Self ID is just another Story

A question of identity

The Comanche Nation informed KU that a professor who claims he's Comanche is not an enrolled member of the tribe.

Friday, May 2nd, 2008

http://www.kansan.com/stories/2008/may/02/question_identity/?news

The Comanche Nation has disputed the claims of a KU professor that he is a Comanche Indian, and accused him of benefiting professionally and financially from his unconfirmed ethnicity.

Ray Pierotti, associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology who also teaches in the indigenous nations studies program, told The University Daily Kansan in an e-mail that he has never identified himself as an officially enrolled member of the tribe. However, he has claimed to be Comanche in numerous public forums and in a federal discrimination lawsuit he and his wife, Cynthia Annett, filed against the University of Kansas.

While Ray Pierotti acknowledges he is not an enrolled Comanche, he claims Comanche ethnicity, which has a role in University hiring and personnel matters. Although at one time being an ethnic minority could result in discrimination, today it can be an attractive asset to job applicants as universities seek to increase diversity among faculty and staff. The University keeps track of the ethnic makeup of faculty, but equal-opportunity officers said faculty and applicants identified their own ethnicity and the University, unlike tribal authorities, did not require them to provide evidence. Racial and ethnic identity have long been contentious issues. The issue has become more prevalent since equal opportunity laws have passed and Americans have been asked to identify their racial and ethnic backgrounds more frequently.

Pierotti, who said in an e-mail that he was not teaching this semester because he was on “bereavement-related Family Medical Leave,” declined repeated requests by The Kansan to discuss his ethnicity or the allegations that have been raised against him. One of his brothers, David Pierotti, said in a telephone interview from his home in California that their mother told him that her mother was a Comanche from Oklahoma. However, another brother, Nick Pierotti, and an uncle and cousin said that Pierotti’s great-grandparents on their mother’s side were Polish and immigrated to the United States from Europe.

Comanche Nation officials have sent two letters to KU administrators, the latest to the Chancellor’s Office in January, informing the University that Pierotti was not an enrolled member of the Comanche Nation. In the January letter, they asked the University to post disclaimers on publications or Web sites that identify Pierotti as Comanche. Chancellor Robert Hemenway and Provost Richard Lariviere declined requests for interviews to discuss Pierotti’s claims or the Comanche Nation letters.

Students of Pierotti’s said that he had been a great mentor who had gone out of his way to help them and had brought an Indigenous perspective to the science curriculum. Clouding the debate are claims by David and Ray Pierotti that a family dispute over the care of their late father, who died in October, motivated their brother Nick to send an e-mail alleging that Ray Pierotti is not ethnic Comanche as he claims to be. The e-mail was sent in late October to people in several departments at KU including The Kansan and to offices of several other Native American Studies departments and tribal organizations across the United States.

Official enrollment in a tribe is controlled by tribal governments, who see it as their sovereign right to determine their own members. Enrollment typically requires proof of a percentage of Native blood and can carry with it tribal voting rights, access to benefits and a share of financial rewards in tribal businesses and land.
Comanche claims:

Pierotti has been at the University since 1992. In that time, he has mentored Native students and was named Tribal College/University Mentor of the Year in 1998 by the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science. He is identified as “a member of the Comanche Nation” in his biography for that award.

Pierotti is also identified as a Comanche in the 2004 annual report for the National Science Foundation; a 1997 article in Earth Science magazine; a KU news release about the 2005 Big 12 Native American Student Leadership Conference at KU; in BioHawk, a privately funded annual newsletter produced by the Division of Biological Sciences of KU; and in an article published in the Journal of American Indian Education.

A Web site soliciting nearly $400,000 in funds for a documentary that Pierotti was involved with, “Powwow for the Planet,” described him as “a Penateka Band Comanche and one of a very few tenured Native American scientists in U.S. universities.” The Web site was taken down after the allegations were raised last semester. It is back up now, but there is no longer any mention of Pierotti’s Comanche heritage.

In 1998, Pierotti and his wife, Cynthia Annett, filed a lawsuit against the University claiming that he faced racial discrimination because of his Native ethnicity and that she had been a victim of gender discrimination. The acts of discrimination that he cited included: removing laboratory space from him, revoking his position as chairman of the department of Sytematics and Ecology’s Minority Affairs Committee and “denigrating” his award for mentoring minority students.

Attempts to reach Pierotti by telephone were unsuccessful. His wife said in an e-mail to The Kansan that after consulting his doctors, her husband would not consent to an interview for this story.

Ray Pierotti said in an e-mail that allegations by his brother Nicholas were the result of “an ugly family tragedy.” David Pierotti echoed that statement. However, complaints that Ray falsely claimed to be Comanche arose long before his brother’s e-mail.

Heidi Mehl, a third-year graduate student who has worked with Pierotti, said she didn’t believe the allegations when she heard about them.

“I’ve never had any reason to question it,” Mehl said of Periotti’s ethnicity. “Anyone who knows him knows the claims don’t hold any water. It’s really easy to make those claims when you have other motives. That’s an easy subject to attack. Identity is a really thorny issue to get into.”

What Comanches say:

The Comanche Nation first complained about Pierotti’s claims when Monnarhae Henry, the tribe’s enrollment director at the time, sent a letter to the interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences in 2006 saying that Ray Pierotti was not an enrolled member of the Comanche Nation. Copies of the letter were sent to Michael Yellow Bird, who was the director of Indigenous Nations Studies at the time, and the Office of the Provost. The University said it did not become aware of allegations against Ray Pierotti until Fall of 2007, nearly a year after the letter was sent, but Yellow Bird said he received the letter.

Wallace Coffey, chairman for the Comanche Nation, said they were first alerted about Ray Pierotti about five years ago by Comanche students from KU and Haskell.
“They are not the type of individuals who would judge or make any assumptions,” Coffey said. He said the students started asking basic kinship questions about Pierotti’s family.

“He just couldn’t respond,” Coffey said. “Our people would say it’s just another white man professing to be Native and using what little knowledge he has to try to take advantage of us.”

On Jan. 4, 2008, the Comanche Nation Business Committee, made up of elected leaders of the tribe, sent a second letter to the Office of the Provost. The letter, signed by eight tribal leaders, said Ray Pierotti still was not an enrolled member of the Comanche Nation.

The letter stated in part:

“The Comanche Nation is the only entity that can determine Comanche Nation citizenship. Pierotti’s self-identification as Comanche and the University of Kansas’ lack of effort to substantiate his claims shows disrespect to our tribal sovereignty and is an affront to the legitimate Comanche people. In essence, he is benefiting professionally and financially from unsubstantiated claims of Comanche identity for which the exclusive criterion is tribal enrollment.”

The tribal leaders asked the University to apologize for failing to acknowledge the first letter and to include a disclaimer that said “Raymond Pierotti is not an enrolled member or citizen of the Comanche Nation” on all University Web sites that identified Pierotti as a Comanche.

Coffey said he had not received any response from the University.

Lynn Bretz, director of University Communications, said that the KU administration could not discuss matters relating to personnel because of the individual’s right to privacy.

Bretz said when the University was first made aware of allegations against Ray Pierotti last fall, the University reviewed them and discussed them with Pierotti. Bretz said the University took matters of academic integrity and scholarly misconduct seriously. She said the University had a serious review process that included listening to complaints and gathering evidence.

According to University Senate Rules and Regulations, academic misconduct for an instructor includes: “grading student work by criteria other than academic performance, willful neglect in the discharge of teaching duties, falsification of research results, plagiarizing of another’s work, violation of regulations or ethical codes for the treatment of human and animal subjects, or otherwise acting dishonestly in research.”

The Comanche Nation, a federally recognized tribe, requires that those who enroll for membership must be able to trace their lineage back to the 1887 Dawes Act and must be at least one-eighth Comanche as determined by blood quantum, which is the calculation of an individual’s Indian blood.

To enroll, an ancestor with Comanche heritage must first be enrolled. Pierotti’s parents are both deceased and people cannot be enrolled posthumously.

Ray Pierotti said in an e-mail that he wrote to the Comanche Nation and told them that he had never identified himself as an enrolled member of the tribe. However, he declined to discuss the specifics of his Comanche ethnicity.

Others have also expressed concerns about Pierotti’s claimed heritage. After Nick Pierotti sent the e-mail with the allegations about his brother Ray, Devon Mihesuah, professor of indigenous nations studies, sent him a reply thanking him. Her e-mail reply was intended only for Nicholas Pierotti, but he posted it online on discussion boards without Mihesuah’s consent.

In her response, Mihesuah said that she had questioned Pierotti’s Comanche identity and challenged his ability to teach in the indigenous nations studies department. She said she complained “endlessly” to KU administrators and even asked to be removed from the department. Her husband, Joshua Mihesuah, is an enrolled member of the Comanche tribe. In the message, she said that they had “been aware” of Pierotti’s claims for almost 10 years, and that she was “frustrated that KU chose to look the other way.”

Devon and Joshua Mihesuah both declined to comment for this story.

Tribes determine:

Angelique EagleWoman, visiting assistant professor of law, said that tribal nations are sovereign and thus determine their own members. She said institutions like the University should contact the tribe before they identify faculty or students as American Indian.

The National Native American Bar Association created guidelines about tribal identity for public institutions in 2007. They encourage institutions of higher education to require individuals who identify as Native American to provide information that will support their claim to ethnicity.

