> This may be a really naive question, but wasn't there some law passed that
> says only Native Americans can sell "Native" goods, and that this has caused
> trouble for many people who are First Nations People, but are not considered
> to be in the eyes of the almighty U.S. Gov't? What I really want to know is:
> is there some list spelling out what does and does not constitute an item or
> design that is to be produced and/or sold only by Native Peoples in this law
> or ruling? If so, what are they and how is this law enforced? Does anybody
> know?
A few weeks before Bush left office he signed into law an abstract
that said that it was illegal for anyone to sell Indian Artifacts except
Indians. It is against the law for anyone to say that what they are selling
is an "Indian design" or an "Official Copy of an Indian design" except for a
recognized Indian person. Secondly the law put Indiginous people under the
headship of the Department of Interior and made it a law that it is illegal
for Indians to own property in excess of what the Department of Interior has
decided it should be.
Who is and how is this going to be enforced? How ever the
government wants it to be, of course. This law was (I think, if I remember
right) SB1133? But I'm not exactly sure if that's the right number. Anyone
can sell anything with "Indian designs" as long as they call it Southwest or
whatever, because they are not ascribing to themselves either Indian status
or the fact that it's an "Indian" design (even if it is).
We who have been in the trenches for a long time find this kind of
law not just an outrage but so absolutely amazing that they passed it
functionally without anyone knowing it was going into law until it did. The
government often makes laws that it "chooses not" to enforce at a particular
time but will feel no such compunctions about enforcing it if and when they
feel like it, if and when you anger them, or if and when it is financially
or politically expedient.
It's amazing isn't it that so much can be passed into law with few
people every knowing it until your world falls in and you have no say about
it. I've been dealing with this for a very long time. It does not endear
me to the government, its policies or its politicians.
Littlefeather