Indian Arts and Crafts Act: What Buyers Need to Know

The Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990 makes it a federal crime to sell goods in a way that falsely suggests they are Indian produced. A first offence carries fines up to $250,000 and five years in prison for an individual, and up to $1 million for a business. It is a truth-in-advertising law, not a design restriction: anyone may make Southwestern-style jewellery, but only tribal members or certified Indian artisans may have it marketed as Native American made.

That distinction is the whole statute, and it is the thing most buyers get wrong. The law does not police style, motifs, or who is allowed to make what. It polices the claim attached to the object at the point of sale.

What exactly does the law prohibit?

The Indian Arts and Crafts Board, the agency inside the US Department of the Interior that administers the Act, states that it is unlawful to offer, 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."

Three practical consequences follow:

• The claim is the offence, not the object. A silversmith in Bangkok may make turquoise inlay work all day. Marketing it as Navajo made is the illegal act.
• A tribe’s name is protected. You cannot attach "Hopi", "Zuni", "Cherokee" or any other tribal name to a product unless a member of that tribe, or an artisan certified by it, actually made it.
• Implication counts, not just explicit statements. "Falsely suggests" covers context, display, and packaging. Placing imported jewellery under a sign reading "Native American Handmade" is a violation even if no individual tag says so.

The Act also required truthful marketing about tribal enrolment so buyers are not misled, and established government-owned trademarks of authenticity. Implementing regulations sit at 25 CFR Part 309.

What are the penalties?

Unusually severe for a labelling law, which tells you how seriously Congress treated it. Per the Board’s summary of the 1990 Act:

• First violation, individual: up to $250,000 in fines and/or up to 5 years imprisonment.
• First violation, business: up to $1,000,000 in fines.
• Subsequent violations, individual: up to $1,000,000 and/or up to 15 years imprisonment.
• Subsequent violations, business: up to $5,000,000.

There is a civil route as well. The Attorney General may sue at the Interior Secretary’s request, and an Indian tribe may sue on its own behalf or on behalf of a member. Relief includes injunctions and the greater of treble damages or not less than $1,000 for each day the offer or sale continues, plus punitive damages and attorney’s fees.

Is the law actually enforced?

Yes, and increasingly through online sales. Two recent cases show the pattern.

In January 2026, a Florida man trading as Southwest Expressions pleaded guilty to misrepresenting Indian produced goods and was sentenced to three years probation and a $25,000 fine. The jewellery was mass-produced and imported from the Philippines while being sold as handmade Pueblo Indian work. Between 2012 and 2023 the business completed over 40,000 sales totalling more than $2.6 million.

In 2026 a San Francisco woman was convicted of selling counterfeit Native American jewellery and sentenced to time served plus a $10,000 fine. She had sold jewellery imported from Asia on eBay from around 2020 to 2024 while claiming Apache, Laguna, Navajo or Zuni origin, admitting to more than $92,000 in counterfeit sales, and had ignored two prior warning letters from the Board. Her plea agreement requires her to publish a letter of apology on the Board’s website.

Both cases involved ordinary online marketplaces. The idea that this is a problem confined to roadside stalls in the Southwest is out of date.

How do you verify a piece is genuinely Native American made?

The Board’s own guidance is to ask the seller directly and get it in writing. Buyers should request "written verification from the individual vendors that their Indian art or craftwork was produced by tribal members or by certified Indian artisans". A legitimate seller expects this question. Beyond that:

1. Ask for the artist’s name and nation. Genuine work is signed or hallmarked, and the seller can tell you who made it and which tribe they are enrolled in. "Native American style" or "Southwestern inspired" is the language of something that is not.
2. Use the Board’s Source Directory. The Indian Arts and Crafts Board maintains a directory of authenticated Indian arts and crafts businesses, which is the simplest starting point for finding sellers who have already been checked.
3. Check the price against the craft. Hand-stamped silver with natural stone has a materials floor and a labour cost. Cast, imported pieces sell far below it, and an implausibly low price on "handmade Navajo" is the clearest single signal.
4. Look at the piece. Hand-stamped work shows slight variation between repeated stamps. Cast reproductions are identical every time, and often show mould seams and uniform, glassy stone that is stabilised or reconstituted rather than natural.
5. Be careful at the "inspired by" boundary. Non-Native artists making work in a similar aesthetic is lawful. It just must not be sold as Native American. If a listing blurs that line, treat it as a warning about the seller generally.

How do you report a suspected violation?

The Indian Arts and Crafts Board takes complaints directly through an online violation report form. It asks for a description of the item, how it was offered for sale, what representations were made about it, and any supporting documents - advertisements, catalogues, business cards, screenshots, photographs. The Board refers matters to the FBI for investigation and recommends criminal or civil action to the Attorney General.

Screenshots matter. Online listings change, and a report is far stronger with a capture of the wording as it appeared when you saw it.

Is the law being updated?

Not as of this writing, despite what you may read. The ARTIST Act, which would amend the Act, exists only as a discussion draft released by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, with a comment period that closed in 2023. We could find no enacted amendment. You may also encounter references to the Senate passing an Indian Arts and Crafts Amendment Act unanimously; that refers to legislation from 2009 and 2010, not to anything current. The 1990 Act as amended is the law in force.

The law does not restrict who may make something. It restricts who may claim to have made it.

Where does SCRAPD stand?

We require sellers offering work described as Indigenous, Native American, or tribally affiliated to be enrolled members of a federally or state recognised tribe, or certified Indian artisans. Misrepresentation is grounds for immediate removal and referral to the Indian Arts and Crafts Board. Our full position, including how we treat Alaska Native handicrafts under the Marine Mammal Protection Act exemptions and tribal subsistence rights, is on our Indigenous artist protections page.

Work from enrolled Native artisans on the marketplace sits in Indigenous Makers. If you want the broader authenticity toolkit that applies to any handmade purchase, see how to tell if something is really handmade and how to spot a dropshipping store. More is in our buyer guides, and our approach to keeping fakes off the marketplace is in how SCRAPD protects genuine makers.