EagleWoman said people who are descendants of a tribe but are not eligible for enrollment should identify themselves as descendants. She said if institutions honored tribal sovereignty, ethnic fraud would not be a problem.

Linda Sue Warner, the president of Haskell Indian Nations University and an enrolled Comanche, said it was important that tribes determined who to include as members.
“Tribes get to say,” Warner said. “It’s really not a genetic issue; it’s a tribal sovereignty issue.”

When Warner became president of Haskell, the Comanche Nation had a celebration in Lawrence to honor her achievements. Coffey said that he did not see Pierotti during the celebration.

The other side of the debate:

Others say that tribal enrollment is an oppressive construction that alienates some Natives.

“I think it’s whitewash,” said Michael Yellow Bird, associate professor of indigenous nations studies. “It’s a colonial invention of the U.S. government. I don’t believe in it.”

Yellow Bird is Sahnish and Hidatsa. His official blood quantum level is 28/32, while several of his brothers and sisters have a perfect blood quantum level of 4/4, even though they have the same parents.

“A lot of people don’t regard tribal enrollment systems with a lot of respect and credibility,” he said.

A copy of the letter from the Comanche Nation’s enrollment office was sent to Yellow Bird in 2006 when he was director of the indigenous nations studies department. Yellow Bird said he wasn’t concerned because many people who are Native are not enrolled members of a tribe and because some people who are enrolled members aren’t really Native.

“I asked him and he said he was,” Yellow Bird said of Pierotti. “That was good enough for me.”

Yellow Bird said what mattered was the performance of a person. He said Pierotti had guided a lot of students through KU and Haskell, many of whom have become successful scientists. Yellow Bird said students gravitated toward Pierotti.

“He was a good mentor,” Yellow Bird said. “He showed up to meetings (of the First Nations Student Association) when no other faculty did.”

Dustina Abrahamson, a second-year graduate student and one of Ray Pierotti’s students, said Native governments were the only ones that required a pedigree for citizenship.

She said that was problematic because many Natives don’t have a high enough blood quantum for any one tribe to enroll. Even some full-blooded Indians cannot register with certain tribes because their blood quantum is so diverse among different tribes, she said.

Abrahamson has worked under Ray Pierotti and taken several of his classes. He is her adviser in the Indigenous Nations Studies department at KU. She said Pierotti inspired her to come to KU for graduate school.

“In my perspective and my view, Dr. Pierotti is as much Native as I am,” she said. “His spirit, his heart is truly indigenous.”

Abrahamson is a full-blooded Shoshone Indian. Shoshones and Comanches are considered cousins.

Abrahamson said a lot of people look at how others look on the outside rather than who they are on the inside.

“He doesn’t fit the mold in a stereotypical view of what Native instructors are supposed to be,” Abrahamson said.

She said what matters is being proud of your heritage and who you are, and Ray Pierotti is.

Abrahamson said she and other students had been made aware of the allegations by an e-mail that was sent out to a select group of students and faculty members in the indigenous nations studies department last semester. She said the e-mail was “mean and hurtful and ugly.”

WHAT THE FAMILY SAYS:

Nick Pierotti said in a phone interview that his brother decided to create a false Comanche identity many years ago in order to take advantage of affirmative action when he was struggling to get a job. He said Ray chose Comanche because the Comanche Nation didn’t keep good records of family history.

David Pierotti, Ray’s other brother, said their grandmother on their mother’s side was Comanche. He said Nick made up the allegations as an act of retaliation.
David Pierotti said the brothers were not immersed in their Comanche heritage growing up in a middle-class suburban neighborhood, but that he remembered stories his grandmother would tell about animals and growing up in the West.

As an adolescent, David Pierotti said his heroes included Crazy Horse and Tecumseh. He said his family was not interested in gaining tribal membership, which he said was for people who were trying to receive tribal benefits. He said his mother tried to find out more information about their Native ancestry but was unable to.

David Pierotti said he and Ray both worked with Native groups and that they had never sought or received any gain from it. He said he thought it had actually hurt his brother’s career, but that Ray got a lot of gratification from helping Native students.

“He and I have both done this kind of thing because we felt a sort of obligation to help,” David Pierroti said.

David’s wife, Josephine, said she recalls his mother telling stories about her background — both Polish and Comanche — on “many, many occasions.”

Nick said that their mother was aware that Ray identified himself as Comanche and that she thought it was wrong.

“There were never any stories told around the kitchen table that we were Native American,” Nick said.

Their grandmother died before Nick was born, when David was just four years old and Ray was eight-years-old. Her son Joe Orie — uncle to the Pierotti brothers and brother of their mother — said in a phone interview with The Kansan that his mother was not Comanche. He said she was born in Natrona Heights, Penn., and lived her entire life in that area. He said his mother’s parents were of Polish descent and came to the United States from Europe.

Jack Orie — cousin of Ray, Nick and David — corroborated that statement. He said he and his family were “shocked” when they heard about the claims of Comanche heritage. Orie’s father, John, could not be reached for comment.

Joe Orie said that he had not seen his nephews, the Pierotti brothers, for many years but that he talked to their mother (his sister) on the phone every few months until her death in 2003.

The identity issue:

Linda Fund, assistant director of the KU Office of Human Resources and Equal Opportunity, said that for University purposes, it was up to each individual to identify his or her ethnicity and the University did not require faculty to provide evidence.

According to the most recent survey of faculty done in Fall 2007, 11 faculty members, including three associate professors, identify as American Indian. American Indians had the smallest representation of any ethnicity out of 1,534 total faculty. The University declined to say whether Pierotti was one of the 11.

Fund said that the University did not give special consideration to applicants of a minority ethnic group, but that the University did strive to ensure that the KU campus was reflective of the population’s diversity and demographic make-up.

In his statement about diversity, Provost Lariviere has stated: “The community of KU reveres individual worth and dignity and believes that advocacy for diversity and inclusion is a major responsibility entrusted to all campus community members.”

Marilyn Harp, executive director of Kansas Legal Services, said there was no law that made it illegal to falsely identify oneself as being of a certain ethnicity but that people had been terminated from jobs for breaching the trust of their employers.
“Because race isn’t supposed to be a factor, to say that has something to do with his hiring and success suggests that the laws aren’t working well,” Harp said. “Except people are paying attention to race, which isn’t supposed to be a factor.”

The Comanche Nation expressed concern to the University that Pierotti was using his claims of Comanche heritage to acquire employment-related benefits, to enhance his credibility in the classroom and on grant applications and to gain support and academic acceptance for his scholarship.

In his article, “The Morale of Faculty, Students, and Staff under a Corporate Model: The Case of the University of Kansas,” Pierotti wrote that he was only “the second Native American tenure-track faculty member at KU.”

He is also identified as Comanche on an annual report for a research program he led, Recruiting Native American Students into Environmental Sciences, for which he and others received more than $400,000 in grant money from the National Science Foundation. The report states: “Being of a Native American (Comanche) heritage and familiar with many of the problems faced by Native students planning careers in environmentally oriented research, Dr. Pierotti acts as a mentor …” As of 2002, the reports for that program stated that it had helped more than 25 Native students to graduate with science degrees from the University, some of whom went on to attend graduate school.

Mehl said she had benefited from Pierotti’s grants as one of his students.
“Any claim that he would be getting rich off of some claim to Native American identity is ludicrous. I’ve never met two people who are more honest or more transparent,” Mehl said of Pierotti and his wife, Annett. “They go out of their way to provide opportunities to students through those grants.”

Mehl said Pierotti should be commended for his actions.

Abrahamson said Pierotti brought an indigenous perspective to science. Instead of looking at land as something to exploit as many do, Abrahamson said Pierotti taught his students that they were equal with nature.

Mehl said she appreciates Ray Pierotti’s indigenous world view and holistic approach to sciences. Mehl said Pierotti teaches that everything is connected.

Mehl said people who are trying to reconnect with their heritage should be embraced.
But if Pierotti is not Native, he is teaching under false pretenses and could be denying a job to someone who is a Native.

“They’re being taught Native values by someone who isn’t,” Nick Pierotti said. “There are plenty of Natives that could be holding the position that my brother is in.”

The question that has been raised by Nick Pierotti and others is not whether Ray Pierotti is an enrolled member of the Comanche Nation, which he is not, but rather whether he is Comanche at all.

Cornel Pewewardy, who is a member of the Comanche Nation and taught at the University from 1996 to 2005, said that falsification of tribal identity was like identity theft.

Pewewardy said that he didn’t know Ray Pierotti well but that he saw him at pow-wows for the First Nations Students Association and that they were on a committee together.

“There was all kinds of conversation,” Pewewardy said about Pierotti’s claims about his ethnicity. “I’m pretty sure he’s not. He contends that he is.”

Pewewardy said a basic element of identity is knowing who you’re related to. “If nobody knows you from back home and they’ve never heard of you, it becomes suspect,” Pewewardy said.

— Edited by Jared Duncan

Tips on Purchasing Authentic Native American Art

Ask to be given a written description or certificate of authenticity with your purchase;
Always keep written records and receipts together for your history/documentation file.

