Beware | The
Law | Limitations of Law
Fraudulence in
Native American Art
Limitations of the Law
Laws created to protect
the Native American Arts are good in their intentions, and the
overall situation can be improved and has been improved through
their existence.
Yet, laws are not enough,
and sometimes they do unintended harm.
Firstly, laws must be enforced
and obeyed to have relevance in the world of people and commerce.
Secondly, there is an inherent
dilemma in the nature of the situation at hand. Consider the irony:
the white man’s law is functioning to define the red man
and his culture in terms suitable to the culture of the white
man in an attempt to protect the consumer and producer of the
red man’s ware.
To a certain extent this
aspiration is achievable. To another it is absurd.
For, what is Native American?
Who is a native American
or a Native American?
The American Indian is
the Native American. But what makes someone an American Indian?
Blood?
Culture?
There are those who argue
that they are being excluded by the very laws that are to protect
them. For, to protect the American Indian, Congress had to define
the American Indian, and definitions are inherently exclusive.
There are men and women
who live Indian, dress Indian, worship Indian, care for Indian
elders, raise Indian young, and preserve and perpetuate Indian
culture.
Then, there are those who
have Indian blood in there veins.
These are sometimes the
same people, but not always.
Can we define with law
that which exists beyond it? Can we protect what we cannot define?
There exists a problem,
and there is no easy answer. Stopping fraudulent practices is
good, but it is only the first step.
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