A Washington state-based artist has been sentenced to 18 months federal probation for violating the Indian Arts and Crafts Act (IACA) after falsely posing as a Native American to sell his work.
Over the course of a decade, Jerry Chris Van Dyke, also known as Jerry Witten, sold carved pendants based on Aleut masks for over $1,000 at Seattle’s Pike Place Market. In doing so, he claimed to be a member of the Nez Percé tribe, although he has no native heritage.
Van Dyke, 67, pleaded guilty last March to misrepresentation of goods and products made in India. In passing sentence at a hearing last week, U.S. District Judge Tana Lin cited Van Dyke’s long history of “undermining a community and an identity,” according to a announcement of the United States Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Washington.
“The artwork is full of our culture…it’s a piece of who we are,” Nez Perce Tribe President Shannon Wheeler said during the hearing. The sale of fake Indigenous art “continues a process of devaluing our people,” she added.
The investigation into Van Dyke began in early 2019, when the Indian Arts and Crafts Board (IACB) received a tip that he was misrepresenting himself as a member of Nez Percé. Secret authorities from the US Fish and Wildlife Service purchased the artist’s work and learned that he had received ivory, antlers and animal bones from the owner of the gallery.
In interviews with agents, Van Dyke admitted that he was not registered with the Nez Perce tribe and that he was aware of the IACA, a Truth in Advertising Act 1990 which prohibits the false marketing of indigenous arts and crafts products. It was loaded in 2021.
“The prosecution of Jerry Van Dyke under the Indian Arts and Crafts Act for infringement of Alaska Native art is another crucial step in protecting the economic livelihoods and rich cultural heritage of Indian artists. contemporary and traditional, as well as in preserving the vitality of Indian art. market in the Northwest and across the country,” IACB Director Meridith Stanton said in a statement.
In a separate case parallel to Van Dyke’s, another West Washington artist, Lewis Anthony Rath, was accused of misrepresenting himself as a member of the San Carlos Apache tribe through his work. Him too pleaded guilty in March. Rath’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for September 27, 2023.
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