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Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. #[1]VOA - Top Stories [RSS] IFRAME: [2]https://www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-N8MP7P analytics Accessibility links * [3]Skip to main content * [4]Skip to main Navigation * [5]Skip to Search (Submit) Next (Submit) Close (Submit) Previous (Submit) Next please wait Link has been copied to clipboard [_] * [6]Home * [_] United States [7]U.S. News [8]All About America [9]Silicon Valley & Technology [10]Immigration * [_] World [11]Africa [12]The Americas [13]East Asia [14]Europe [15]Middle East [16]South & Central Asia * [17]Ukraine * [18]Press Freedom * [19]COVID-19 Pandemic * [20]China * [21]Iran * [22]Broadcast Programs Follow Us [23]Languages [_] Search ____________________ (Submit) [24]site logo site logo Search ____________________ (Submit) site logo site logo [25]Previous [26]Next [_] Breaking News Native Americans April 18, 2023 * [27]Cecily Hilleary Native American Artist's Work Stolen, Copied Around the World Screenshot of listing on a fraudulent t e-commerce site offering a bracelet that was made in the 1970s by Navajo artist Eugene Mitchell. Screenshot of listing on a fraudulent t e-commerce site offering a bracelet that was made in the 1970s by Navajo artist Eugene Mitchell. [_] (Submit) (Submit) WASHINGTON -- Like most Facebook users, I am targeted by advertisements relating to my interests, particularly Native American. So, when an ad popped up recently advertising a "Navajo Tufa Cast Corn Stalk Design Bracelet" cast from 55 grams of sterling silver, it got my attention, especially because its price was an implausible $6.48. "Because of Black Friday, we produced '¦ a lot of items, but we can't sell them all '¦ now we need to pay suppliers a lot of money," is how the Cuterise website explained the low price. The Scam Detector website rated Cuterise "Risky. Dubious. Perilous." But curiosity got the best of me, so I accepted the risk and ordered the bracelet. While waiting for it to ship -- if anything shipped at all -- I decided to learn everything I could about it. Tufa casting involves pouring molten silver into a mold carved out of soft volcanic stone found in New Mexico and Arizona. The Navajo have been using it to make jewelry since the mid-1800s. [28]From Nature to Wearable Art: The Tufa Sand Casting Process From Nature to Wearable Art: The Tufa Sand Casting Process Photo Gallery: From Nature to Wearable Art: The Tufa Sand Casting Process Photographs courtesy Perry Null Trading Co., Gallup, N.M. * [29]Share on Facebook * [30]Share on Twitter * ____________________ (text) * [31]Email to a Friend * Tufa is fragile and can crumble after a single casting. For this reason, artists often make a "master" using molten lead instead of silver that can be used to mold and cast multiple copies. Genealogy of a bracelet An image search on Google Lens turned up several matching bracelets, ranging in price from $300 to $900, but none were hallmarked by the maker. I found the identical bracelet on the eBay auction site, which named the maker: Navajo Nation artist Eugene Mitchell. I tracked down his son Reggie Mitchell and sent him the photo of the bracelet I'd ordered. He confirmed that his father made that design in the 1970s. "Our family has been making jewelry for a long time," he said. "I'm the fifth generation, and my oldest son Bronson is the sixth." Three generations of Navajo silver artisans. Left to Right, Reggie Mitchell, father Eugene Mitchell and son Bronson Mitchell of Gallup, New Mexico. Three generations of Navajo silver artisans. Left to Right, Reggie Mitchell, father Eugene Mitchell and son Bronson Mitchell of Gallup, New Mexico. And for six generations, he added, his family has helped make Gallup, New Mexico, arts and crafts dealers rich. "Back in the '70s, the FBI investigated Gallup because more 100-dollar bills were circulating there than in all of Las Vegas," he said. "Gallup produced over 200 millionaires in that seven- to 10-year time period, and the source was Native American jewelry." I couldn't find any data to confirm this, so I reached out to the [32]Gallup McKinley County Chamber of Commerce. "While the story has circulated in and around our community for years, it is more urban legend than truth," Chamber of Commerce CEO Bill Lee responded via email. "What I will tell you is that even in today's world of credit/debit cards, Gallup merchants still deal with very high volumes of cash." Scene along historic Route 66 in downtown Gallup, New Mexico. Scene along historic Route 66 in downtown Gallup, New Mexico. Reggie Mitchell remembers going