An amendment in the state Indian Arts and Crafts Sales Act went into effect July 1, furthering efforts to prevent fraud in the Indian art market.
William Keller of the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office Consumer Protection Division said the amendment will reduce the property value required for a felony charge from $20,000 to $500, making it easier to prosecute criminals.
In addition, the attorney general’s office, along with the Indian Arts & Crafts Association, the federal Indian Arts & Crafts Board and local merchants associations are working together to spread awareness about Indian art misrepresentation.
All the organizations collaborate to hold town halls and distribute information to retailers and consumers, said Nina Alexander, Indian Arts & Crafts Board member.
“We want to make sure that everyone is aware of the law. And every time we go out, we realize people aren’t,” she said.
Although there have been no official studies, Keller said the industry estimates that up to 80 percent of all Indian art on the market is illegitimate. Much of it is imported from abroad, and consumers never see the country production labels, he said.
“These are generally adhesive stickers that you can just pull off,” Keller said. “By the time they get to retail stores, those stickers are long gone.”
Shane Hendren, Indian Arts and Crafts Association president and an award-winning artisan, said most of the money artists make goes back into authentic raw materials.
“Silver is $18 an ounce and gold is over $1,000,” Hendren said. “A lot of artisans essentially (work) just to rob Peter to pay Paul.”
Worse, Alexander said retailers often aren’t aware of regulations, but there are some stores that know quite well that they’re selling inauthentic goods.
“True artisans are not getting fair prices, because there are people sitting next to them selling bracelets — three for $20,” he said.
For that reason, Chad Henderson, president of the Old Town Merchants Association, said the association will start a “welcome wagon” to inform new retailers of regulations.
“I’ve been there a long time, and nobody’s told us half this stuff,” Henderson said. “We need to know.”
Hendren said inauthentic art sales compound Native Americans’ difficult socioeconomic situation. Tribes can’t combat art fraud when they’re fighting for basic health care and education, Hendren said.
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“You’re already talking about a population of people who are economically disadvantaged,” he said. “When you consider that out of that billion dollar industry, $750 million is going toward fakes. It’s enormous. Just imagine what $750 million would do for the indigenous populations.”
A separate bill is awaiting President Obama’s signature, Hendren said. The bill would allow policing organizations such as the FBI to investigate a fraud claim without waiting for Department of the Interior’s authorization, potentially tightening fraud control.
Hendren said he expected the struggle to continue in the “Walmart society,” where consumers might not care where a product comes from.
“If they want something that’s cheap and fake, then that’s fine,” he said. “But if they want the real thing, it’s there.”