These are just a few of the tips at the Indian Arts and Craft Association located in New Mexico, website:

http://www.iaca.com/?pageid=49

IACA Preserves Native American Art Market

The Indian Arts and Craft Act doesn't prevent anyone from making and selling their art - it does however, limit who can or can not call themselves Indian and their art Indian - contrary to what this article would have you believe - it preserves the Native American Art Market for Native Americans. If collectors don't care about the Indian ID that is for them to decide when they purchase art; however, it is indeed up to each tribe as to who is or is not a tribal member and thus can call their art as Indian. Usually those claiming Indian Ancestry but are not members of Tribes, State or Federal recognized, are not able to prove their Indian Ancestry and in some cases don't even know which ancestor *might* be Indian, they operate from a purely *Family Story* without any documentation.

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Does the law exclude Native American Craftspeople?

Among strong supporters of the law are Native Americans who recognize that some American Indians have been unfairly excluded. Craig Ueltzen of Pasco, Wash., whose enrolled Cherokee mother makes a living selling ink drawings, chastised “people who claim tribal membership just to jump on the bandwagon of Native American art since it’s popular right now.”

Veltzen conceded that some tribes’ sloppy bookkeeping in their census rolls “and people hiding out during the registration years” in the 19th and early 20th centuries have led to individuals who have been unfairly prohibited from claiming their ancestry.

Cherokee potter and sculptor Victoria Mitchell Vazquez of Welch, Okla., says requiring proof of enrollment for shows is “a good practice,” while acknowledging that “I do know of other Indian artists who cannot prove their Indian blood, and I feel for them.”

The law, however, is strict and allows no room for sympathy. “Saying who is an Indian is not, and should not be, a judgment call,” Pourian says. “I need proof.”

Considering the fact that some objects — jewelry, especially — in the Indian market shows sell for as high as $10,000 or more, the disputes over who may participate in these events can become quite bitter.

The Indian Arts and Crafts Act, for its part, does not prohibit anyone from creating any kind of arts and crafts objects they like, nor does it prohibit any collector from buying it. The statute may simply make some artisan’s work a bit more difficult to find. “The law creates deeply invidious situations for tribal people,” says Rayna Green, curator at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, “as tribes become gatekeepers for a system they did not create but must uphold in order to maintain their sense of themselves as sovereign people. When art is thrust in the middle of it, it’s kind of sad.”

Cherokee Nation Art Act Passes

Cherokee Nation Arts and Craft Act:

Anyone who sells art within the Cherokee Nation must be a Cherokee citizen or a member of a federally recognized tribe.

Indian Arts and Craft Board at Work

Vermont Basketmaker Contacted By Federal Officials About Native Arts Labeling

Written by Jedd Kettler
Friday, 22 February 2008
The County Courier

VERMONT: If you doubt there is a need to change Vermont's Native recognition law to protect Abenaki artists and craftspeople, basketmaker Jesse Larocque suggests you look no further than an email he received from the federal Indian Arts and Crafts Board this week.

That email was sent on Tuesday, Feb. 19, from IACB Support Specialist Ken Van Wey. It outlines federal law and suggests that Larocque - a member of the St. Francis/Sokoki Band of Missisquoi Abenaki - stop advertising his work as Native-made.

The IACB is part of the United States Department of the Interior and administers federal Native arts labeling regulations.

Van Wey's email suggests Larocque "should refrain from selling (his) work as Indian, Native American, or as the product of a particular Indian Tribe until (his) group is officially recognized."

In an email response the same day, Larocque wrote, "It looks like you are on a witch hunt... or a fishing expedition." Later in his email, Larocque suggested, "Perhaps you may want to level your guns in a different direction."

Larocque, of West Danville, pointed to grants he has received in the past, particularly a grant from the federal National Endowment for the Arts – which referred to him as a "Master Abenaki Basketmaker" – support from the Vermont Folk Life Center, and several court cases he has won defending his rights as Native American.

"So basically what we've got is one side of the government that says, 'Okay, you guys are Indian,' and another that says, 'You are not,'" Larocque said in an interview with the County Courier, Wednesday, Feb. 20.

Meanwhile, what Larocque and many other artists and craftspeople say they are working to preserve a culture which has already seen years of pressure and repression.

"It's not like I'm out there doing something that is harmful. It's preserving heritage and culture," said Larocque.

The IACB email and Larocque's response have been posted on the Vermont Commission on Native Affairs website, www.vcnaa.com since Wednesday.

IACB Director Meredith Stanton declined to comment Thursday, Feb. 21, about either email. Stanton said her office does not discuss complaints they receive or specific "law letters" sent out to individuals they believe are in violation of the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990.

She said that some 95 percent of "law letters" sent from her office are in direct response to complaints they receive. Such letters vary widely in their seriousness, from those meant primarily to educate artists and craftspeople about labeling requirements to more direct legal action.

"I think any way you look at it, not only are you educating someone, you're also putting them on notice," Stanton said. "We want them to know what the definition (of 'Indian') is under the Act ... We want anyone and everyone to know about this."

When Vermont's Native recognition law, S.117, was passed in May, 2006, many believed Abenaki artists here would be protected when labeling their work as Abenaki-made.

For Larocque, this week's email draws a clear picture of the current vulnerability of Vermont's Native artisans and craftspeople.

"The situation with me presently will allow them to see what will continue to happen if (S.117) is not repaired," Larocque said on Wednesday. "My view is, apparently S.117 falls short of protecting Abenaki and needs to be addressed ... The reality is S.117 is not working."

Federal officials have said for over a year that S.117 stops short of recognizing specific Indian groups and therefore does not protect individual artisans. In a February, 2007 interview with the County Courier, Stanton suggested that a "legislative solution" would be the best solution.

In addition to the suggestion that Larocque not label his work as Abenaki unless his group is recognized by the State, Van Wey's email also describes labeling requirements under the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990, which is "designed to prevent the marketing of art and craft products as 'Indian made when they are not, in fact, made by Indians as defined by the Act."

The Act defines an Indian "a member of a member of a federally or officially State recognized Indian Tribe" or someone who is certified as a non-member artisan in such a group.

The email comes just days after the Vermont Senate Economic Development Committee heard disparate testimony on the need for changes to the State law. The current proposed amendment aims to set up a process for recognizing specific tribes and bands in Vermont. While several people testified that the amendment is either not necessary or that the proposed process is flawed, this week's IACB email to Larocque echoes Stanton's own written testimony last week. Her testimony stops short of endorsing the current proposal, though.

The amendment "answers many of our concerns about the State's recognition process but it remains to be seen whether specific Abenaki 'tribes' are recognized consistent with the federal Act," according to Stanton's testimony.

State recognition of tribes and bands is also separate and very different from federal recognition.


As Stanton wrote in her testimony, State recognition is distinct from federal "recognition as a sovereign Indian tribe."

Ultimately any solution in Vermont needs to come from the State government, Stanton said this week.

"We appreciate the fact that the State of Vermont is working toward a solution to fix it ... It's the State of Vermont, it's something that they have to address," said Stanton.

The current situation does highlight a need for clarity and change to Vermont's protections for artists and craftspeople, though, said both Larocque and VCNAA Chairman Mark Mitchell.

On Wednesday, Mitchell said, "Vermonters in general should know where S.117 stands. Vermonters should work together to try to move (the proposed amendment) forward ... To me a process is really the only way to move forward."

Mitchell said the Commission's goal since beginning work on the issue in fall 2006 has always been to ensure Vermont's Abenaki artists are protected. When federal officials told him at that time the law did not allow Vermont artisans to label their work, the VCNAA began work to define a process to achieve that protection.

Mitchell said, "We didn't set things in motion. This is all being driven by the federal government."

Mitchell said he was not surprised by the email Larocque received this week.

"I think it was only a matter of time. This could be only the beginning," Mitchell said. "As I wrote on the (VCNAA) website, 'The Feds are coming.'"

Another self ID Indian

No where in this article is it mentioned that Murv Jacob and Debbie Duvall are NOT members of any Federal or State Recognized Tribe!

Apparently he's just been telling folks he's Cherokee for 20 years! Another *self* identified Indian who started chumming around the Cherokee Artists in Tahlequah.

An example of *if you say it long enough* you convince folks you are Indian....and then boosts about how long he's been Indian....


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Published April 13, 2008 10:29 pm -

Art Under the Oaks gets rolling

http://www.muskogeephoenix.com/features/local_story_104222952.html

“With 30,000 azalea plants in full bloom, not to mention the myriads of other flowering trees and shrubs, Honor Heights Park in Muskogee is a lovely place to spend a memorable spring day,” said Murv Jacob, artist and book illustrator of Tahlequah.

This is the 24th annual Art Under the Oaks Market at the Five Civilized Tribes Museum atop Honor Heights Hill, on the west side of Muskogee. Jacob and his wife, Deborah Duvall, will be there on Saturday and Sunday. The market opens at 10 a.m. both days.

Jacob will bring a selection of his new plate designs celebrating Frankoma Pottery’s 75th anniversary — this brand new design features ruby-throated hummingbirds and trumpet creeper vines, and the plates are done in three new colors, light blue, cream and dark blue, and range in cost from $40 to $100. Last year, Jacob previewed his Frankoma Pottery Oklahoma Centennial plates at Art Under the Oaks for the first time.

Jacob and Duvall set up their tables around back on the southwest corner of the museum, away from the road and crowds, and with a spectacular view of Tiger Mountain — some 30 miles away to the southwest.