with his father to Gallup, where he says a dealer "would always try to lowball the value" of his work. "If it was two pieces of jewelry, they would give him money to make two more pieces and buy two meals," he said. "And if they paid him, say, $100 for one piece, they'd turn around and sell it for six, seven, $800." It was on one of those trips to Gallup that Eugene Mitchell was robbed. "My dad used to keep his lead masters in old coffee cans," Mitchell said. "One day, he came out of a shop and discovered someone had broken his car window and taken the cans." Mitchell isn't sure whether the master for the cornstalk bracelet was among the items stolen that day. He says his father found out later that New Mexico galleries were making rubber molds of the designs and selling copies "on the cheap." Series of images from online sales sites showing a tufa cast bracelet made by Navajo artisan Eugene Mitchell. Only one is authentic (bottom left). Series of images from online sales sites showing a tufa cast bracelet made by Navajo artisan Eugene Mitchell. Only one is authentic (bottom left). "And my dad would see them and say, 'That's my work, that's my piece!'" After that, the elder Mitchell cut out the middleman, and today, the family sells directly to their customers. Bait and switch I was surprised when Cuterise emailed me delivery tracking information. My order originated in Dongguan, China, a city dubbed "the world's factory" and was now in transit to the U.S. Clearly, I was going to receive something for my $6.48. But what? A plastic bracelet? [33]Legitimate Navajo sterling silver and turquoise jewelry is seen on display in a Santa Fe art studio. Legitimate Navajo sterling silver and turquoise jewelry is seen on display in a Santa Fe art studio. [34]SEE ALSO: Counterfeit Native American Art Undercuts Legitimate Artists Ten days later, my order arrived. The package was flat and squishy. I tore it open and almost laughed. They'd sent me a pair of cheap stretch leggings printed to look like blue jeans -- buttons, rivets and all. My amusement faded as I thought about everything Reggie Mitchell told me. The family may not be using middlemen anymore, but Eugene Mitchell is still being exploited -- this time by fraudsters halfway around the globe using photographs of a bracelet he made -- and lost -- 50 years ago. [35]Read more * * * ____________________ (text) * * See all News Updates of the Day April 15, 2023 * [36]Cecily Hilleary Native American News Roundup April 9-15, 2023 Jazmin Cazares, 14, takes notes as teacher Wendy Leighton discusses the Salem witch trials with her students at Monte del Sol Charter School, Friday, Dec. 3, 2021, in Santa Fe, N.M. AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio Jazmin Cazares, 14, takes notes as teacher Wendy Leighton discusses the Salem witch trials with her students at Monte del Sol Charter School, Friday, Dec. 3, 2021, in Santa Fe, N.M. AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio [_] (Submit) (Submit) Here are some Native American-related news stories that made headlines this week: Report: States' efforts slowing inclusion of race, ethnicity in school teachings Native American history and cultures have long been left out of American history lessons. Just as U.S. school systems have been redesigning curricula to be more inclusive, the anti-critical race theory (CRT) movement is working to make sure that race, ethnicity, national origin, gender and color are never discussed in U.S. classrooms, [37]The Nation reports. One hundred ninety-five "educational gag orders" have been introduced in 41 state legislatures since January 2021, according to the nonprofit [38]PEN America. Fifteen states have laws in place, and seven of them censor CRT at the college/university level. These include states such as [39]South Dakota, which have large Native American populations. CRT is a decades-old academic concept that racism is built into U.S. legal and government systems. In recent years, it has come to be applied to any teaching of America's racist history, which critics believe creates conflict and places unfair blame on white Americans for the actions of their ancestors. The American Civil Liberties Union says CRT laws are "thinly veiled attempts to silence discussions of race, gender, and sexuality," which "suppress free speech." Read [40]more: Activists hold signs promoting Native American participation in the U.S. census on the Crow Indian Reservation in Lodge Grass, Mont., Aug. 26, 2020 Activists hold signs promoting Native American participation in the U.S. census on the Crow Indian Reservation in Lodge Grass, Mont., Aug. 26, 2020 Montana judge