Appropriation of indigenous peoples\u2019 art and culture: it\u2019s something that\u2019s been happening for decades, if not centuries, and that still happens even today. Those imitations can threaten not only the integrity of the culture whose art is appropriated, but at times, even that culture\u2019s survival.<\/p>\n
At a late February talk at Sealaska Heritage Institute, Jacob Adams, a visiting scholar from Norway, had a possible solution: trademarks, which he said are one of the best mechanisms for protecting indigenous cultural heritage.<\/p>\n
SHI president Rosita Worl opened the lecture by saying, \u201cwe own our at.\u00f3ow, we own our crests, our name, our stories, our songs and in the past, in our traditional culture, we had laws that protected our ownership\u2026 We are really left without a mechanism to protect our cultural ownership\u2026of our property. We\u2019ve been exploring how we could do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Around the time of the establishment of the Indians Arts and Craft Act of 1935, Adams said, the market was flooded with low-cost, factory-made imitations of Native art. Even though consumers wanted to buy authentic pieces, it usually took an expert to tell one from the other.<\/p>\n
Eighty years later, he said, \u201cnot much has changed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adams said a study conducted in 2011 showed that there are no good estimates about the size of the national Native handicraft market, nor is there a comprehensive database, but said that a good indicator of its size is \u201chow much non-authentic stuff is being sold.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Southeast Conference, Adams pointed out, found that Southeast Alaska artists generated $29.9 million in revenue in 2013. Twenty-three percent of the artists who responded to the organization\u2019s survey identified as Alaska Native. On average, each artist was making about $13,000.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s 64 percent higher profit than any of the other artists on average,\u201d Adams said. \u201cYou can see it\u2019s a significant portion of the arts community in Southeast but it\u2019s also a significant part of the livelihood for the artists who responded as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Problems come when imitation items take the place of authentic, especially when the imitation doesn\u2019t respect the culture it\u2019s imitating.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere has to be a way of someone being involved in their cultural heritage when it comes to products, handicrafts\u2026to make it a living and breathing entity,\u201d Adams said. \u201cOtherwise, it gets passed over to cheap imitations. If people can\u2019t make a living making their traditional cultural heritage products\u2026 it just may be a dying art.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trademarks, which he defined as an indication of origin, come in multiple different forms. There are geographic identifiers (signifies origin), collective marks (membership to a group) or certification (showing it meets a group standard). The last two could protect Alaska Native artists\u2019 livelihoods, the Native culture whose tradition they continue, and people who just want to buy authentic art.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one travels all the way up to Southeast Alaska or to where I live in northern Norway, 250 miles north of the Arctic Circle, to buy fake stuff,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
A trademark on an Alaska Native handicraft wouldn\u2019t restrict work to traditional art frozen in time, but allow it to develop naturally, as a living culture does, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re speaking about something like cultural heritage\u2026 it\u2019s a very localized type of issue. There are some indigenous groups who really don\u2019t mind artists and craftsmen and other people integrating their heritage into a broad local heritage for the majority of the population. There are some who are very protective of it. So there\u2019s no way to draw a bright line around cultural appropriation. But every indigenous group I\u2019ve spoken to still really demands cultural integrity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adams emphasized how he can only inform people about trademarks and how they generally might be used. The decision about whether to use them or not is up to each group.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not for someone like me to come in and say this is how you do it\u2026 The structure is there,\u201d Adams said. \u201cHow you use it is up to you, or up to the people who want to implement it\u2026The only way anything will change is if the people care to do it enough themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
During the question and answer session at the of the lecture, several people from the crowd spoke about their own experiences as Alaska Native artists, or how, for example, a family song is sung without their consent.<\/p>\n
Adams will be a visiting scholar at SHI through April. He\u2019ll interview Alaska Native artists who make artwork for their clan or for sale, discussing those findings at a later lecture.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u2022 Contact Clara Miller at 523-2243 or at clara.miller@juneauempire.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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