“It’s quieter there in the back of the museum, and our musician friends and relatives always manage to show up and liven things up with their guitars, mandolins and fiddles. It’s like that song ‘Sittin’ on Top of the World’ — I love that hill,” Jacob said.

“By a strange combination of luck and tenacity it turns out that I am the only artist who has been to this art market every single year since it began,” he said. “I came the first year and shared a booth with the famed Cherokee painter Cecil Dick — and Cecil’s best friend, the great woodcarver Willard Stone, was in the next door booth with his family — that was over 20 years ago — both Cecil and Willard have long since passed away — now look at me — I’m that old guy taking a nap over by the bushes. Har. Har.”

Their ninth book together, “Rabbit Goes to Kansas,” was published in the fall of 2007. The story line of the book has generated a lot of recent interest among Kansas Jayhawk fans, who are now celebrating their number one finish in the NCAA basketball tournament. Ji-Stu the Rabbit follows the North Star out of Indian Territory with his friend, Wildcat. They’re searching for mythical red and blue birds who live on a sunflower-covered hill far to the north. The birds turn out to be real enough and teach Ji-Stu and Wildcat a new game using a basket and a bouncy ball.

“I’ve been a KU basketball fan for generations,” Jacob said. “Go KU!”
Duvall and Jacob also will bring a stack of their newest book, “Rabbit and the Well” — just out this April, their 10th book together, published by the University of New Mexico Press.

“The well story retells an old Cherokee legend about dealing with a long drought,” Duvall said. “We started working on the book a couple of summers ago, when the hot Oklahoma wind dried up the water and the rain refused to fall. Oddly enough, when our storyboard was finished it began to rain again.”

In “Rabbit and the Well,” the ancient Cherokee animals suffer through a terrible drought. Ji-Stu the Rabbit comes up with the idea to dig a well because “there’s plenty of clean cold water underground.” Since he had the idea in the first place, Ji-Stu considers his work complete, and refuses to do any of the digging.

“Then you shall have none of our water!” the animals tell him. Little does Ji-Stu know there’s a sticky tar wolf in his future when he is forced to steal water from the well. The legend is thought by Cherokee historians to be the basis for the Joel Chandler Harris story about the Tar Baby.

Both new full-color books have been up for some time as free e-story-books on the couple’s Web site, www.jacobandduvall.com.

“You can go there and hear the story being told by Duvall while looking at my illustrations,” Jacob said. “Eventually all our illustrated stories will be available on-line as free e-books.”

Art Under the Oaks will include artists from all over the area – painters, potters, basket weavers and traditional artisans of all sorts, and traditional food and loads of entertainment.

“Round up your friends and come spend the day with the most beautiful flowers in Oklahoma,” Jacob said.

“The Cherokees are especially fond of azaleas. Forty-nine of the 50 species of azaleas are native to the Appalachian Mountains from Pennsylvania down to Georgia, the ancestral home of the Cherokees. It stands to reason that when the Cherokees moved here the azaleas would follow. Art Under the Oaks is a great place to start your tour of this year’s crop of azalea blossoms. I think I’ve seen every species of butterfly native to Oklahoma hanging around those bright blooming bushes in Honor Heights Park. With record American gas prices, a memorable, fun, free, family event might be had in nearby Muskogee.”

For more information, call the museum at 683-1701.

IACA Board Under Attack For Supporting P.L. 101-644

Recently, the Indian Arts and Crafts Board has been under attack through Vermont newspapers for it’s stand in requiring artisans protected under the Act to be members of a Federal or State recognized tribe - and not individuals who self-identify as Indians and who are not members of a recognized tribe. Who are these individuals and organizations that have made the attacks?

My prediction if these groups continue to be appeased: about 2050: who will be considered *Indians*: the entire U.S. population!!

Fake Indian Writers appeal to preconceived notions of *Indian*

Going Native
Why do writers pretend to be Indians?
By David Treuer Posted Friday, March 7, 2008, at 6:43 PM ET

http://www.slate.com/id/2185856/pagenum/all/#page_start

Cigar-store Indian.

In 1930, shortly after the studio release of his movie The Silent Enemy, Buffalo Child Long Lance's Indian identity began to crumble. He was a celebrity by that time, having boxed Dempsey and dated movie stars, but he was not, it turned out, a full-blooded Blackfeet Indian who had been raised on the plains, as he had claimed. He had not hunted buffalo from horseback as the prairie winds blew through his hair. And his name was not actually Buffalo Child Long Lance. His real name was Sylvester Long. He was from Winston-Salem, N.C. He was African-American. And his father was not a chief but, rather, a janitor.

Margaret B. Jones, the author of Love and Consequences, is hardly the first person to have invented an Indian self and a past. Her memoir tells of her upbringing as a half-white, half-Indian foster child by a black family in South Central L.A. In fact, Jones' real name is Margaret Seltzer, she did not grow up in South Central, she's never been a foster child, and she's no more a Native American than Sylvester Long was.

By inventing a Native American heritage, Seltzer joins a long and distinguished list of fake Indians. In addition to Buffalo Child Long Lance, her tribe consists of Nasdijj (who fabricated a Native identity and passed it off in not one but three books: Geronimo's Bones, The Boy and the Dog Are Sleeping, and The Blood Runs Like a River Through My Dreams), Forrest Carter (whose fake Cherokee boyhood is described in The Education of Little Tree), and Grey Owl (the persona of the Englishman Archibald Belaney, who wrote and toured on the strength of his Indian-inspired conservationism between the World Wars).

It's easy enough to imagine what motivates literary fakers—their inventions are a way to win attention and acclaim for work that would otherwise be dismissed as pedestrian. But why pretend to be an Indian?What is so appealing about stripping off one's own identity and donning a reddish one?

It's easy to get away with it, is one reason. Indians can, and do, look like anyone. And anyone can look like an Indian. After 500 years of intermarriage, Native American racial identities (as opposed to cultural identities) comprise a wide range. Among my three siblings, one of us looks like Opie Taylor, one like Tonto, and one is a dead ringer for the Karate Kid. (I'm Opie. Opie is my spirit guide.) Then there's my sister, who looks like herself. It's pretty hard to claim you're African-American or Chinese if you don't look black or Asian.

But looks are only part of it. Native Americans make up one half of 1percent of the U.S. population. Most Americans will go their whole lives without meeting one of us. The result: What non-Indians know about Indians does not come from the kinds of daily interactions that typically shape their understandings of people different from them. We Native Americans are dwarfed by the ideas that abound about us, and this imbalance lends itself to invention. After all, who are you to say someone is or is not a thing they say they are if you've never had any experience of that thing?

But more important—more important than how we look or how invisible we are—the answer to why people fake being Indian is linked to how they fake it. Hemingway once wrote what he called the shortest story ever written: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn." But I can think of one shorter by five words: "Indian." Wrapped up in that one word is a host of associations, images, and ideas, but primary among them is tragedy. It is no accident that all the fake books written by fake Indians (and most of the "real" books written by "real" Indians) are rife with tragedy.

Nabokov wrote that there are three kinds of stories that are utterly taboo as far as American publishers are concerned. In addition to the subject of Lolita, "the other two are: a Negro-White marriage which is a complete glorious success resulting in lots of children and grandchildren; and the total atheist who lives a happy and useful life, and dies in his sleep at the age of 106." I would add to that list one more: relatively happy Indians going about living relatively happy lives. Sometimes people ask what I am and I say, "Native American." And they reply: "I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

Tragedy is a shortcut that sells, and the particular tragedy of being an Indian has an amazing ability to make readers lose their capacities to discern good writing from bad, interesting ideas from vapid ones.In Little Tree, for instance, the most commonplace things are elevated to the level of poetry by virtue of their perceived degree of Indian-ness: "They gave themselves to nature," he writes, "not trying to subdue it, or pervert it, but to live with it. And so they loved the thought, and loving it grew to be it, so that they could not think as the white man." Nasdijj and Carter truck in homilies, Jones in homies—as in, "I hated that they had taken my big homie and even more that they had taken my sense of security"—but the result is the same: awful, impossible writing. Once you remove the author's Indian identity, the bad writing reveals itself.

Sadly, until we break the habit of reading Indian lives as necessarily"Indian tragedies"—and see the shallow types and terrible prose and awkward, tragic poses for what they are—there will be more Indian fakes. The Education of Little Tree is still published by the University of New Mexico Press, the book's author still listed as Forrest Carter. Riverhead, at least, has pulled all the copies of Jones' fake. But they, and others, could do more. They could try to make sure this doesn't happen again.

It wouldn't be that difficult. If a publisher has an author who claims to be Native American, they could ask for documentation. And let this be a word of warning to publishers, agents, and editors: If the author does not say what tribe he or she is from or fails to claim an Indian community as home (either as a place of descent or youth or family), then something is wrong.

Seltzer did not commit a victimless crime. There are victims, and they are not Faye Bender, Seltzer's agent; or Sara McGrath, her editor at Riverhead; or Michiko Kakutani, who reviewed the book for the New York Times. They were taken advantage of, to be sure. But Bender will go on representing writers. McGrath will continue to find and publish wonderful books. Kakutani will continue to be a great reviewer. The real victims are Indian citizens and writers. People who have for so long been denied the opportunity to express themselves. There are many Indian writers with stories to tell that are ignored because they do not fit the preconceived notion of tragedy and cheap melodrama that make books like Love and Consequences so appealing. These writers, if they are published at all, are usually not profiled in the New York Times. As for Indian citizens, the more than 2 million of us living in the U.S. who are not fakes—our lives (especially if they are happy lives) will continue to go on unseen. This is the greater tragedy, I think, than the false ones outlined in Jones' false memoir.