upholds lawsuit on state failure to fund, teach Native history A Montana judge refused this week to dismiss a lawsuit accusing the state of violating its constitution by failing to teach Native American history and culture to public school students. Montana is home to seven Indian reservations and eight federally recognized tribes. In 1972, the state amended its constitution, requiring public school teachers to consult with tribes and give instruction about the Indigenous peoples of the state. In 2007, Montana legislators allocated $3.5 million annually to support Indian education. The current lawsuit, filed in 2021, claims that nearly half of allocations for 2019 and 2020 are unaccounted for. The state tried to have the case dismissed, but the judge upheld the lawsuit, saying she would explain her reasons next month. Read [41]more: An 1880 lithograph showing the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn. Founded in 1851, the university received land grant status through the Morrill Act of 1862. An 1880 lithograph showing the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn. Founded in 1851, the university received land grant status through the Morrill Act of 1862. Report: University of Minnesota guilty of ethnic cleansing A three-year study of the history of the University of Minnesota and its relationship to Native tribes shows how the school was founded on proceeds of land tribes were forced to cede in the 19th century. A new report, "Towards Recognition and University-Tribal Healing," or TRUTH, sheds light on the Morrill Act, signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862, that allowed states to establish public colleges paid for by developing land tribal communities had been forced to cede in previous decades. Digging through archives, a team of researchers found that the U.S. paid $2,309 for 94,631 acres of formerly Dakota and Ojibwe land. The university sold that land and raised nearly $580,000 by the turn of the 20th century, equivalent to more than $18.4 million in 2021. "The Founding Board of Regents committed genocide and ethnic cleansing '¦ for financial gains," the authors state, adding that they also "used their positions in government to pass anti-Indigenous legislation that benefited them and the institution financially." Authors are [42]calling on the university to formally acknowledge its wrongs and take steps toward healing that include reparations, truth telling and policy changes. Read the report [43]here: Detail from a page in an 1854 Cherokee language primer. Detail from a page in an 1854 Cherokee language primer. Yale Launches Cherokee Language Course Beginning next fall, Yale University will offer a Cherokee language course that will count toward academic credit. As Native News online reported this week, Yale has offered informal courses in a [44]variety of indigenous languages via its Native American Cultural Center and the Directed Independent Language Study program. But these did not satisfy the foreign language study required in many degree programs. Read [45]more: Lake Waccamaw Canoe please wait Embed share [46]Lake Waccamaw Canoe Embed share The code has been copied to your clipboard. ____________________ __________________________________________________________________ width ____________________ px height ____________________ px * [47]Share on Facebook * [48]Share on Twitter * * __________________________________________________________________ The URL has been copied to your clipboard ____________________ No media source currently available 0:00 0:02:15 (BUTTON) 0:00 (BUTTON) Download * [49]240p | 10.7MB 1,000-year-old Indian canoe raised from North Carolina Lake A team of archaeologists, assisted by members of the nearby state-recognized Waccamaw Siouan Tribe, this week raised an ancient Native American canoe out of a lake in southeastern North Carolina (see video above). State archaeologists say the canoe is about 1,000 years old, dating to a time when a number of tribal groups lived in the region. Two teenagers discovered the canoe while swimming in Lake Waccamaw in 2021. They notified state archaeologists, who moved the canoe closer to the shore and stabilized it. VOA reached out to John Mintz with the North Carolina Office of State Archaeology for details. "We submitted [a sample] to a lab for carbon-14 dating. The numbers came back between 960 and 940 BCE, so we rounded it up to about a thousand years old," Mintz said. He explained how the 28-foot dugout canoe survived so long underwater without rotting. "Wood, once it's immersed in water or mud or a combination thereof, can reach a certain equilibrium where there's no more