudulent merchants is made cheaply and contrary to tribal customs. Further, most of the revenue generated from selling fake Native American crafts never reach real Native American people or communities. Some estimates suggest that between 400 and 800 million dollars a year are being lost to fraudulent merchants who continue an insidious tradition of taking advantage of Native people.
This fraudulence not only negatively impacts real Native American artists it also impacts the Native American art collector. Fake “Native American” arts and crafts produced by these fraudulent merchants’ amounts to very little in terms of a real investment in authentic Native American works. This insidious method of mining out our culture must stop and YOU can help prevent this from happening!
In response to the mismarking of Native American arts and crafts, the federal government wrote into law P.L. 101-644, the Indian Arts and Crafts Act which is a truth-in-advertising law meant to prohibit the misrepresentation in marketing of Native American or Alaska Native arts and crafts produced within the United States.
This law was created to help shield legitimate State and federally recognized Native American artisans by making it illegal to offer or display for sale any art or craft product in a manner that falsely suggests it was produced by legitimate Native American artisans. (https://www.doi.gov/iacb/act) This law carries a steep penalty for organizations or individuals that are found to be in violation! Unfortunately, still today, fraudulent merchants continue to take advantage of real Native Americans as well as those who appreciate our traditional crafts.
Native Americans, like me, want to make people aware of this fraudulence to help put an end to any further profits which stem from the sale of fake Native American arts and crafts. Your awareness and assistance in spreading the word about this law will certainly help to ensure that real Native peoples are not further taken advantage of.
To ensure that your Native American artwork is authentic, here are a few steps you can take: First, let the merchant that you are considering buying from know that you are well aware of the Indian Arts & Crafts Law as this usually inspires them to be more honest with you about who actually made an item.
If a merchant is claiming to be Native American ask them specifically if they belong to the tribal Nation they say they are descended from and if the tribe is an official state or federally recognized group. If they claim to have heritage but are not recognized as a tribally enrolled member of a state or federally recognized tribe then their art IS NOT considered to be a legitimate Native American made work under P.L. 101-644.
If the merchant is saying that they are selling “for” a Native American further inquire about the specific tribe and person who created the work of art. ALWAYS ask to see a tribal enrollment card or (CIB) Certificate of Indian Blood and get a certificate of authenticity stating that the artwork is TRULY a Native American hand-made product. This certificate will make the work of art much more valuable over time.
Make sure you get the artists’ business card to use for follow-ups just in case you find out later that you have been the victim of fraud. If a merchant who is claiming to be selling Native American hand-made artwork cannot provide any of the above requested information or seems suspicious don’t hesitate to contact the Indian Arts and Crafts Board at ph# (888) ART-FAKE, or www.iacb.doi.gov.
Your help in exposing fraudulence will ultimately help real Native American people like me continue the tradition of creating beautiful authentic Native American arts and crafts for future connoisseurs like you!
Gallery
True Native American art is Native American made
All of the items featured here are certified AUTHENTIC NATIVE AMERICAN HAND-MADE arts and qualify as such under guidelines set forth in the Indian Arts & Crafts Law (P.L. 101-644).
Thank you for supporting REAL Native Americans and our many sacred material culture traditions.