Cherokee Artists Act in the Rules Committee

The Act passed unanimously out of the Rules Committee and now goes to the full council for a vote.

**************************

An Act


Legislative Act ___________


A LEGISLATIVE ACT REQUIRING TRUTH IN ADVERTISING FOR NATIVE ART

BE IT ENACTED BY THE CHEROKEE NATION:

Section 1. Title

This act shall be known as the “Cherokee Nation Truth in Advertising for Native Art” and codified as Title ______ Section ______ of the Cherokee Nation Code Annotated.

Section 2. Purpose

The purpose of this Act is to establish guidelines for the purchase, promotion and sale of genuine Native American arts and crafts within the Cherokee Nation and by Cherokee Nation entities. This Act is further intended to encourage and allow Cherokee artists to be diverse, creative as well as traditionally influenced and to continue the use of traditional materials as well as use new mediums.

Section 3. Legislative Authority

Article VI Section 7 of the Cherokee Nation Constitution states: “The Council shall have the power to establish laws which it shall deem necessary and proper for the good of the Nation, which shall not be contrary to the provisions of this Constitution. The style of all bills shall be: “Be It Enacted By the Cherokee Nation”. The Style of all resolutions shall be “Be It Resolved By the Cherokee Nation”.

Section 4. Definitions

(a) Art is an object or action that is made with the intention of stimulating the human senses as well as the human mind and/or spirit regardless of any functional uses. For purposes of this act, Art also includes crafts, hand made items, traditional story telling, contemporary art or techniques oral histories, other performing arts and printed materials.

(b) Cherokee Nation means the government its agencies and instrumentalities including but not limited to Cherokee Nation Businesses, Cherokee Nation Enterprises, Cherokee Nation Industries and Housing Authority of the Cherokee Nation, any component units of the Cherokee Nation and any entities in which the Cherokee Nation is the sole or majority stock holder or owner.


(c) Indian means a citizen or member, not individually adopted, of a federally recognized Indian entity evidenced under the “Federal Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994,” PL 103-454, November 2, 1994, 25 U.S.C. §479a, as amended.

(d) Indian Art means Art produced by an Indian.

(e) Indian Artist means an Indian who produces Art.

Section 5. Substantive Provisions

(a) The Cherokee Nation shall not knowingly offer for sale art that is produced by individuals who falsely claim, imply, or suggest that they are Indian.

(b) The Cherokee Nation shall not host, sponsor, fund, or otherwise devote or contribute any resource to Art exhibits allowing the exhibition of works by Artists who falsely claim, imply, or suggest that they are Indian.

(c) The Tribal Employment Rights Office (T.E.R.O.) shall maintain a voluntary registry of Cherokee Artists and their contact information.

(d) The Principal Chief shall cause to be published an inventory of all Indian art owned by the Cherokee Nation, and such listing shall be accessible to the public.

(e) The Principal Chief shall cause to be developed a label or other form of identification to be placed upon or with any Indian Art or Craft sold by the Cherokee Nation or its entities. This is to ensure and identify the object being sold as authentic Indian Art.

Section 6. Provisions as cumulative

The provisions of this act shall be cumulative to existing law.

Section 7. Severability

The provisions of this act are severable and if any part of provision hereof shall be held void the decision of the court so holding shall not affect or impair any of the remaining parts or provisions of this act.

Section 8. Effective Date

This act shall become effective sixty (60) days after its passage in accordance with the Cherokee Nation Constitution.






Enacted by the Council of the Cherokee Nation on the _____________day of _________, 200__.



___________________________________
Meredith Frailey, Speaker
Council of the Cherokee Nation


ATTEST:


_________________________________
Don Garvin, Secretary
Council of the Cherokee Nation


Approved and signed by the Principal Chief this day of______________, 200___.



_________________________________
Chadwick Smith, Principal Chief
Cherokee Nation
ATTEST:


_________________________________
Melanie Knight, Secretary of State
Cherokee Nation


Cara Cowan Watts
Cherokee Nation Tribal Council
District 7 - Will Rogers
P.O. Box 2922
Claremore, OK 74018
C: 918 752-4342
F: 918 341-3753
Email: cara@caracowan.com
Url: http://www.caracowan.com

Cherokee Arts and Humanities Council seeks assimilation through the Indian Arts

A Response to the “Cherokee Nation Arts and Crafts Authenticity Act of 2007” being proposed before the Cherokee Nation Council

Introduction:

This desire to define what constitutes "authentic" Indian art really comes down to a need to control the imagery and vision of Indian artists at times. As for legitimate fears of invasions against Cherokee artist and their works we can rely on the American Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990 to protect Cherokee artist (The Act makes it unlawful to offer or display for sale or sell any good in a manner that falsely suggests it is Indian produced, an Indian product, or the product of a particular Indian, or Indian tribe, or Indian arts and crafts organization resident within the United States). To protect their monetary interest in the C.N. we can rely on the Nation not to purchase art by those without membership in a federally recognized Cherokee tribe.

In an essay titled "What is Native American Art?" Edwin Wade writes: "Vital arts change. If ever we should succeed in truly defining Indian art, that definition would be an epitaph. But if we remove the restraints of stereotype and allow the creative impetus full rein, we can observe the development of an exciting art that draws on the richness of its own past as it continually recreates itself for the future.”

It is the cumulative opinion of the board of directors of the Cherokee Arts & Humanities Council, Inc. that Native visual arts and humanities, like Native cultures generally, have evolved through the course of the twentieth century. From paintings of daily life, to depictions of ceremonial events, to the visualizations of myth, to meditations on nature, to self-reflection, to political analyses; from figuration to abstrac­tion, to installation and performance, the development of Native art is a record of tribal histories and communities filtered through the alembic of individual perception, and NOT through the legislative processes of a government.

We Believe:

We believe Cherokee government and its entities, the public sector, and private sector have an obligation to make investments in creativity and cultural heritage, the arts and humanities; that the arts and humanities are an investment in the education of our Cherokee children, in the well being of our communities, in the strength of our economy, and in sharing a better understanding of what it is to be culturally and traditionally Cherokee at home and throughout the world. We believe our community should avoid using the term “wannabe.” As we believe using the terms “legitimate” and “genuine” to validate people’s identity and work is dangerous. We believe the greater good can be achieved by educating everyone and the art community will prosper accordingly. We believe there are many identities, values and variances within the art community, which we strive to reflect.


We support:
a.) Alternative, community-based systems treating neither the artwork nor the artist as a commodity.
b.) Eliminating all laws which seek to restrict or censor artistic expression, including withholding of government funds for political or moral content.
c.) Increased funding for the arts appropriate to their essential social role at all levels of government: Local, State, Tribal and Federal.
d.) Community-funded programs employing local artists to enrich their communities through public art programs. These could include, but would not be limited to, public performances, exhibitions, murals on public buildings, design or re-design of parks and public areas, storytelling and poetry reading, and publication of local writers.
e.) The establishment of non-profit public forums for local artists to display their talents and creations. Research, public dialogue, and trial experiments to develop alternative systems for the valuation and exchange of artworks and for the financial support of artists (e.g. community subscriber support groups, artwork rental units, cooperative support systems among artists, legal or financial incentives to donate to the arts or to donate artworks to the Cherokee National Museum, or other Cherokee museum).
f.) Responsible choices of non-toxic, renewable, or recyclable materials and choosing funding sources not connected with social injustice or environmental destruction.
g.) Education programs in the community that will energize the creativity of every community member from the youngest to the oldest, including neglected groups such as teenagers, senior citizens, etc. These programs would provide materials and access to interested, qualified arts educators to every member of the community who demonstrates an interest.
h.) Incorporating arts education studies and activities into every school curriculum with appropriate funding and staffing. We also encourage local artists and the community to contribute time, experience, and resources to these efforts.
i.) Diversity in arts education in the schools, including age-specific hands-on activities and appreciative theoretical approaches, exposure to the arts of Cherokee culture and stylistic tradition, and experience with a variety of media, techniques and contents.
j.) The integration of the arts and artistic teaching methods into other areas of the curriculum to promote a holistic perspective.

Fake Indian Art - some guides

These are places and articles where you can find more information on how to determine if an item is an authentic piece of Indian Art Work or a fake.

Imitation may be the price of success,but it can be deadly

Sophisticated knock-offs manufactured abroad threaten the legitimate Indian arts and crafts industry.

Indian Arts and Crafts Association

Collector's guide to Authentic Indian Arts

Changing Winds

Changing Winds is a Native American organization that works with Native Tribes to prevent the misuse of funding by Non Tribal members in the Public School system.

This is not the only type of work they do, but misuse of Title VII funds has become a real problem within the public school system and which takes needed funding from Native American Tribes.

The public schools promote non tribal members in order to obtain funding for Native American programs within their schools.

