The Indian Arts and Crafts Act, Explained

The Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-644, codified at 25 U.S.C. §305 et seq.) is the federal law that protects Native American artisans and consumers from fauxthentic goods. It makes it illegal to sell, market, or display goods as “Native American”, “Indian-made”, or “American Indian” unless those goods are produced by a member of a federally- or state-recognized tribe.

This page explains what the law covers, what counts as a violation, and what the buyer should ask before any “Native American” purchase.

What the law says

Section 1159 of Title 18 (the criminal section paired with the IACA) makes it a federal crime 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.

Penalties:

• First offense (individual): up to 5 years in prison, fines up to $250,000.
• First offense (corporation): fines up to $1,000,000.
• Subsequent offenses: up to 15 years in prison, doubled fines.
• Civil penalties: additional civil suits up to $250,000 per violation.

The law is enforced by the Indian Arts and Crafts Board (an agency within the Department of the Interior), the FBI, and the Department of Justice.

Who counts as “Native American” under the law

The IACA defines an Indian as a member of any federally- or state-recognized tribe, or an individual certified as an Indian artisan by an Indian tribe. There are 574 federally-recognized tribes in the United States. State-recognized tribes vary by state.

The law does not protect:

• Self-identified Native ancestry without enrollment.
• Ancestry-test percentages (e.g., “25% Cherokee”) without tribal enrollment.
• Adopted, honorary, or culturally-affiliated individuals who are not formally enrolled.
• Goods produced by descendants of unrecognized groups, regardless of family history.

Common violations

The Indian Arts and Crafts Board has prosecuted cases involving:

• Imports from the Philippines, Mexico, and China stamped with copies of well-known artists’ hallmarks and sold as Navajo or Zuni.
• Online sellers labeling Filipino-made silver-and-turquoise jewelry as “Native American style” in the title and “genuine Native American” in the description.
• Tourist-trap shops in Arizona, New Mexico, and California selling mass-produced “Indian jewelry” with fabricated tribal attribution on the price tag.
• Galleries representing non-enrolled individuals as Native artists.

The Federal Trade Commission also pursues advertising violations under truth-in-advertising rules separate from the IACA.

What the law means for your purchase

If a seller claims a piece is Native American or Indian-made, the law gives you the right to expect that the artist is enrolled. A reasonable buyer can request:

• The artist’s name.
• The artist’s tribe.
• Confirmation that the artist is tribally enrolled.
• A Certificate of Authenticity that documents the above.

A seller who refuses any of these is exposing themselves to IACA liability. A buyer who walks away from such a seller is doing the law’s work.

How LomaSiiva complies

Every piece in the LomaSiiva gallery is documented to a tribally-enrolled artist. We retain the artist’s tribal enrollment documentation in our verification archive. The Certificate of Authenticity that ships with every order names the artist, the tribe, the date, and the verification reference — the exact information the IACA requires sellers to be able to substantiate.

Read more: Why tribal enrollment verification matters · How LomaSiiva verifies

This page is informational. It is not legal advice. The full text of the Act is available at the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Indian Arts and Crafts Board site.