degradation, no more rot. It can just stay that way -- obviously for a thousand years or more," he said. "But once wood is brought up out of that medium and begins to dry, it will rot before your eyes." Archaeologists placed the canoe into a specially designed tank full of water. Over time, Mintz said, conservationists will draw the water out and replace it with a chemical bonding agent to hold the wood together. Read [50]more: [51]Read more * * * ____________________ (text) * * April 08, 2023 * [52]Associated Press Ojibwe Woman Makes History as North Dakota Poet Laureate FILE - Denise Lajimodiere at the Minnesota Children's Book Festival in Red Wing, Minn., Sept. 18, 2021. Lajimodiere is North Dakota's first Native American state poet laureate. FILE - Denise Lajimodiere at the Minnesota Children's Book Festival in Red Wing, Minn., Sept. 18, 2021. Lajimodiere is North Dakota's first Native American state poet laureate. [_] (Submit) (Submit) North Dakota lawmakers have appointed an Ojibwe woman as the state's poet laureate, making her the first Native American to hold the position in the state and increasing attention to her expertise on the troubled history of Native American boarding schools. Denise Lajimodiere, a citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band in Belcourt, has written several award-winning books of poetry. She's considered a national expert on the history of Native American boarding schools and wrote an academic book called Stringing Rosaries in 2019 on the atrocities experienced by boarding school survivors. "I'm honored and humbled to represent my tribe. They are and always will be my inspiration," Lajimodiere said in an interview, following a bipartisan confirmation of her two-year term as poet laureate on Wednesday. Poet laureates represent the state in inaugural speeches, commencements, poetry readings and educational events, said Kim Konikow, executive director of the North Dakota Council on the Arts. FILE - Merrifield Hall on the campus of the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, North Dakota, USA. FILE - Merrifield Hall on the campus of the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, North Dakota, USA. Lajimodiere, an educator who earned her doctorate degree from the University of North Dakota, said she plans to leverage her role as poet laureate to hold workshops with Native students around the state. She wants to develop a new book that focuses on them. Lajimodiere's appointment is impactful and inspirational because "representation counts at all levels," said Nicole Donaghy, executive director of the advocacy group North Dakota Native Vote and a Hunkpapa Lakota from the Standing Rock Nation. The more Native Americans can see themselves in positions of honor, the better it is for our communities, Donaghy said. "I've grown up knowing how amazing she is," said Rep. Jayme Davis, a Democrat of Rolette, who is from the same Turtle Mountain Band as Lajimodiere. "In my mind, there's nobody more deserving." By spotlighting personal accounts of what boarding school survivors experienced, Lajimodiere's book Stringing Rosaries sparked discussions on how to address injustices Native people have experienced, Davis said. FILE - Photo shows first Fort Sill Indian School near Lawton, Ok., which operated from its opening in 1871 until 1899-1900. 2027, Josiah Butler Collection. FILE - Photo shows first Fort Sill Indian School near Lawton, Ok., which operated from its opening in 1871 until 1899-1900. 2027, Josiah Butler Collection. From the 18th century and continuing as late as the 1960s, networks of boarding schools institutionalized the legal kidnapping, abuse and forced cultural assimilation of Indigenous children in North America. Much of Lajimodiere's work grapples with trauma as it was felt by Native people in the region. "Sap seeps down a fir tree's trunk like bitter tears.... I brace against the tree and weep for the children, for the parents left behind, for my father who lived, for those who didn't," Lajimodiere wrote in a poem based on interviews with boarding school victims, published in her 2016 book Bitter Tears. Davis, the legislator, said Lajimodiere's writing informs ongoing work to grapple with the past like returning ancestral remains -- including boarding school victims -- and protecting tribal cultures going forward by codifying the federal Indian Child Welfare Act into state law. FILE - 1935 photo shows students at the Carson-Stewart Indian School, in Nevada. The Great Depression saw more Native children in boarding schools than ever before. FILE - 1935 photo shows students at the Carson-Stewart Indian School, in Nevada. The