Fake art threatens native livelihood

Santa Fe, N.M. — The recent spread of fake Native American art and jewelry has shown the need to update how the federal government protects tribal artists from fraud that undercuts the value of their work, according to two U.S. senators who gathered suggestions for reforms on Friday.

New Mexico Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich convened a hearing in the American Indian arts hub of Santa Fe, where federal law enforcement officials and leading Native American artists described a disheartening influx of counterfeit jewelry, weavings and contemporary art knock-offs.

“We’ve got a serious problem on our hands,” said Udall, vice chairman of the Senate Indian affairs committee, summarizing three hours of testimony. “Fake Indian arts and crafts are flooding the markets right here in Santa Fe and across the country and this is having an effect of destabilizing the Native Art market. It’s forcing Native Americans to quit their crafts.”

Udall said he hopes to propel efforts to modernize the Indian Arts and Crafts Act to cope with sophisticated international jewelry rings that copy Native American designs and police online sales. The act makes it a crime to falsely market and sell art as Native American-made when it is not.

A 2010 amendment to the Indian Arts and Crafts Act broadened provisions to allow any federal law enforcement to conduct investigations.