Imposters Sell Fake Seminole Crafts in Florida

Not All Seminole Chickees Authentic

Aug 22, 2009

The Indian Arts and Craft Act of 1990 is a truth-in-advertising law that regulates the marketing of Indian arts and crafts products in the United States.

The law prohibits misrepresentation of those products. So, why are imposters building and selling chickees in Florida and claiming they are authentic Seminole-made? These scams violate the rights of chickee builders of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, true artisans of an ancient Native American craft.

Chickees are the Seminoles’ adaptation of the primitive-style thatched roofs and log structures once used as dwellings by ancient Calusa Indians. Historians say the Calusa Tribe inhabited Florida 1,000 years ago, long before the Seminoles arrived.

A popular usage of a chickee today is in a commercial setting to produce landscaping design reminiscent of Florida’s history. Prices range $4,000 -$8,000 depending on size.

Complaints against thieves chopping down and stealing cypress logs and palm fronds from the woods of the Big Cypress Seminole Reservation were first heard in 2005 at a meeting of Seminole chickee builders. They discussed the growing number of scavengers stealing materials to make chickees and then selling them as authentic.

Tribal Law Defends Native American Art

Federal laws protect rights of all Native Americans against imposters selling fake Indian arts and crafts. But rarely do buyers question the vendors of American Indian jewelry, pottery, baskets, Navajo rugs,or patchwork Seminole clothing selling their wares at hundreds of Native American festivals and powwows annually.

For buyers, it is important to ask for the name of the artisan who created the item you wish to buy and what tribe the artisan belongs to. Ask for proof of authorship. There have been cases where vendors sell work made by a non-Indians and passed it off as authentic Native American, according to the Indian Arts and Crafts Association.

Seminole chickee builders get the same legal protections of their craft as Native Americans who do basket weaving, beaded jewelry or pottery. Chickee builders are recognized artisans of a tribe who are preserving traditions of their ancient culture for future generations. To respect this Seminole craftsmanship, the Florida Building Codes provides special protection for tribal chickee builders.

How Chickees Represent American Indian History

Cowkeeper, an ancestor of the Seminoles, possessed the first highly successful cattle ranches of Florida with one herd of approximately 10,000 head in 1740. Many Seminole ranchers and traders built comfortable log houses and created peaceful productive communities, according to The Seminole Wars; America’s Longest Indian Conflict by historians John and Mary Misall.

When the Seminoles were forced by Federal troops and radicalized militias out of their homes, or burned them out, during the Seminole Wars, they had to abandon a comfortable way of life. Fleeing in fear of their lives they had to surrender their strongly built houses decorated with fineries from Europe, their corrals, farms, livestock, horses and cattle.

Being on the run for their lives, they needed protection from the weather and a shelter they could quickly abandon if discovered by American troops. A chickee made good camouflage. From the 1820’s onward Seminoles lived in chickees in the impenetrable South Florida wilderness, according the Seminole Tribe of Florida website.

As war refugees, the Seminoles were impoverished. Many tribal families lived in these primitive chickees for the next one hundred and fifty years. Today, tribal members have luxury homes, two car garages, and swimming pools due to the profits of Indian gaming. But their yards almost always have a traditional chickee in it. They are symbol of the hardships their ancestors endured to get them free.

Buy Authentic Native American Art

It is possible to be fined, imprisoned or both for selling fake Native American art. These robbers of culture hurt the living of native artisans who have mastered a tribal craft passed down through generations. It also dilutes the culture of a tribe. Most native art has a long history of apprenticeship, tradition, and spiritual significance behind it. Don’t get scammed buying cultural art that is a fake; ask questions first.

Herbal Medicine Secrets of the Seminoles Revealed is a review of a book that explains how tribal medicine men use herbal medicine as part of their Native American cultural tradition.

The copyright of the article Imposters Sell Fake Seminole Crafts in Florida in Native American/First Nations History is owned by Susan Etchey. Permission to republish Imposters Sell Fake Seminole Crafts in Florida in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.