Tom Udall

You don't necessarily need a criminal conviction in order to do a forfeiture, is that correct, or would you be recommending the two be combined together?

Thank you so much, Miss Begay-Foss.

Do tribal governments play a role or could they play a role in certifying authentic Native American arts and crafts for sale online?

But I imagine this access presents the challenges with respect to online sales of Native arts and crafts and IACA enforcement.

It looks like, Chief Woody, you agree with that.

It's crucial that this statute have--it makes clear that there should be an indelible country of origin marking.

That's the declared value coming into the U.S. I would say maybe Meredith can answer this better.

I would just advise everybody to look at the reporting that's out there, because there's some very good reporting that I think elucidates some of these issues.

I was proud to reintroduce the bipartisan Safeguard Tribal Objects and Patrimony or STOP Act.

A network of swindlers are making millions of dollars off the backs of Native Americans.

Well, first of all, welcome to everybody today. It's wonderful to have you here, and it's wonderful to be at this location.

Thank you so much, Mr. Maybee. And you've got a real--like all of the witnesses here--they all have real expertise and something to offer here.

I too support the modernization of the Act to better protect the artists and the Indian art industry.

The scope of the counterfeiting problem is far larger than expected.

Well, we really appreciate your effort on this front and look forward to sharing and visiting with you.

Obviously, this is an enormous amount of money that should be going back to Indian Country.

The protection of tribal nations is of the utmost importance to the Department of the Interior.

Good afternoon Vice Chairman Udall and Senator Heinrich.

Thank you, Senator Heinrich so much, and thank you for your good, hard work on the STOP Act, which is for the protection of cultural patrimony.

For centuries, the United States used cultural appropriation as a tool of colonization.

Fake art drives down prices, forces Native Americans to quit their crafts and devalues Native American art.

I think we still need to move forward.

I think we really need to just work together.

And my understanding, when you were the U.S. attorney, you initiated efforts with the leaders of the Indian Nations here in New Mexico and asked their input and how to do better in the job which you were doing.

So that's your best guess at this point.