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Let me assure the reader that I have utmost faith in the integrity of living history crafters.  In many years, I can only recall a few incidents wherein I felt that someone selling Indian-style arts & crafts might have been deliberately trying to be deceptive in respect to the items’ origins.  I have however, encountered a number of the unknowingly perpetrated “Indian Dream Catchers” type of misrepresentations.  Living history folks are, on the whole, among the most honest, well-read folks on earth today, to whom ignorance is anathema.  I therefore sincerely doubt that living history crafters and merchants will find them-selves directly affected by Indian arts & crafts legislation.  If they are affected at all, it will more than likely be in subtle, indirect ways, connected to the hobby’s unique context.  Allow me to elaborate…

Living history events have an ambience about them that is difficult to put into words.  While wandering about at a rendezvous, reenactment, powwow, or even an indoor trade fair, one is immediately struck by the feeling of somehow stepping back into the past.  At these events, unique sights, sounds, smells, and even tastes combine with other factors to create a powerful ambience that can imply authenticness where perhaps there is none.  Imagine for a moment that you are a tourist visiting a rendezvous.  You walk in and your senses are surrounded by overwhelming images.  You see painted tipis and smell wood smoke and leather.  You hear the soft tones of an Indian flute; taste the sweetness of honey-drenched piece of fry bread.  The man standing behind that trade blanket is dressed in breechcloth and beaded buckskins.  His clothing, to you, looks Indian.  He is selling beaded bracelets, feathered rattles, painted shields, medicine pouches, and leather moccasins.  If you were the average tourist, what might you assume about any items you purchase from this man?  Would your assumption be correct?

I believe the ambience of living history events may do more to affect them in the area of Indian arts and crafts legislation than anything else.  The unique ambience of events could lead tourists (or, conceivably, other participants?) into believing that something they have purchased is Indian-made, when it might not have been.  According to Public Law 101-644, it is unlawful to sell any item in any manner that might falsely suggest it is Indian-made when it is not.  This applies to the ever-popular Woodland work such as quilled neck knife sheathes and shoulder bags (some of which have been featured prominently in popular black powder magazines).

PREVENTING POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

If this article has raised questions in your mind (as I hope it has), you may now be wondering what should be done.  First, get more informed on this issue.  I encourage you to look up US CODE and read the “Indian Arts & Crafts Board Act” of August 27, 1935, and the “Indians Arts & Crafts Act of 1990” for yourself (Take particular note of Sections 102 to 107).  Go to your local library and find out if your state has enacted legislation regarding the sale of Indian arts and crafts.  Read the books and periodicals listed at the end of this article.  Discuss this topic with your friends and living history associates. 

If you make and/or sell Indian-style arts and crafts, and are not Native American, consider the advice of Richard Edwards.  He concludes that non-Indians can make for commercial sale items like Indians made.  “However, they must label their works as non-Indian-made if the objects would, if offered for sale, falsely suggest to a potential buyer that they are Indian made when they are not.”  Makers of high quality repro items should avoid “doing things that are normally viewed as deceptive, such as deliberate aging.”  They should also protect themselves by sewing some type of obviously modern material (like artificial sinew) on a basic part of the item, and affixing a permanent label to the item, in a spot visible to anyone making more than a casual examination of the item.  This label should state the maker’s name and the date of project completion.  “This,” says Edwards, “is the only way a professional craftsman, who makes high-quality reproductions, can be reasonably sure to avoid prosecution.”

 

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