Great Depression saw more Native children in boarding schools than ever before. The law, enacted in 1978, gives tribes power in foster care and adoption proceedings involving Native children. North Dakota and several other states have considered codifying it this year, as the U.S. Supreme Court considers a challenge to the federal law. The U.S. Department of the Interior released a report last year that identified more than 400 Native American boarding schools that sought to assimilate Native children into white society. The federal study found that more than 500 students died at the boarding schools but officials expect that figure to grow exponentially as research continues. [53]Read more * * * ____________________ (text) * * April 08, 2023 * [54]Cecily Hilleary Native American News Roundup April 2-8, 2023 Blas Preciado, the vice commander of the Kiowa Blackleggings Warrior Society, takes part in the dedication of the National Native American Veterans Memorial on Friday, Nov. 11, 2022 in Washington. Blas Preciado, the vice commander of the Kiowa Blackleggings Warrior Society, takes part in the dedication of the National Native American Veterans Memorial on Friday, Nov. 11, 2022 in Washington. [_] (Submit) (Submit) Here are some of the Native American-related news stories that made headlines this week: Veterans Affairs to drop health care copayments for Native American vets Native Americans and Alaska Natives who have served in the armed forces will no longer have to make copayments for health care and emergency care received through Veterans Affairs. "American Indian and Alaska Native Veterans deserve access to world-class health care for their courageous service to our nation," VA Secretary Denis McDonough said in a press release Monday. "By eliminating copays, we are making VA health care more affordable and accessible -- which will lead to better health outcomes for these heroes." The new rule is estimated to affect about 25,000 American Indian and Alaska Native veterans. Read [55]more: Water from the Colorado River diverted through the Central Arizona Project fills an irrigation canal, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2022, in Maricopa, Ariz. AP Photo/Matt York Water from the Colorado River diverted through the Central Arizona Project fills an irrigation canal, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2022, in Maricopa, Ariz. AP Photo/Matt York Administration takes new steps to help tribe conserve water The Biden/Harris administration has announced up to $233 million in funding and conservation agreements to help the Gila River Indian Community and water users across the Colorado River Basin protect the stability and sustainability of the Colorado River System during a period of persistent drought. "Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, we have historic, once-in-a-generation investments to expand access to clean drinking water for families, farmers and Tribes," Deputy Interior Secretary Tommy Beaudreau said in a press release Thursday. "In the wake of record drought throughout the West, safeguarding Tribal access to water resources could not be more critical." The Gila River Indian Community in Arizona will receive $50 million to help fund a system conservation agreement to protect Colorado River reservoir storage amid climate change-driven drought conditions. It will also receive $83 million for the community's Reclaimed Water Pipeline Project. Read [56]more: Selena Rides Horse enters census information into her phone on behalf of a member of the Crow Indian Tribe in Lodge Grass, Montana, Aug. 26, 2020. Selena Rides Horse enters census information into her phone on behalf of a member of the Crow Indian Tribe in Lodge Grass, Montana, Aug. 26, 2020. Think tank: feds need to change how they collect data on Native Americans The Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank, says government methods of collecting and publishing data on race and ethnicity is skewing research, affecting policy and furthering old misunderstandings about Indigenous Americans. Today, federal race data is usually divided into five categories: white, Black, Asian, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander. An added category, Hispanic or Latino, is problematic because these are ethnicities, not races. Confusing matters more, Native American is a political and legal classification, not a racial one. U.S. Census data show that Native Americans identify as two or more races at significantly higher rates than these larger groups. Agencies and institutions often lump multiracial individuals into a single, catch-all category. This can lead to the exclusion