If a person is a non tribal member, there is usually a reason, some of which include, inability to prove their Indian lines or blood quantum requirements of the tribes or an inability to prove one's family line back to a specific tribal roll. The most common is an inability to prove a *family story* that one is of Indian descent. It is unfortunate that some families particularly of Mexican/Spanish descent, felt the need to claim they were Indian to prevent discrimination in early years, however, in most cases, these claims by the time they got to the 3rd or 4th generation of the *stories beginnings* were taken as truth.

To allow these same individuals to promulgate the same illusion *of Indian Descent* through our public school system is even more unfortunate.

Wall of Shame - Non Registered *Indians*

This is a listing of folks who sell their *Indian* products but are not registered with a tribe, i.e. they have no tribal numbers. They imply that they are authentic Indian by claiming Indian Descent:

Murv Jacob and Debbie Duval - this gentleman claims descent from a group of Kentucky Cherokees - neither state nor federally recognized

Robin McBride Scott - she claims to not sell her art work - but claims to be a *Cherokee Artist* - more photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rivercanegirl/

Jackie Carlson - this lady doesn't even claim Indian descent - but apparently associates herself with Peggy Brennen, who is a registered Cherokee and Robin McBride Scott to give her work *Authentic Cherokee* status.

Is it worth the risk?

Crackdown on Fake Indian Arts and Crafts

Sep 25, 2007 05:22 PM

http://www.kswo.com/Global/story.asp?S=7125989

WASHINGTON, D.C--Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne said today that a recent jury verdict is an example of an ongoing crackdown on sales of fake Indian arts and crafts led by the Department of the Interior Indian Arts and Crafts Board.

A jury in Gallup, New Mexico, convicted local arts dealer Amro Al-Assi of fraud on August 16, 2007. The Board is currently conducting other investigations into those who sell counterfeit American Indian arts and crafts.

"This verdict should send a strong message to the Indian arts and crafts marketplace and to the buying public that sales of counterfeit or otherwise misrepresented Indian arts and crafts to consumers will not be tolerated," said Kempthorne. "Such fraudulent sales are eroding the market for authentic Indian work."

Al-Assi, then co-owner and manager of the Silver Bear Trading Company in downtown Gallup, was convicted of selling a counterfeit bracelet as the work of a well-known Navajo jeweler, Jesse Monongya, whose original works command high prices in the market.

The purchaser of the bracelet had originally filed a complaint with the Board at Interior. The Board enforces the Indian Arts and Crafts Act, a federal truth-in-marketing law that prohibits the sale of arts or crafts that are counterfeit or falsely represented as American Indian or Native American made, or as the product of a particular individual Indian artisan, unless the item was produced by a member of a federally or officially state recognized Indian Tribe.

The Board collaborated with Interior's Office of Inspector General, Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Gallup, New Mexico, to launch a joint investigation. By collaborating with the Eleventh Judicial Division II District Attorney's Office in Gallup, District Attorney Karl R. Gillson's office ultimately chose to prosecute the case under its state fraud statute.

"McKinley County District Attorney Karl Gilson and his staff are to be highly commended for their outstanding expertise, dedication, and hard work to obtain this important conviction. The Board is continuing to receive additional information regarding fraudulent activity in the Indian arts and crafts market, and we are pursuing other investigations," said the Board Director Meridith Stanton.

DA Gillson said that there was "no room to plead this down to anything less than a felony" but to take it to trial and let the local community of jurors hear and decide Al-Assi's fate. Gillson said, "Clearly, the jury sent the message that maintaining the integrity of communities and of the Native American arts and crafts industry is vital and important to the Indian peoples' livelihood and the communities' economic endurance." Mr. Gillson said that his office "will continue to collaborate with the Indian Arts and Crafts Board and other federal and state law enforcement agencies to combat this tide."

Most recently an agreement between Interior and the FBI was finalized that authorizes all appropriate Interior law enforcement professionals, including the Bureau of Indian Affairs, National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Land Management, to investigate complaints filed under the Indian Arts and Crafts Act.

(U.S. Department of the Interior)

Smithsonian Names New Director

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hk1YE88em4kDv3mdAHCTP70IhnVQ

Law Professor to Lead Indian Museum

WASHINGTON (AP) — A law professor from Arizona was named director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indianon Tuesday.

Kevin Gover, a member of the Pawnee tribe, will succeed founding director W. Richard West Jr., who led years of planning for the museum and its first three years of operation. West announced his resignationin October 2006 and will leave the museum in November.

Gover, 52, grew up in Oklahoma and currently serves as a professor of law at Arizona State University. He also is co-director of the university's American Indian Policy Institute and an affiliate professor in its American Indian studies program.

Gover said he is honored to lead the Smithsonian museum and will start work Dec. 2.

"The museum's mission of educating the public about living Native cultures is an important and challenging one, and I am grateful for the opportunity," Gover said in a statement.

President Clinton appointed Gover to serve as assistant secretary for Indian Affairs in the U.S. Department of the Interior from 1997 to 2000. He oversaw programs including Indian education, law enforcement, social services and treaty rights. He also practiced law for 15 years in Albuquerque, N.M., and Washington.

Acting Smithsonian Secretary Cristian Samper said Gover's experience in Washington and with Indian communities and his knowledge of history and culture will help bring the museum's resources to the broadest possible audience.

On the Net:
National Museum of the American Indian:
http://www.nmai.si.edu/

Smithsonian - Native Arts Program

The Smithsonian has recently awarded a Visiting Artists grant to a lady out of Indiana who *claims* to be Cherokee, but who is not even a registered tribal member with any of the Federally Recognized Cherokee Tribes, Oklahoma, North Carolina or UKB. She does however, belong to a *Cherokee Group* in Indiana, that at one time tried and failed to get Federal Recognition. This grant then allows a non Indian to paw through many treasured Indian artifacts.

How can this be you ask? Well we're wondering that as well.

These are the Qualifications for the grant:

"Who is eligible to apply? Native artists from the Western Hemisphere and Hawai‘i who are recognized by their community, have at least ten years of experience, and can demonstrate significant artistic accomplishments. Artists working in any media (visual arts, media arts, performance arts, literature, etc.) are eligible to apply."

The Smithsonian does not have any requirement that this *Artist* have a Tribal Registration Number or Letter from their Tribe that they are a member or non member artist.

As many registered tribal members know, there are a great many people who *claim* Indian heritage but have no proof that they are even Indian. There is a growing number of groups *claiming* to be Indian, as well as the selling of tribal memberships to illegal immigrants. These groups in turn then apply for Title VII grants through the public schools, again without any proof of tribal membership, just that *they have some type of story that they are Indian*. The Schools actually send out information telling parents they only need to have this *story* they are Indian to enroll their children in these Title VII programs.

This type of conduct on the part of the federal government and federal institutions such as the Smithsonian is a slap in the face to Indians and Indian Artists. This is a modern day case of the Cherokee Nation vs Georgia, where the whites came in and claimed the Cherokee's home land and the federal government just stood by and watched and then forcibly removed the South Eastern Indians from their home to the North Eastern part of Oklahoma. This is just another way to decimate and destroy the Indian Culture.

Credible Indian grant or scholarship programs make these the required proof to show Indian Blood:
1. A Card issued by a Tribal Council
2. A letter from the Tribal Council
3. Definite proof of a parent belonging to a tribe and applicant's birth certificate with exact names.

You'll notice that in 1 and 3 require some type of evidence that the applicant is indeed a member of a tribe or Indian and 2 requires confirmation by a tribe the applicant is an Indian.

As you may know, there are many families that have *stories* that they are *part* Indian or there is an Indian ancestor in their line, however, unless this is provable, that elusive Indian ancestry remains a myth.

The Smithsonian's National Museum of the Native Americans has no credibility, are you really viewing Native American artifacts there or are you viewing a claim of Indian artifacts. Or do they even care?

The Smithsonian would be well advised to revisit and revise it's requirements for these grants.

Apparently as long as she doesn't *sell* any products the IACB has no jurisdiction to prevent anyone from calling themselves a Native American Artist, in this case a Cherokee Artist.

I find it extremely strange that an artist would do work and then not *sell it*.

The IACB likewise would be well advised to extend their guidelines and regulations of who is an Indian Artist to all those calling themselves an *Indian Artist*.

It does not appear that either the Smithsonian or the IACB is preserving the Art of the American Indian.

Support Authentic Cherokee Art - ask for the Artist's Tribal registration number before you buy!!

Cherokee Style, Cherokee Heritage and Cherokee Descent all mean non Indian!

For more information and help or to file a complaint on these or any of the growing issues with these *Indian Groups* contact:

Changing Winds - Fraudulent Tribes And The Damage They Cause
National Congress of American Indians - Is your tribe real? Both state and federal recognized tribes are listed here. If it's not listed here your tribe is a fake.

For authentic Cherokee Art and Artists:

Cherokee Basket Weaver's Association
Cherokee Basketweaving Books
Cherokee Artists Association
Cherokees of Orange County

IACB and the Federal Trade Commission

American Indian Arts and Crafts "Surf Day"

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Indian Arts and Crafts Board (IACB) of the U.S. Department of the Interior have joined forces to combat the deceptive marketing of arts and crafts products as made by American Indians. Representatives from both agencies have surfed the Internet to locate websites that advertise American Indian arts and crafts. After identifying approximately 425 sites that appear to market American Indian arts and crafts as authentic, the FTC staff and IACB notified each site operator that the law prohibits false representations about the origin of arts and crafts, and cautioned site operators that all ad claims must be truthful and non-deceptive, and urged them to immediately remove any untrue or deceptive claims.