of more than three-quarters of Native Americans from some official data sets, the study says. The authors do not, however, address the added problem of non-Natives claiming Native American ancestry based on family folklore or so-called "[57]race shifters." As the federal government looks toward the 2030 federal Census, Brookings recommends creating a separate set of questions on Native American identity, allowing individuals to specify tribal affiliation. The Brookings team also suggests that the government should empower tribes to collect and manage data about their own populations and territories. Read [58]more: A worker views construction of the Fort Loudon Dam in Tennessee, built by the TVA to bring electricity and flood control to the Tennessee Valley. Photo taken June 1942. A worker views construction of the Fort Loudon Dam in Tennessee, built by the TVA to bring electricity and flood control to the Tennessee Valley. Photo taken June 1942. TVA ready to repatriate thousands of Native ancestral remains The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) -- the largest federally owned utility company in the U.S. -- says it has finished inventorying its collection of Native American human remains and funerary objects and is ready to repatriate them to tribes. In a Wednesday notice in the Federal Register, the company said it holds the remains of more than 4,800 Native ancestors and 1,400 associated funerary objects collected during dam construction projects in Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee during the 1930s. 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) requires all federally funded institutions to consult with tribes to identify and return Native American human remains, funerary objects and objects of cultural or spiritual significance. The collection is associated with several tribes that once made their home in the region, including the Cherokee, Shawnee, Choctaw and Muscogee. Tribes seeking their repatriation may submit requests after April 28. Read [59]more: Ancestral Shoshone Indian-carved petroglyph on a sandstone cliff face of White Mountain, Wyoming, estimated to be from 200 to 1000 years old. Ancestral Shoshone Indian-carved petroglyph on a sandstone cliff face of White Mountain, Wyoming, estimated to be from 200 to 1000 years old. Study: Indigenous traders, not the Spanish, brought horses to Plains A study published in the journal [60]Science concludes something Native Americans say they have known all along: Indigenous societies were working with and caring for horses in the Rockies and central Plains before any European set foot in the region. Horses first evolved in North America 4 million years ago and, according to scientists, became extinct during the Ice Age 10,000 years ago. The common scientific narrative is that Spanish conquistadors reintroduced horses to North America. Archaeologists from the Universities of Colorado, New Mexico and Oklahoma worked with Lakota, Comanche, Pawnee and Pueblo collaborators and analyzed and dated the remains of more than two dozen horses across Western states. Their conclusion: Indigenous peoples working through established trade networks brought Spanish horses west. Many Native Americans, among them Lakota/Cheyenne scholar Yvette Running Horse Collin, maintain that prehistoric horses never went extinct and were here all along. Read [61]more: [62]Read more * * * ____________________ (text) * * April 06, 2023 * [63]Cecily Hilleary Counterfeit Native American Art Undercuts Legitimate Artists Legitimate Navajo sterling silver and turquoise jewelry is seen on display in a Santa Fe art studio. Legitimate Navajo sterling silver and turquoise jewelry is seen on display in a Santa Fe art studio. [_] (Submit) (Submit) Charles Loloma is regarded as one of the most influential Native American jewelers of the 20th century. The Hopi artist incorporated new designs and materials in rings and necklaces that sell for tens of thousands of dollars and are among the most valuable in Native American jewelry. Loloma died in 1991. So when previously-unknown Loloma jewelry started showing up on eBay, it looked suspicious to federal agents charged with enforcing the Indian Arts and Crafts Act. Investigators posed as buyers and purchased from California resident Robert Haack $10,000 of what he advertised as genuine Loloma jewelry. Navajo jeweler Charles Loloma is pictured holding one of his iconic inlaid bracelets. Navajo jeweler Charles Loloma is pictured holding one of his iconic inlaid bracelets. Agents then called Loloma's niece, Verma Nequatewa, a jeweler who studied under her famous uncle. She traveled from her home on the Hopi Nation to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service forensics laboratory in Oregon to deconstruct the jewelry and certified that it was a fake. "It just makes me angry," Nequatewa told VOA. "Some of us artists work very hard to make our living, and people like this just get away with it." Haack was [64]indicted on four counts of violating the Indian Arts and Crafts Act. He pleaded guilty in 2021 and is awaiting sentencing. Nequatewa's husband, Robert Rhodes, estimates that Haack sold more than one million dollars of fake Loloma jewelry before his arrest. "It hurts the whole industry of Native American art," he said. "Because if somebody thinks that they're buying a real Loloma piece and they pay ten thousand dollars for it only to find out it's a fake, they're not going to buy a piece of Indian art again." These turquoise bolo ties were marketed as Native American-made but actually imported from the Philippines in violation of the 1990 Indian Arts and Crafts Act. (Courtesy U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement) These turquoise bolo ties were marketed as Native American-made but actually imported from the Philippines in violation of the 1990 Indian Arts and Crafts Act. (Courtesy U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement) Few prosecutions The Haack case is one of the few prosecuted by the Indian Arts and Crafts Board, which a [65]GAO study found received 649 complaints between 1990 and 2010 and prosecuted five. "These cases take a great deal of time and resources," said Indian Arts and Crafts Board director Meredith Stanton, an enrolled member of the Delaware Nation of Oklahoma. The law protects the artistic work of any member of a federal- or state-recognized Indian tribe or anyone whom a federal or state-recognized Indian tribe certifies as an Indian artisan. Products marketed as "Native American style," however, are not prohibited under the law and may be manufactured and sold by anyone. Products designed by a Native American but produced by a non-Native American do not qualify as Native-American made. Products manufactured overseas are meant to be indelibly marked to identify their country of origin. But Cherokee historian and activist David Cornsilk says [66]unscrupulous dealers simply peel off those labels and pass off those crafts as "Native made". A Navajo silversmith at work, from the "Navajo series," copyrighted 1915 by Pennington & Rowland. A Navajo silversmith at work, from the "Navajo series," copyrighted 1915 by Pennington & Rowland. History The Navajo began producing jewelry in the mid-19th century, obtaining silver from melted down coins and candlesticks. "We didn't really have a money system. When we traded and got silver -- whether it be through Spanish coins or whatever -- we ended up converting that into jewelry," said Navajo jeweler Reggie Mitchell. "In essence, we were wearing our wealth, and that became our way of bargaining or trading." The railroad -- and later the automobile -- brought curiosity seekers and ethnographers to the American Southwest. Enterprising Navajo, Hopi and other Pueblo artisans found ready buyers for their wares at railway stops in Albuquerque and Santa Fe. The postcard reads, "Pueblo Indians Selling Pottery." (Detroit Publishing Company ca. 1910) The postcard reads, "Pueblo Indians Selling Pottery." (Detroit Publishing Company ca. 1910) As demand for their crafts grew, [67]Congress passed the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1935 (IACA). The law established an Indian Arts and Crafts Board within the Interior Department to help Native craft persons to market their work. The law also made it a misdemeanor to sell imitation products and set penalties at up to $2,000 and/or up to six months in jail. This did not stop the counterfeiting, however. By 1985, the [68]Commerce Department estimated annual sales of Native American arts and crafts at $400 to $800 million and suggested that cheap imitations imported from Mexico and Asia made up 20 percent of that market. Congress in [69]1990 amended IACA, upgrading violations to felonies punishable by up to $250,000 in fines and/or five years in prison for individual violators and fines up to $1,000,000 for businesses. "The original was directed toward the economy and well-being of American Indians, and the 1990 law was aimed at protecting buyers from fraud," Cornsilk told VOA. "The Internet complicates things because it allows for the buying and selling of items without actually coming in contact with the vendor, so there's no way to know whether the person selling is legit." 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