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IACB response to questions

Regarding your questions about the Indian Arts and Crafts Board Certification program and Source Directory listing opportunities, we are sending a Fact Sheet - Trademark, Certification, and Copyright, U.S. Patent and Trademark handout on registering trademarks, and a Source Directory questionnaire to the address listed in your email.

As a reminder, in order to be eligible for the Board Certification program,
1) an enterprise (group or individual) must have a registered trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office,
2) must offer for sale only genuine Indian (federally recognized), as defined by the Indian Arts and Crafts Act, handcraft products,
3) must be entirely Indian (federally recognized), Indian, as defined by the Indian Arts and Crafts Act, owned and controlled, and
4) must agree to apply certificates only to such products that meet the standards of quality agreed to by the Board at the time of application for certification.

Regarding your questions about labeling and representing art or craftwork at shows and exhibitions, the Indian Arts and Crafts Act is essentially a truth in advertising law that requires the seller to honestly represent the work being displayed, or offered, for sale, or sold. It is advisable to properly label all the art and crafts items you are making available to the public. It is also advisable to separate the Indian made from the nonIndian made art or craft work that might appear to be Indian made, or that is made in the style of an Indian art or craft product , to avoid consumer confusion or the potential for deception. There is no category that we are aware of for "known in the Indian Community", but I would avoid terms that might mislead the consumer into thinking they are buying an Indian made product.

Lastly, in response to your question about "Cherokee Style", it may simply mean that the weaver was inspired by a Cherokee basket. However, if a basket is sold as Cherokee, it must be made by an enrolled member of an officially recognized State or federally recognized Cherokee Tribe. Again, in labeling, all efforts should be made to avoid consumer confusion or the potential for deception.

Sincerely,
Michele Hill
Indian Arts and Crafts Board
IACB@ios.doi.gov

IACA applies to all marketing activities

Definition of Indian Artisan, Section 309.2(b)

Several respondents suggested that the definition of Indian artisan should be clarified to read ``an individual who is certified by an Indian tribe as its non-member artisan.'' This clarification has been adopted with a minor modification.

Definition of Indian Arts and Crafts Organization, Section 309.2(c)

Two respondents asked whether section 309.2(c) operates to exclude marketing entities, other than Indian arts and crafts organizations, from the law and regulations. Several others asserted that the definition of Indian arts and crafts organization should include any organization set up under tribal law, custom or authority, as well as under any other legal authority.

The Act broadly applies to the marketing of arts and crafts by any person in the United States. The reference to Indian arts and crafts organization as a protected group is not intended to suggest that the Act's regulation does not apply to all marketing activities. In addition, the Act's requirement that an Indian arts and crafts organization be legally established in order to meet the definition includes tribal law.

Adopted and non profit *Indian* organizations

Section 309.2 What Are the Key Definitions for Purposes of the Act?

Definition of Indian, Section 309.2(a)

One respondent asked that the regulations specifically name Native Hawaiians to protect them under the Act. Another wanted individuals who have Certificates of Indian Blood, yet are neither on tribal rolls nor certified as Indian artisans, to be included under the definition of Indian.

The final regulations do not adopt these suggestions. The Act specifically defines who is an Indian protected by the Act. The regulations can interpret and clarify the Act but cannot change the statutory terms of the Act.

One respondent expressed concern about state incorporated non-profit ``Indian'' organizations and their members who are not enrolled with state or Federally-recognized tribes, yet present themselves as Indian at crafts shows.

In addition, adoption was an issue for two respondents. One expressed concern that non-Indians, ``adopted by Indian spiritual leaders,'' may be permitted to sell their work as Indian. Another stated that ``not until the seventh generation'' should an adopted tribal member or family have the right to offer their handcrafts for sale as Indian.

The definition of Indian already satisfies these concerns. State incorporated non-profit ``Indian'' organizations do not meet the definition of Indian tribe under the Act and in section 309.2(e)(1) and (2) of the regulations. Membership in a non-profit ``Indian'' organization does not meet the definition of Indian under the Act and in section 309.2 of the regulations.

Furthermore, if an ``Indian spiritual leader'' or tribal member adopts an individual, this action does not mean that the adopted individual is a member of a state or Federally-recognized tribe or is certified as an Indian artisan by a state or Federally-recognized tribe.

Comments on the Final IACA - Section 309.1

Section 309.1 How Do These Regulations Carry Out the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990?

One response asked how the legislation affects arts and crafts sold in business establishments. Another stated that the ``middle man'' should be held accountable for how the product is marketed.

Section 309.1 of the regulations covers these concerns. It states that the Act regulates products offered or displayed for sale, or sold as Indian produced, an Indian product, or the product of a particular Indian, or Indian tribe, or Indian arts and crafts organization within the United States. This section does not limit the marketing vehicles covered by the regulations.

The Act applies to any offer for sale or display for sale, or actual sale by any person in the United States. In light of this broad application, section 309.1 is appropriately drafted.

Examples of Basketry that can be Indian products

Basketry and related weavings made by an Indian using a wide variety of media, including, but not limited to, birchbark, black ash, brown ash, red cedar, yellow cedar, alder, vine maple, willow, palmetto, honeysuckle, river cane, oak, buck brush, sumac, dogwood, cattail, reed, raffia, horsehair, pine needle, spruce root, rye grass, sweet grass, yucca, bear grass, beach grass, rabbit brush, fiber, maidenhair fern, wale baleen, seal gut, feathers, shell, devil's claw, and porcupine quill, are Indian products.

Examples include but are not limited to: double woven river cane baskets, yucca winnowing trays, willow burden baskets, honeysuckle sewing baskets, black ash picnic baskets, cedar capes and dresses, pine needle/raffia effigy baskets, oak splint and braided sweet grass fancy baskets, birchbark containers, baleen baskets, rye grass dance fans, brown ash strawberry baskets, sumac wedding baskets, cedar hats, fiber basket hats, yucca wicker basketry plaques, and spruce root tobacco pouches.

This is a very small sampling of Indian made products - traditional to the Cherokees and other Southeastern Tribes are the double woven river cane baskets, but they can also be single walled and either diagonal or twill weaves. Traditional to the Oklahoma Cherokees are the double walled wicker baskets, made of a variety of materials including honeysuckle, willow and buck brush, because river cane was not as readily available in Oklahoma as in the Southeastern part of the United States.

The uniqueness of the Indian basket is also the gathering and processing of the material from which the basket is made. For this reason when a native material was not available an Indian weaver would adapt an available native material in their area. The Cherokee double woven basket today is also made from commercial chair cane or commercial reed. The traditional baskets also contained native or natural dyes usually made from the roots of plants such as the blood root for the Cherokee orange/red color or walnut bark or hull for the dark brown color. Today there are many commercial dyes that can be used to obtain the effect of these colors.

Contemporary basket weavers will also use a variety of non-traditional material and colors for their baskets, in some cases creating their own personal style of weaving.

Method of Identifying Authentic Indian Products

The recommended method of marketing authentic Indian products is to include the name of the artist or artisan, the name of the Tribe in which the artist or artisan is enrolled, and the individual's Tribal enrollment number.

If the individual is a certified non-member Indian artisan, rather than an enrolled Tribal member, the product identification should include the name of the Tribe providing official written certification that the individual is a non-member Indian artisan and the date upon which such certification was issued by the Tribe.

To be certified by an Indian Tribe as a non-member Indian artisan, the individual must be of Indian lineage of one or more members of such Indian Tribe and the certification must be issued in writing by the governing body of the Indian Tribe or the certifying body delegated this function by the governing body of the Indian Tribe

Example: Labels on Indian products should include:

• Name of the artist or artisan
• Name of the Tribe in which the artist is enrolled
• The individual's Tribal enrollment number or a statement that the artist is a certified non-member Indian Artisan of *Z* Tribe providing the certification and the date the certification was issued by the Tribe

Indian Style Products

A non-Indian can make and sell products in the style of Indian art or craft products only if the non-Indian or other seller does not falsely suggest to consumers that the products have been made by an Indian.

Is it worth the Risk?

Penalties for violating the Act...

For a first time violation of the Act, an individual can face civil or criminal penalties up to a $250,000 fine or a 5-year prison term, or both.

If a business violates the Act, it can face civil penalties or can be prosecuted and fined up to $1,000,000.

The IACB warns that consumer fraud not only harms the buyers, it also erodes the overall Indian arts and crafts market and the economic and cultural livelihood of Indian artists, craftspeople, and Tribes.

Reporting Violations of the Act

To report a possible violation of the Indian Arts and Craft Act contacts are below or click on the link above to report via their web site...

Indian Arts and Crafts Board
U.S. Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, NW, MS-2058-MIB
Washington, D.C. 20240
E-mail: iacb@ios.doi.gov
Telephone: (202) 208-3773
Toll Free: (888) ART-FAKE
Fax: (202) 208-5196

Examples...

1. A non-artistic Indian labor made product made from assembled or *fit together parts*.

• a necklace strong with overseas manufactured fetishes or heshi. If an Indian assembled the necklace, in keeping with the truth-in-marketing focus of the Act, it can be marketed as *Indian assembled*. It does not meet the definition of *Indian product* under the Act. Similarly, if a product, such as a dream catcher is assembled by an Indian from a kit, it can be marketed as *Indian assembled*. It does not meet the definition of *Indian product* under the Act.

2. An Indian and a non-Indian jointly produce a product.

• In order to be an *Indian product*, the labor component of the product must be entirely Indian. In keeping with this truth-in-marketing law, a collaborative work should be marketed as such. Therefore, it should be marketed as produced by *X* (name of artist or artisan), *Y* (Tribe of Individual's enrollment) or (name of Tribe providing official written certification the individual is a non-member Indian artisan and date upon which such certification was issued by the Tribe), and *Z* (name of artist or artisan with no Tribe listed) to avoid providing false suggestions to consumers. Jointly produced products do not meet the definition of *Indian product* under the Act.

If....Then....

If...

1. An Indian conceives, designs, and makes the art or craft...Then, it is an *Indian Product*;
2. An Indian produces a product that is *handcrafted*, as explained in 309.3(d)(iii)...Then, it can be marketed as such and it meets the definition of *Indian product*.;
3. An Indian makes an art or craft work using some machine made parts....Then, it is *Indian made* and meets the definition of *Indian product."

If...

1. An Indian designs a product, such as a bracelet, which is then produced by non-Indians...Then, it is not an *Indian product* under the Act;
2. A product, such as jewelry, is made with non-artistic Indian labor, from assembled or *fit together parts*...Then, it is not an *Indian product* under the Act;
3. A product in the style of an Indian product is assembled by non-Indian labor from a kit...Then, it is not an *Indian product* under the Act;
4. A product is in the style of an Indian art or craft product, but not made by an Indian...Then, it is not an *Indian product* under the Act;
5. An Indian and a non-Indian jointly undertake the art or craft work to produce an art or craft product, for example a concho belt...Then, less than all the labor is Indian and hence it does not meet the definition of *Indian product* under the Act.

Definition of Indian

From the Federal Register June 12, 2003:

Requests were made to expand the definition of Indian to permit people of Indian descent, yet who are not enrolled in State or federally recognized Tribes, to sell their work as Indian Art. The final rule has not adopted this request.

The term *Indian* does include members of state recognized Tribes.

Those artisans of Indian descent, may market their goods as an Indian only if they are certified as an *Indian artisan* by an Indian Tribe. Such certification is at the option of the tribe.

The Act does not prohibit statements as to ones Indian heritage, so long as the statements are truthful and do not falsely suggest the individual is a member of an Indian Tribe. (The product made is not Indian unless the maker is a member of an Indian Tribe or has a letter of certification from the Tribe of descent)

Products that are not Indian made, in the style of Indian products and offered for sale, can only be sold as *non-Indian made*.

Examples of non-qualifying products, (not Indian Products):

1. products *in the style of an Indian art or craft* made by non-Indian labor;
2. products *in the style of an Indian art or craft* designed by an Indian but produced by non-Indian labor;
3. products *in the style of an Indian art or craft* assembled from a kit;
4. products *in the style of an Indian art or craft* without substantial transformation provided by Indian artistic or craft work labor;
5. An industrial product may not become an Indian product;
6. products *in the style of an Indian art or craft* that is produced in an assembly line or related production line process using multiple workers not all whom are Indians. (example: if twenty people make up the labor to create the product, and one person is not Indian, the product is not an *Indian product*.

INDIAN ARTS AND CRAFTS

FROM TITLE 25, SECTION 308 OF THE FEDERAL REGULATIONS - CERTIFICATES OF INDIAN ARTS AND CRAFTS TO CERTIFY GENUINENESS OF INDIAN ARTS AND CRAFTS

This federal code section establishes a procedure for authenticating Indian products and procedures for filing a complaint against those who sell products which are not authentic Indian products.

What are the key definitions for purposes of the Act?

Indian as applied to an individual means a person who is a member of an Indian tribe or for purposes of this part is certified by an Indian tribe as a non-member Indian artisan.

Indian artisan means an individual who is certified by an Indian tribe as a non-member Indian artisan.

Indian arts and crafts organization means any legally established arts and crafts marketing organization composed of members of Indian tribes.

Indian product-- In general. Indian product means any art or craft product made by an Indian. Exclusion for products made before 1935.

Indian tribe means--

Any Indian tribe, band, nation, Alaska Native village, or any organized group or community which is recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians; or

Any Indian group that has been formally recognized as an Indian tribe by a State legislature or by a State commission or similar organization legislatively vested with State tribal recognition authority.

Product of a particular Indian tribe or Indian arts and crafts organization means that the origin of a product is identified as a named Indian tribe or named Indian arts and crafts organization.

CERTIFICATES FOR INDIAN ARTS AND CRAFTS

The Indian Arts and Crafts Board offers each Indian enterprise the privilege of attaching to its trademark a certificate declaring that it is recognized by the Indian Arts and Crafts Board as an Indian enterprise dealing in genuine Indian-made handicraft products, and that its trade-mark has the approval of the Board. The certificate shall consist of a border around the trade-mark bearing the words ``Certified Indian Enterprise Genuine Handicrafts, U.S. Indian Arts and Crafts Board, Department of the Interior,'' and these words may be used wherever the trade-mark appears. Application for the certificates are made to the Indian Arts and Crafts Board, Department of the Interior.

Conditions of eligibility to attach certificates.

It must offer for sale only Indian-made genuine handicraft products, i.e., objects produced by Indian craftsmen with the help of only such devices as allow the manual skill of the maker to condition the shape and design of each individual product.

It must be entirely Indian owned and organized either by individual Indians or by groups of Indians.

It must agree to apply certificates of genuineness only to such products as meet the standards of quality prescribed by the Indian Arts and Crafts Board at the time of the application of the enterprise for the privilege of attaching the certificate.

It must agree to obtain the approval of the Indian Arts and Crafts Board as to the manner of production of the certificates.

Penalties for misuse of trade-marks

The use of Government trade-marks in an unauthorized manner, or the colorable imitation of such marks, is subject to the criminal penalties.

Any person who shall counterfeit or colorably imitate any Government trade-mark used or devised by the Board shall, or any person who shall knowingly make any false statement for the purpose of obtaining the use of any such Government trade-mark, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be enjoined from further carrying on the act or acts complained of and shall be subject to a fine not exceeding $2,000, or imprisonment not exceeding six months, or both such fine and imprisonment.

Revocation of privilege of attaching certificates

If an enterprise, after securing the privilege of attaching the certificates, should fail to meet the above-named conditions, the Board reserves the right to revoke the privilege.

How can an individual be certified as an Indian artisan?

The individual must be of Indian lineage of one or more members of such Indian tribe;
The certification must be documented in writing by the governing body of an Indian tribe or by a certifying body delegated this function by the governing body of the Indian tribe; and

A tribe may not impose a fee for certifying an Indian artisan.

How will statements about Indian origin of art or craft products be interpreted?

In general. The unqualified use of the term ``Indian'' or of the term ``Native American'' or the unqualified use of the name of an Indian tribe, in connection with an art or craft product, is interpreted to mean:

The maker is a member of an Indian tribe, is certified by an Indian tribe as a non-member Indian artisan, or is a member of the particular Indian tribe named; and

The art or craft product is an Indian product.

Products of Indians of foreign tribes:

In general. The unqualified use of the term ``Indian'' or of the term ``Native American'' or the unqualified use of the name of a foreign tribe, in connection with an art or craft product, regardless of where it is produced and regardless of any country-of-origin marking on the product, is interpreted to mean for purposes of this part that:

The maker is a member of an Indian tribe, is certified by an Indian tribe as a non-member Indian artisan, or is a member of the particular Indian tribe named;

The tribe is resident in the United States; and

The art or craft product is an Indian product.

Exception where country of origin is disclosed. This section does not apply to any art or craft for which the name of the foreign country of tribal ancestry is clearly disclosed in conjunction with marketing of the product.

Example. X is a lineal descendant of a member of Indian Tribe A. However, X is not a member of Indian Tribe A, nor is X certified by Indian Tribe A as a non-member Indian artisan. X may not be described in connection with the marketing of an art or craft product made by X as an Indian, a Native American, a member of an Indian tribe, a member of Tribe A, or as a non-member Indian artisan of an Indian tribe. However, the true statement may be used that X is of Indian descent, Native American descent, or Tribe A descent.

How are complaints filed?

Complaints about protected products alleged to be offered or displayed for sale or sold in a manner that falsely suggests they are Indian products should be made in writing and addressed to the Director, Indian Arts and Crafts Board, Room 4004-MIB, U.S. Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street, NW, Washington, DC 20240. They now have a web site where complaints may also be submitted via the web: http://www.iacb.doi.gov/act.html

What penalties apply?

A person who offers or displays for sale or sells a good, with or without a Government trademark, in a manner that falsely suggests it is Indian produced, an Indian product, or the product of a particular Indian or Indian tribe or Indian arts and crafts organization, resident within the United States:

Is subject to the criminal penalties specified in section 1159, title 18, United States Code; and
Is subject to the civil penalties specified in section 305e, title 25, United States Code.
The Code of Federal Regulations is unclear as to whether or not the trade-mark they refer to is a trade-mark applied for through the Federal Trade Mark office in addition to the certificate or if the certificate is akin to a Federal Trade Mark for Indian Arts and Crafts purposes.

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